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2Sili Congress, Rep. No. 546. Ho. of Rrps. 

1st Session. 



V\. 



EHODE ISLAND— INTERFERENOK OP THE EXECUTIVE IN 

THE AFFAIRS OF. 



/fTl = 



June 7, 1844. 

Head, and postponed till the first Monday in December next. 



Mr. Burke, from the Select Committee appointed for the purpose, sub- 
/ mitted the following 

REPORT: 

The Select Committee, to rvhom u-ere referred the memorial of the democratic 
viembers of the Legislature of Rhode Islaiid, nqnesting, among other' 
things, the House of Representatives to institute an inquiry into the fact 
of the adoption of a constitution, by the people of Rhode Island in Decem- 
ber, 1841, and its suppression by the then existing authoriiies of that 
State, through the interference and assistance of the President of the 
United States ; also the petition of Samuel Milroy and sundry other citi- 
zens of Carroll county, in the State of Indiana, relating to the same sub- 
ject : also the message of the Presided of the United. States relating to 
his alleged interference in, the affairs of the people of Rhode Island, by 
which they were prevented from establishing a govern^nent under the con- 
stitution adopted by them in December, 1841, icith the documents accom- 
panying, report : 

That, in order to give a precise view of the grievances complained of by 
the memorialists lirst above named, the committee herewith present the 
memorial entire, which is in the following words, viz : 

• 

To the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States : 
The undersigned, citizens of the United States, and democratic members 

of the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island and Providence; 

Plantations, 

Respectfully represent: 

That a large majority of the adult male inhabitants of the State of Rhode 
Island, being citizens of the United States, after having long waited in 
vain for an amendment, through the old charter governm(?nt, of the politi- 
cal institutions of this State, in order to bring them into conformity to the 
standard of a democratic republic, to define and regulate the unlimited 
powers of the General Assembly, and to secure to the people the right of 
suffrage and other just rights, of which they had long been deprived, in 
the exercise of their original sovereign capacity, did, in December, 1841, 
rightfully adopt and duly ratify a constitution of government, republican 
in its form and character, agreeably to the guaranty of the constitution of 
Blair & Rives, prim. 



I 



I 



r^3 

4- 
2 Rep. No. 546. ^^^ 

the United States. The votes given in for this constitution Vere signed 
by the voters, and have been carefiilly preserved as a standing evidence 
of the will and action of the people. 

Previously to the election of a government under the people's constitu- 
tion, the President of the United States issued a letter to the Governor, 
then acting under the charter and laws, in which he undertakes to pre- 
scribe the mode of proceeding to amend the institutions of a State, and 
declares, in effect, that the only valid change must be made by " the au- 
thorities and people;" placing the "authorities" before the people, making 
their consent and permission requisite to the action of the people, and re- 
versing the great fundamental doctrine of our democratic republic — that 
all just government is founded in the consent of the governed ; and that 
the people are, of course, superior to the servants intrusted with tem- 
porary power for convenience, and in order to do the will of their supe- 
riors. 

/ A majority of the old charter House of Representatives was elected by 
■^ towns containing less than one-third of the population of the State, and 
the voters in these towns were a third of the adult male inhabitants; so 
that the people of this State were ruled, under the old charter system, by 
one-ninth part of the adult male population, without whose permission, 
through their "authorities" in the General Assembly, according to the 
President, they could never come to the enjoyment of their inalienable 
rights. On the other hand, leaving to each State the question who are 
the people, we contend that a majority of the whole people are compe- 
tent, of themselves, without permission, by an authentic act, to change 
their form of government. 

The undersigned would call your attention to another important fact — 
that there was no mode prescribed by charter, law, or usage, in this State, 
for proceeding to change the government and to form a written constitu- 
tion. All that the Assembly could do was to request the people to act; 
and they were at liberty to do so, or not; and could act as well without 
the request, which gave no power, as with it. 

The President, in his letter aforesaid, conveyed the threat of an inter- 
vention with the forces of the United States, in case the proceedings of 
the people to set up their government should be persisted in; and by in- 
creasing the number of troops at Newport, and by other demonstrations 
within striking distance, he gave all the advantages of actual military co- 
operation and invasion to the old charter party and their government, and 
enabled them, witli the union of the State treasury and the military, to 
suppress the government elected under the people's constitution; to tram- 
ple upon the rights of our citizens; maintain martial law over the people, 
in derogation of all law; to impose on the people, while thus under du- 
ress, another constitution, unjust, restrictive, and anti-republican, adopted 
by less than one-third of the adult male citizens; and, generally, to gov- 
ern the State as a conquered territory, by despotic laws and by the mili- 
tary, and to exercise a political proscription, extending through all the re- 
lations of society and business, such as has never before been witnessed 
in any State in this Union. Many of our citizens have been driven from 
the State, into exile, by the course of the successful party. Large num- 
bers have been imprisoned, and about fifteen are now under indictments 
for pretended treason and misdemeanors. One of their number (Thom- 
as W. Uorr, who was elected Governor of the State under the people's 



Rep. No. 546. 3 

toiislitution) has been kept in close prison for more than three months, 
under a charge of treason; but, in reaUty, for attempting to maintain, ac- 
cording to his oath of office, tiie people's constitution, and for carrying out 
the docnines of the declaration of American independence. 

The undersigued believe, and affirm, that this interference of the Presi- 
dent in the affairs of a State, small in territory, easy of access, with an 
imperfect military organization, and incapable, by itself, of resisting a 
powerful attack from abroad, had the effect of overawing the people and 
of strengthening the adverse party; and that it mainly caused the over- 
throw of the people's constitution and government. If the President had 
let us alone, the new government would have been peaceably established, 
and generally acquiesced in. 

The undersigned desire to make their solemn protest against the course 
pursued by the President of the United States. If, under the name of 
suppressing " insurrections," and repressing " domestic violence," the 
President can thus control the States in their internal affairs, and cast the 
sword into the scale of the party which he espouses, he is, in fact, a mili- 
tary dictator of all-absorbing powers, to be brought out as occasion may 
require; State rights are a mockery, and the declaration of independence 
is (as it is here asserted to be) " a rhetorical flourish," intended for a pur- 
pose long since gone by; popular sovereignty is a delusion; and we have 
not, as was supposed at the Revolution, escaped from the aristocratic and 
monarchical doctrine of the Old World — that govenmientis sovereign, and 
the people are subjects. 

Let it be borne in mind, that when the President commenced his in- 
terference with the affairs of this State, there was no "insurrection," no 
"domestic violence." The people were not overthrowing a government, 
but rightfully and peaceably substituting another, to take effect at a pre- 
scribed time; the laws being continued in operation, and the officers and 
magistrates being continued in their places until duly superseded by new 
elections and appointments. 

The people of this State, who supported the constitution of 1841, were 
desirous, at the late election of members of your House for this State, of 
choosing their own candidates by the electors authorized under said con- 
stitution, and thus of bringing the question of our rights under the same 
to your consideration, upon a competition for the seats of the present 
members. But this was impossible, as, by one of the Algerine laws of 
this State, (properly so called,) all meetings for such a purpose are de- 
clared riotous, to be suppressed by civil and military force; and the people 
present, after the reading of the riot act, and without time to retire, might 
be shot down forthwith. 

The undersigned, in view of the facts now stated, and in behalf of their 
democratic fellow-citizens, therefore respectfully request that the House 
of Representatives of the United States will inquire whether the President 
of the United States has any such power of niterfering in the internal 
affairs of a sovereign State, as he has claimed and exercised in the case of 
Rhode Island, 

The undersigned further request the House of Representatives to call 
upon the President of the United States for the authority, and for copies 
of the applications, upon which he acted in this case; for the instructions 
to, and statements of, the charter commissioners, sent to him from this 
State; for the correspondence between the Executive and the charter 



4 Rep. No. 546. 

Governor of this State, and all the papers and documents connected with 
the same ; for any correspondence between the heads of departments and 
said Governor, or any person or persons connected with said charter gov- 
ernment, and for any accompanying papers and documents; for all orders 
issued by the Executive, or any of the departments, to mihtary officers, 
for the movement or employment of troops to or in Rhode Island; and for 
all orders to naval officers to prepare steam or other vessels of the United 
States for service in the waters of Rhode Island ; for all orders to officers 
of revenue-cutters for the same service; for any instructions borne by the 
Secretary of War to Rhode Island, on his visit in 1842, to review the 
charter troops ; for any order or orders to any officer of the army or navy 
to report themselves to the charter government. And the undersigned 
request an inquiry whether such officers took part in advising said gov- 
ernment, forming plans, giving directions, and otherwise; also, an inquiry 
whether, or not, certain officers in the pay of the United States did not, in 
June, 1842, at Providence, and at the head of gangs of armed whites and 
negroes, forcibly enter the houses of suffrage-men, and maltreat them, and 
despoil them of their property; also M'hether, in 1842, in this State, pri- 
vate correspondence through the post office was violated, and by whom. 

The undersigned further request the House of Representatives to in- 
quire whether the menibers of said House from the State of Rhode Island 
are entitled to their seats; inasmuch as a large number of persons, enti- 
tled, under the people's constitu ion, to vote at their election, were exclu- 
ded from the polls, and the eleCvOrs were debarred from voting for candi- 
dates in opposition, under said constitution, by the military law before 
described. 

The undersigned further request the Congress of the United States to 
execute to this State the guaranty in the national constitution, of a repub- 
lican constitution, in favor of thut which was righlfidly and duly ado'pted 
in this State in December, 1841, and established and carried into effect by 
the organization of a govtrnrnent under it in May^ 1842. 

The undersigned also request such further aid as Congress may deem 
it in their power and expedient to affi^rd. 

Senators. 

SAMUEL STEERE, GEORGE C. CARR, 

OLNEY BALLOU, ANSON POTTER, 

OTIS WOOD, Believing the statement to be sub- 

CYRUS BROWN, stantially correct, 

LEVI C. EATON, ISAAC WILKINSON. 

Representatwes, 

EDDY KEECH, WILLIAM SMITH, 
GLADDING O. THOMPSON, THOMAS BUFFUM, 

ADAMS PARK, ARIEL BALLOU, 

JAMLS ANGELL, FENNER BROWN, 

CYRUS FARNUM, WILLIAM LATHAM, 

WILLIAM STEERE, JOSEPH T. SISSON, 

DAVID WILBUR, JONATHAN COLE, 

JAMLS HARKNESS, NILES WESTCOTT, 

PARDON ANGELL, RICHxARD MOWRY, 

Providence, February 1, 1844. 



Rep. No. 546. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

The memorialists allege the following facts, which they pray may be 
inquired into by the House, viz: 

1. That a lav^e majority of the adult male inhabitants of tlie State of 
Rhode Island did, in the exercise of their inherent sovereign power, in 
December, 1841. rightfully adopt, and duly ratify, a constitution of govern- 
miCnt, republican in its form and cliaracter, agreeably to the guaranty of 
the constitution of the United States, 

2. That said constitution was suppressed through the intervention of the 
President of the United States, by placing at the disposal of the late charter 
government of Rhode Island the military power of the Union ; and that 
another constitution, by means of such intervention by the President, was 
forced upon the people of that State against their consent, and under the 
duress of martial law. 

3. That the people of Rhode Island were disposed to test the validity of 
the constitution adopted by them, and the one imposed upon them by a 
minority of the people of that State, through the said intervention of the 
Presidetit, by the election of members to the House of Representatives, that 
the question might be raised by the c :>petition f()r seats which would 
necessarily follow ; but that they v/rre p-^vented from so doing, by a law 
passed by the ruling party, which law declared all meetings of the people 
for such a purpose riotous assemblages, which were sul)ject to instant dis- 
persion at the peril of being shot down on the refusal of those present to 
<hsperse. 

Other matters are alleged bv the memorialists, of minor importance, but 
which have occupied the attention of the conunitiee, and will receive due 
notice in the progress of this report. 

The first inquiry which sugijested itself to the consideration of the com- 
mittee was, as to the extent of the authority of the House to act in the 
matters set forth in the foregoing memorial; and on this point they had no 
difficulty in coming to a conclusion. The constiimion of the United States 
(art. 4, sec, 4) makes it obliijatory upon the General Government to guar- 
anty to each State a republican form of government, and to protect it from 
domestic violence. 

By the memorialists it is alleged, among other things, that this provision 
of the constitution has not been fulfilled to the people of Rhode Island by 
the United States; but, on the contrary, that, under the pretence of sup- 
pressing domestic violence, the military power of the United States was 
exerted by the Executive to subvert and put down a republican form of 
government in the State of Rhode Island, which was duly framed and organ- 
izd by the people of said State, in the legitimate exercise of their inherent 
sovereign power; and a government established in place of the one subverted, 
witliout ihfiir consent, and against their express will, Tlie committee did 
not hesitate in the belief that this complaint of the memorialists was a 
proper subject of inquiry on the part of the House, and that the House 
was bound by the most solemn injunctions of justice to the people of a 
sovereign State, alleging a grievance so grave and moraetjtous, as well as 



6 Rep. No. 54(>. 

by constitutional obligation, to institute the inquiry prayed for, and to take 
such other action in relation to the subject subtriitt?.d to its consideration as 
would be found to be within the scope of its duty and its power under the 
constitution. 

With this view of the power of the House to investig^ate the subject- 
matters of the memorial, and influenced by a desire faithfully and impar- 
tially to execute the duty confided to them by the House, the committee, 
at an early stage of their proceedinofs, resolved : 

1st. To inquire into the fact of the adoption of the " people's constitution" 
(by which the constitution of December, 1841, is now generally known) by 
the people of Rhode island ; and, 

2d. To inquire into the f^ict of the interference by the President of the 
United States, or by any officer of the Government of the United States, in 
the internal afl!"airs of the people of Rhode Island, during the pendency of 
the late difficulties in that State, growing out of the adoption and final sup- 
pression of the " people's constitution." 

In order that all the parties interested in the investigation with udiich 
the committee was charged might have an opportunity to assert and vindi- 
cate all supposed rights and interests which might be involved in their 
proceedings, permission was given to the njemorialists, and to the existing 
authorities of the State of Rhode Island, by a resolution of the comniittee,, 
to attend, by agent or attorney, its sessions ^ copies of which resolution 
were duly communicated to the memorialists, to the Executive of Rhode 
Island, and to the Representatives in Congress from said State. 

The existing authorities of the State of Rhode Island have not deemed it 
expedient to avail themselves of the permission accorded to them as before 
stated, and have rot attended the sessions of the comn:iittee, either by agent 
or attorney. 

The memorialists have attended the sessions of the committee during a 
part of its invesiigations, by their agent. 

Having stated these matters by way of introduction, the committee now 
proceed lo the main subject of their investigation. 

The fact that ;i portion (whetfier that portion constituted a majority will 
he hereinafter considered) of the people of Rhode Island did, in the month of 
December, 1841, adopt a constitution, establishing a republican form of 
government, as stated by the Uiemorialists. the eornmittee understand not 
to be disputed ou any side. It is matter of history, which cannot be 
questioned, if any one were inclined to question it. 

IirSTORICAL NOTICE OF THE ORIGIN OF TME CHARTER GOVERNMENT^ 
AND ITS FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 

In order to comprehend clearly the reasons which induced the people of 
Rhode Island to adopt a new constitution, without the consent of the exist- 
ing iiovernment of that State, and in the exercise of their own inherent 
sovereign power, as they construed their power, it will be necessary to enter 
into a brief history of the origin and character of the government then 
existing, and which they thus sought to change or abolish. 

The first authentic form of government established within the |)resent 
territorial jurisdiction of the State of Rhode Island, was that which was 
derived from the charter granted under the authority of Parliament in. 



Rep. No. 546. 7 

1643. That charter clothed the ^' inhahifants" of the colony with "full 
power and antliority to govern and rule themselves, and such others as 
shall hereafter inhabit within any part of the said tract of land, by such 
form of civil government as by voluntary consent of ail, or the greatest 
part of t/iem, shaW be found most serviceable in their estates and condi- 
tion." In other words, it estahlislied a deniocratic form of o^overnment for 
the people of the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. It 
gave to the inhabitants of said colony the right to establish such form of 
government as the majority could agree upon — a concession no less re- 
markable, considering the source whence it emanated, than it was liberal 
and republican in its character. 

Thus was the governmentof Rhode Island, under its first charter, a democ- 
racy. It was confirmed by Cromwell in 1655, and continued a democracy 
until the charter of 1663 was obtained, when, and by which, its fundamental 
ciiaracter was totally changed, whatever miglit thenceforward continue to 
be the outward form of its organization. Tne charter of 1663 was granted 
by King Charles II, after his restoration, to William Brenton and others — 
creating them, and such as were and should be •' admitted free of the 
company" and their successors, a body corporate and politic, with all the 
powers and privileges incident to a corporation. It gave theni a corporate 
name ; it conferred upon them the right " to sue and be sued, plead and 
be impleaded," answer unto, and defend all actions, suits, (fe,c., which the 
company might coiiimence, or which might be commenced against them; 
it cojiferred upon tliem the power to hold lands, and to sell and alien the 
same. It gave them a common seal. In short, it invesud tliem with all 
the powers and attributes of a corporation ; it gave the grantees power " to 

CHOOSE, NOMINATE, AND APPOINT SUCH AND SO MANY OTHER PERS0^S AS 
THEY SHALL THINK FIT, AND SHALL BE WILLING TO ACCEPT THE SAME, 
TO BE FREE OF THE SAID COMPANY AND BODY POLITIC, AND THEM INTO 
THE SAME ADMIT." 

Thus could nobody be admitted to the company, or have a voice in its 
proceedings, without the consent of the grantees or corporators. The char- 
ter, therefore, created a close coRPORATIO^ of the grantees, in the concerns 
of which no one could have a voice without their consent. 

In addition to the mere privileges of a corporation, the grantees, in their 
corporate capacity, had conferred upon them by the charter all the powers 
of civil government over the colony of Rhode I^l;lnd, limited and restricted 
only by ihe laws and customs of England, which were expressly declared to 
be paramount to the powers of the corporation. The following was the 
organized form of government as prescribed by the charter. 

There was to be a governor, deputy governor, and ten assistants — the 
latter of whom, since the Am*M-ican revolution, have been dignified by the 
more lofty sou ndinof and republican title of Senators. They were to be "con- 
stituted, chosen, and elected by the freemen of the said company;" and their 
duly was to " apply themselves to take care for the best disposing and order- 
ing of the general business and affliirs of and concerning the lands and here- 
ditaments hereitiafter mentioned to be granted, and the plantation thereof, 
and the government of the people therein." In addition to the governor, 
deputy crovernor, and assistants, there were to be chosen by the major part 
of the freemen of the towns and places for which they should be elected, 
'*six persons for Newport, four persons for each of the respective towns of 
Providence, Portsmouth, and "Warwick, and two persons for each other town, 



S' Rep. No 546. 

place, or city," who were to constitute the " General Assembly," whose 
duty it was to meet the Governor and assistants, and " then and there to 
consult, advise, and determine in and about the affairs and business of 
said company and plantations." The Governor and assistants, with the 
persons cliosen by the towns, when met in "general assembly," constituted 
the legislature of the colony. 

Such was the character of the charter of Charles IF; such the privileges it 
bestowed upon the grantees; and such the form of government it established 
for the colony. It invest(;d all power in the grantees, and clothed them with 
exclusive political as well as corporate privileges and authority ; in short, 
it abroo^ated the democratic government established by the charter of 1643, 
and created an oligarchy in its stead as pure in its oligarchic character- 
istics as any which have existed in the States of Greece, or the misnamed 
Italian republics of later times. And such has been the government of 
Rhode Island in substance, whatever may have been its ostensible form, 
from the acceptance of the charter of Charles II to its final death and burial 
in the po]iular movements of 1842, having been superseded, in the opinion 
of the committee, first, by the adoption of the " people's constitution" (so 
called) in December, 1841, and, finally, by the present constitution of the 
State. Whether or not the latter exists by right, and with the consent of 
the people, will hereafter be considered. 

It will have been seen by the foregoing that the charter of Charles II 
coiilerred upon the grantees tlie power to admit such persons as they 
deemed proper to be '• free of said company;" in other words, to share in 
the powers and privileges of the corporation, which embraced the adminis- 
tration of the civil government of the colony. The committee will now pro- 
ceed to show how this power was exercised, and how liberally the privi- 
leges of the company, or rather government, (for it will be considered in 
that view,) were dealt out to the people who were its sultjects. 

Provisions of the charier government in relation to snffi age. 

After the acceptance of the charter by the grantees, and the organization 
of the government under it, the General Assembly proceeded to prescribe 
the rule which was to govern the admission of persons to the rights of cor- 
porators ; or, in other words, to the privileges of freemen. At a meetinsf of 
that body at Newport, on the 4th day of May, 1664, the following rule for 
the admission of freemen, or rather for the exclusion of the citizens of the 
colony from all participation in its government, was adopted, viz : 

" It is also the jileasure and appointment of this General Assembly, that 
none presume to vote, in the matters aforesaid, but svch whom this Gen- 
eral Assernbli/ expressly by their writing shall admit as freernenP 

This was the first rule adopted by the charter government /or the ex- 
clusion of the citizens of Rhode Island from all participation in tfie govern- 
ment to which they were subject ; and the ground of admission to the pri- 
vileges of the government was the arbitrary will of the General Assembly, 
to be expressed in writing. 

The next rule prescribed for the admission of freemen was adopted by 
the General Assembly, at a meeting in May, 1665, at the instigation of 
"Me king's commissioners?^ It is in the following words : 

The assembly "enact and declare, that so many of them that take the 



Rep. No. 546. 9 

aforesaid eno^agement, and are of competent estafes, civil conversation, and 
obedient to the civil magistrate, shall be admitted freemen of this colony, 
upon their express desire therein declared to the General Assembly, either 
by themselves, iciith sufficient testimony of their fitness and qualifications 
as shall hy the Assembly he deemed satisfactory^ or if by the chief offi- 
cer of the town or towns vvhere they live they be proposed and de- 
clared as aforesaid ; and that 7ione shall have admissiofi to vote for public 
officers or dejwties, or enjoy any privilege of freemen till admitted by the 
Assembly as aforesaid, and their names recorded in the i^eneral records of 
this colony.''^ 

By this rule, the candidate for freemanship was required to possess a 
'''■ competent estate" to be of civil conversation, and obedient to the civil 
magistrate. 

Here will be discovered the first glimpse of the property qualification 
upon which the right of sulTrnge was subsequently based in Rhode Island, 
and which has resulted in so mucli difficulty and calamity to the peo))le of 
that State. It did not, however, meet with the approbation of the majority 
of those who then enjoyed the privileges of the charter, as indubitably ap- 
pears from the subsequent action of the General Assembly; for, during the 
very next year it was altered, and a liberal and enlightened rule for admis- 
sion to freemanship (in other words, basis of suffrage) was adopted. At a 
meeting of the General Assembly in May, 1666, that body passed an act 
relating to elections, which contains the following provision in relation to 
suflVage, which is the third section of the act, viz : 

'-^ A}idbe it fnrther enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the free- 
men of each respective town, on their respective town meetmg days, as shall 
be by them appointed, shall, and they hereby have full power granted them 
to admit so many persons, inhabitants of their respective towns, freeme7i of 
their towns, as shall be by them adjiidsed deserving thereof; and that the 
town clerk of each town shall once every year send a roll or list of all free- 
men so admitted in their respective towns to the general assembly, to be 
held for this colony at Newport, the day before the general election, and 
also such persons that shall be so returned and admitted freemen of the 
colony, shall be enrolled in the colony^s book by the general recorder.''^ — 
Digest 1730, jp. 16. 

Although confining the admission of citizens to freemanship, or the right 
of suffrage, to the freemen of the respective towns, the act of the assembly 
now under consideration prescribed no other rule as the basis of suffrage 
than the will of the freemen themselves. 'I'he property qualification was 
entirely repudiated. 

The rule of freemanship, or basis of suffrage, remained unchanged from 
the date of the act last cited, until 1723. At ihe session of the General 
Assembly held in February of that year, the following act was passed, viz : 

"AN ACT for directing the admitting freemen in the several towns of this colony. 

" Be it enacted by the General Assembly of this colony, and by the 
authority of the same it is enacted, That from and after the publication of 
this act, no person wluitsoever shall be admitted a freeman of any town in 
this colony, unless the person admitted be ?^ freeholder of lands, tenements, 
or hereditanients in such town where he shall be admitted free, of the value 
of one hundred pounds, or to the value oi forty shillings per annum, or the 



10 Rep No. 546. 

eldest son of such a freeholder : any ;icf, custom, or usage, to the contrary 
hereof notvvithstandinor." — DiL'est of 1730, p. 131. 

By this act a distinct freehold property qualification in the voter was first 
adopted. It required that, before the citizen could be admitted to freeman 
ship, lie sliould be a "/recAo/c/fr," or owner of lands, tenements, and he- 
reditaments, to the value of one hinidred pounds^ or to the value oi forty 
shillings per annum, or be the eldest, son of such freeholder. It not only 
established a freehold property qualification, but the justly odious ri^ht of 
priniooeniture in voting; a principle which lias, it is believed, been ex- 
])]oded and repudiated from the statute-books of every State in the Union, 
so far as the distribution of property is concerned. 

Such continued to be the qualification prescribed for the voter until 
1742, when he was required to own a freehold estate of tv)o hundred 
pounds, or ten pounds yearly value, or be the eldest son of such freeholder. 
—See Digest of 1744-'5, p. 252. 

At the Augnst session of the General Assembly in 1746, an act was 
passed requiring the voter to be possessed of a freehold estate worth four 
hundred pounds., or the yearly rent of twenty pounds., or be the eldest son 
of such freeholder. — See Digest of 1752, p. 12. 

In the years 1760, 1761, 1762, the qualification was again changed, and 
the voter was required to possess a freehold worth forty pounds., or the 
yearly rent o{ forty sliiWncrs, or be the eldest son of a freeholder. — Digest 
of 1767, p. 58. This qualification remained until 1798, when the voter was 
required to own a freehold of the value of one hundred and thirty four dollars, 
or the yearly rent of seven dollars, or be the eldest son of such freeholder; 
and such has been the qualification of the voter, substantially, from the 
last mentioned date until the final abrogation of the charter of Charles II, 
by the adoption of the constitution of December, 1841. 

At this point it should be remarked, that the fact of owning a freehold 
of the value prescribed, did not, ipso facto entitle its possessor to the right 
of suffrage. He then had to pass the ordeal of admission by the freemen 
of the town in which he resided, who might reject him if they pleased, 
notwithstanding his qualification so far as respected the ownersliip of an 
adequate freehold. And it is proper further to remark, that it appeared in 
the course of this investigation by the committee, that there were persons 
in Rhode Island at the tiuje of the adoption of the " people's constitution," 
who were never admitted to the privileges of a freeman, althouoh possess(;d 
of the requisite (lualification, so far as respected a sufficiency of freehold 
property. Thus, until the final abrogation of the charter, and the adoption 
of a written constitution, suflTrage was never conceded to be the absolute 
right of the citizen of Rhode Island ; but depended, notwithstandiriff his 
possession of the requisite amount of freehold property, upon the will ol 
those who had been admitted " free of the comj any and society" of Rhode 
Island. (See the charter of 1663.) 

It appears to the committee, from testimony, and from contemporaneous 
history, that the beisis of suffrage prescribed at different times by the gov- 
ernment of Rhode Island, however objectionable it was in principle, did 
not at first operate so much to the injury of the citizen as to induce any 
very serious dissatisfaction until comparatively a recent period. Like all 
her sister colonies, Rliode Island was, during a long period, an agricultural 
community. Her population was sparse, and it was easy to obtain the 
requisite amount of land to qualify the citizen for freemanship. Few, 



Rep. ixo. 546. 11 

therefore, were excludeJ from the enjoymoDt of the right of sufFrpge, until 
the State became a maniifacniring and mercantile couimiiiiity, and the cir- 
cumstances of Its people had become substantially changed. Tliis cliange 
in the condition, occupations, and circumstances of the people of Rhode 
Island, demonstrated clearly ihe injustice of the regulations of the govern- 
ment of the State in relation to sutirage, which operated so as to exclude a 
laro-e majority of its citizens from the exercise of that invaluable right. 
By the opeiation of the laws regulating the basis of suffrage, the political 
power of the State had passed into the hands of a minority — if, a! any period 
before, a majority of the adult citizens ftf the State bad possessed it. In 
1840, it appears by an estimate (admitted by both parties in Rhode Island 
.10 approxnnate as near to the truth as any estimate probably can) thai there 
were 22,674 adult male citizens in that State of the age of 21 years and 
upwards, exclusive of aliens, insane persons, paupers, and convicts, of whom 
9;59() only were freemen entitled to the right of suffrage. (See testimony 
of John S. Harris, table of population, &c., appendix No. 1.) Thus were 
nearly ihreefifths of the adult male citizens of that State deprived of the 
right of suffrage (which is accounted the most valuable right which an 
American citizen can possess,) by the regulations of the government claim- 
ing its authority from the charter of a King of Great Britain. 

Injustice of 7^epresetitaliofi under the charter. 

But there was still another cause which operated with equal or more 
force to throw the political power of the Slate into the hands of a small 
minority of iis citizens. It was the relative change of population which 
had taken place in the respective towns since the apportionment of repre- 
sentatives to the General Assembly, under the charter. As before stated, 
under the charter the town of Newport was entitled to six members, the 
city of Providence and the towns of Portsmouth and Warwick were en- 
tilled to four members, and all oiher towns to two. At the tune this ap- 
portionment was made, it might have been just and equal ; but, in the lapse 
of time, the subsequent relative changes of population in the several towns 
rendered it very unjust and unequal, as will be distinctly seen by the fol- 
lowing facts. In 1840, the whole population of the State was 108,837, of 
whom 22,694, exclusive of aliens, &c., were adidt white male citizens, among 
whom at that time, according to the estimate before referred to, 9,590 were 
freemen, entiiled under the laws of the State to the right of suffrage. In 
that year the highest vote was given in that State which had ever been cast 
from the date of the charter, and which was 8,622. In the same year the 
several cities, towns, and places were entitled to 72 representatives to the 
General Assembly. Of these 72 representatives, 38, or a majority, were 
apportioned to 19 towns with an aggregate population of 30,818, among 
whom were 3.538 freemen, who cast 3,149 votes in the election of 1840. 
Thus had the j)olitical power of the State become, by the unchanged rules 
of apportionment and suffrage, vested m 3.538 freemen, and was exercised 
by 3,149, who actually cast their votes in 1840. Thus were the political 
rights of more than 108,(M)0 inhabitants under the control of 3,538 of their 
inimber— being less than one thirtit ih part of the jiopulation of Rhode Island, 
and one seventh part of those who, by natural right, by reason, justice, 
and common sense, were entitled to the possession of the political power 
of the State. 



12 Rep. No. 546. 

From this state of things, (which those who had the power obstinately 
refused to change,) as will hereinafter be seen, originated the discontents, 
agitations, and movements, wfiich finally resulted in the abrogation of the 
charter of Charles II, the adoption of the people's constitution, and all the 
difliculties in the State of Rhode Island, which have grown out of that 
event. 

The committee are aware that it is alleged, in behalf of the late char- 
ter of Charles II, that it secured perfect religious liberty to the people of 
the State of Rhode Island; and that, under the operation of the Govern- 
ment established by it, the people of that State enjoyed as great a degree of 
security in their persons and property, as the people of any other State in 
the Union. In regard to the religious rights of the people of that State, it- 
is not denied that they were as carefully protected (perhaps more so) as in 
any State, or under any other government in the world. This tolerance 
in religion, however, all history shows, is to be attributed alrnost entirely 
to that illustrious friend of free inquiry, Roger Williams. In relation to 
the security of life and property, the committee cannot regard that as any 
plea of justification, on the part of the authorities of that State, for so long 
withholding from the great body of the people their invaluable political 
rights. Besides, the same argument may be urged in favor of the worst 
despotism in the christian world. There is no doubt but that life and 
property are as well protected in Russia, or in England, as they ever were 
in Rhode Island. By that, the committee intend to be imderstood that mur- 
ders, robberies, thefts, &,c., are as rigorously punished in despotic or aristo- 
cratic governments, as they are in republican. The few will always consent 
to protect the many from acts of violence upon their persons and property, 
if the latter will permit the former to rob them of their political rights. No 
such argument can avail in a country the corner stone of whose institutions 
of government is the political equality of the people. But to return. 

Such was the state of things in Rhode Island immediately preceding the 
adoption, by the people of that State, of a free constitution, and their at- 
tempt to establish a government in accordance with its provisions. 

Alleged causes of grievances under the Charter. 

The committee will now proceed to give the specific causes of grievance 
alleged by the advocates of a new constitution to exist under the charter. 
Those causes were the following: 

1. The majority of the people were deprived of all voice in framing the 
laws by which they were governed, their rights defined, and their persons 
and property protected ; and all voice in the choice of the officers by whom 
those laws were administered. 

2. They were compelled to perform military and firemen's duty, and to 
pay their share of the taxes imposed by both State and National Govern- 
ments, whilst they were deprived of all voice in both. To illustrate the 
striking injustice of this exclusion from all voice in the government, it is 
only necessary to state a few facts. It appears by a statement annexed to 
this report, (appendix No. 76,) that, in the city of Providence in 1840, there 
were 421 persons having no vote under the laws of the State, who were 
taxed on personal property owned by them in the city, amounting iu value 
to between one and two millions of dollars. Bv the same statement it also 
appears that over 6,000 of the white adult male inhabitants of the State 



Rep. No. 546. 13 

were subject to military duty. Tiiis large number of persons, paying their 
full share of taxes, and bearing the heaviest burdens of the State, were de- 
prived of all voice in the control of tlie government .which imposed those 
burdens upon them. They, with the residue of their fellow-citizens who 
were denied an enjoyment of the right of suffrage, constituting three fifths 
of the white adult male inhabitants of the State, had no more voice in the 
Government of the Umted States than so many slaves, who are represented 
by their owners. They paid their due proportion of the taxes of the Gen- 
eral Government, and were subject at all times to be called trpon to peril 
their lives in battle for its defence; and yet, in consequence of their unjust 
disfranchisement by the charter government of Rhode Island, they were 
excluded from all voice in the Government of the Union. This glaring 
and intolerable injustice was one of the grievances of which the people of 
Rhode Island complained. 

3. By the laws of the charter government, no citizen, unless he was the 
owner of a freehold, could commence a suit in a court of justice, for the 
recovery of a debt, or to obtain redress for a personal injury, without first 
procuring a freeholder to endorse or sign his writ. Thus was he depend- 
ent on the arbitrary will of a freeholder for the privilege of seeking justice 
in a court of law. Such a disability was not only an injustice, but it was 
a stigma attached to his person, which could not fail to degrade him in his 
own estimation, as well as in that of the privileged freeholder, of whom he 
was compelk'd to crave the boon of being permitted to use his name in 
pursuing his rights in a court of justice. 

4. The disfranchised citizen of Rhode Island was also deprived, through 
the operation of its laws, from the privilege granted by the constitution of 
the United States, to be tried by his peers, because freeholders only were 
allowed to serve on juries. 

5. The people of Rhode Island also complained of the great inequality 
of representation, by which, as hereinbefore shown, a small minority of the 
people controlled the political power of the State. 

6. Anotlier cause of complaint was the gross frauds perpetrated under 
the freehold system of voting, by which, in the manufacturing villages, 
freeholds v/ere expressly created for the purpose of multiplying votes ; the 
grantor always retaining control of the land granted for such fraudulent 
purposes, as well as power over the voter who had been made such by the 
flagitious operation. For the manner in which the fraud was perpetrated, 
reference is made to the testimony of Aaron White, jr. (Appendix jNo. 20.) 

7. But the grievance complained of as much as any other, was, that the 
government of the State was based on the charter of Charles II, which 
invested the legislature with unlimited power, making it despotic and su- 
preme. The people were, in fact, without a written constitution created 
by their sovereign will, and existing by their consent. 

Such were the prominent causes of grievance on the part of the people 
of Rhode Island vvhicli moved them to adopt, by the exercise of their own 
sovereign power, without the consent of the existing government of the 
State, a written constitution in place of the charter, and to organize and 
establish a government under it, and in conformity to its provisions. The 
people, however, did not resort to their ultimate sovereign right to change, 
alter, and reform the government existing over them, without repeated ef- 
forts to induce that Government to consent to, and provide for, a change ; 



14 Rep. No. 546. 

all which efforts were unavailino^, as is abundantly proved by the following 
facts, established by the contemfioraiieous history of the times. 

Efforts to procure the esfablishmenl of a written constitution, and an ex- 
tension of snffrajo-e. 

The new relations of the people to the Government, produced by the Rev- 
olution and final independence of the colonies, induced many patriotic cit- 
izens in the State of Rhode Island, at an early period after that event took 
place, earnestly to desire the abrogation of the old royal charter, and the 
adoption of a written constitution, republican in form, which would conform 
to the principles of the Revolution and the spirit of the ao^e. And hence, 
as early as 1797 an effort was made to establish a republican constitution, 
and to extend stiffrage. And the principle on which this movement was 
avowedly advocated, was the great American doctrine of l\\e absolute soi'>er- 
eignty of the people proclaimed in the declaration of independence, and 
vindicated by the toils, sacrifices, and blood of the Revolution. (See ap- 
pendix No. 18.) 

In 1811 another attempt was made to secure an extension of the right 
of suffrage. A bill for that purpose passed the Senate, but was laid upon 
the table in the House of Representatives ; and thus the attempt failed. 
(See Mr. Sayles's testimony, appendix No. 13.) 

In 1820 the subject of an extension of suffrage, connected with a more 
equal division of power, was again agitated, and a convention assembled in 
Trovidence to consider the subject. But this attempt, like those preceding 
it, failed of any beneficial results. (See appendix, No. 19.) 

In 1824 a fourth attempt was made to procure the adoption of a written 
constitution, an extension of suffrage, and an equalization of representa- 
tion. The General Assembly called a convention for the purpose, limiting 
the choice of delegates to the same to the freemen alone. (See act of the 
General Assembly passed at the January session 1824, appendix No. 150.) 

The convention assembled and framed a constitution, which was sub- 
mitted to the freemen, (landholders and their eldest sons,) and by them re- 
jected. The extension of suffrage, however, met with no lavor in the con- 
vention which framed this constitution, a proposition to that effect receiving 
but three votes in its favor. 

Another and fifth attempt to procure the establishment of a written con- 
stitution, and an extension of suffrage, was made in 1829, by a respectful 
petition numerously and respectably signed by citizens of the State of 
Rhode Island, addressed to the Legislature of the State. The subject was 
referred to a committee, and an elaborate report made through one of its 
members (Benjamin Hazard) against the further extension of suffrage. 
The report referred to, which is appended to this report, advances doctrines 
directly at war with republican principles, and the American theory of hu- 
man rights. (See exhibit B among the papers in the case of Martin Lu- 
ther, appendix No. 79.) 

In 1832 another attempt was made to procure an extension of the enjoy- 
ment of the right of suffrage, but without success. (See message of Gov- 
ernor Dorr, appendix No. 213, and testimony of W. B. Sayles.) 

In 1834 a seventh and last attempt to procure the adoption of a republi- 
can constitution, and an extension of the right of suffrage, through the 
charter Legislature, was made; which resulted in the call of a convention, 
the delegates to which were elected by landholders and their eldest sons. 



Rep. No. 546. 15 

The act cnllinof the convention also provided that the constitution which it 
mio-lit fViuiie should he subn)itted to tfie freemen for its adoption ; thus ex- 
cludino: a great majority of the adult male citizens of the State from ail 
voice in lis framing or adoption. (See act of the General Assembly, June 
session 1834, appendix No. 151.) 

A convention was elected and assembled in pursuance of the provisions 
of this act, but finally broke up for want of a quorum; and thus was noth- 
ing accouiplisfied by this movement. A proposition made in this conven- 
tion, to extend the enjoyment of the right of suffrage, received but seven 
votes. 

Thus it appears that, from 1797 to the movement of the people in 1841, 
repeated efforts had been made by the advocates of free suffraije to procure 
of the c()arter legislature an extension of the basis of suifrage, and an 
equalization of representation; but they were made in vain. Every effort 
was thwarted and defeated by the inexorable minority who liad the exclu- 
sive possession of the government of the State. After such patient hut per- 
severmg attempts to procure an acknowledgment of their just rights from 
the oligarchy into whose hands the political power of the State had fallen, 
without success, what recourse or alternative was there left to the people, 
but to resort to their original, inherent, and inalienable right of sovereignty, 
which is admitted by the American theory of government to be supreme 
over all laws and all political organizations? There was no other alterna- 
tive left to them, but a resort to their ultimate right of sovereignty; and the 
people resolved upon exercising it. 

Necessity of the people's acting independent of^ and without the consent 
of, the charter government. 

The question then occurred. How shall it be done? There was no pro- 
vision in the charter pointing out the mode by which they could proceed 
in changing it, or in forming and adopting a constitution. And the ex- 
isting authorities of the State refused to provide by law for the change in 
the form of government vvhich the people had resolved to make. The 
people, therefore, had no other mode in which to proceed in the great work 
which they had resolved upon, but by acting independently, and without 
the consent of the existing authorities, in the exercise of their sovereign 
power; and upon this course they deliberately resolved. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ADOPTION OF THE PEOPLE'S CONSTITU- 
TION, AND THEIR ACTION IN REFERENCE TO THE LANDHOLDERS' 
CONSTITUTION, AND ALSO TO THE EXISTING CONSTITUTION. 

It is proper here to remark, that during the period commencing with the 
suffrage movement, in 184(1, and ending with the establishment by the 
charter government of the existing constitution, three constitutions were 
framed and proposed to the people of Rhode Island for their adoption, viz : 
the people's constitution, the landholder's constitution, and the constitu- 
tion now in fact existing in that State. A brief history of the action of the 
people, in reference to all of the three constitutions above named, will be 
now given ; after which, the committee will proceed to consider — 

1st. The question whether or not the people's constitution was, in fact, 



i 



16 Rep. No. 54G. 

adopted by a majority of the adult male citizens of the State of Rhode 
Island, entitled to vote under its provision?. 

2d. The right of the people to change, alter, and reform existing sys- 
tems of g^overnment; in connexion with which question, the right of sat 
frage will be considered. \ 

3d. The suppression of the people's constitution, and the government es- 
tablished under it, through the intervention of the President of the United 
States, with the military power of the Union. 

4th. The power and duty of the Congress of the United States to act in 
relation to the prayer of the memorialists. 

5tli. The acts of the charter government, complained of by the memorial- 
ists, by which the people of Rhode Island were prevented, under severe 
pains, penalties, and perils, from taking any action by which they could 
test the correctness of their proceedings, in the Congress or in the judicial 
tribunals of the United States. 

Tlie committee will now briefly give the prominent facts connected with 
the history ot the adoption of the people's constitution. 

Adoption of the people's constitution. 

The first movement in favor of the adoption of the constitution be- 
fore mentioned was in the autumn of 1840, and resulted in the forma- 
tion of a suffrage association in the city of Providence, which was followed 
by the organization of similar associations throughout the State of Rhode 
Island. These associations were formed with a view to give concentration 
and energy to the suffrage movement. They were followed by a mass 
meeting of the friends of suffrage, which convened in Providence on the 
17th day of April, 1841, and which was numerously attended. This meet- 
ing was followed by another mass meeting, which was held at Newport on 
the 5th day of May, 1841. At this meeting, resolutions were adopted set- 
ting forth the principles of the suffrage movement, avowing its entire 
disconnexion with the existing political parties of the day, and appoint- 
ing a State committee of eleven persons to superintend the affairs of 
the suffrage cause. — (See exhibit F, in the case of Martin Luther, ap- 
pendix No. 83.) This last mentioned meeting adjourned to meet in 
the city of Providence on the 5th day of July following; prior to which 
time (viz: on the 11th day of June, 1841) the State suffrage committee is- 
sued an address, setting forth the grounds and principles which constituted 
the basis of the action of the suffrage party, and recommending the calling 
of a convention to frame a constitution. — (See exhibit J 6, in Luther's case, 
appendix No. 87.) 

I'he next event in the history of this movement of the people, with a 
view to the adoption of a constitution, was the holding of the mass meeting 
adjourned from Newport to Providence on the 5th day of July, which was 
attended by a large concourse of people from all portions of the State, and 
at which resolutions were passed, and other proceedings had, expressive of 
the inflexible determination of those present to establish, by a resort to 
their inherent sovereign power, a republican constitution and govern, 
ment. — (See exhibit G,ln Luther's case, appendix No. 84.) 

The next step was the issuing of an address by the State committee, dated 
on the 24ih day of July, 1841, calling upon the people to meet in their 
several towns and places on the 8th day of August then next, and choose dele- 



Hep. No. 546. 17- 

^ates to a convention to be held on the first Monday in October ensuino^, 
for the purpose of fraiiiins; a conslitntion to be submitted to the people of 
the State of Rhode Island for their adoption or rejection. The address also 
prescribed the qualifications of the electors who were to vote in the elec- 
tion of deleo;ates to the proposed convention, the manner in which the 
election was to be conducted, and the number of delegates to which each 
town was entitled. (See exhibit J a, in Luther's case, appendix No. 86.) 

In accordance v/ith this call, delegates were duly elected in the several 
towns and places in the State, with very few exceptions; and, on the first 
Monday in October, the convention assembled and proceeded in the business 
for which it was called. It sat during the remainder of the month of Oc- 
tober, and a part of Novemlier, during which time it framed a constitution, 
and adjourned to the 16th day of November; at wb.ich time the convention 
re-assembled, made some slight alterations in the instrument, published it 
on the 18th, and directed it to be submitted to the people, for their adoption 
or rejection, on the 27th day of December, to be voted for, as therein pre- 
scribed, on that and the five succeeding days. The convention then ad- 
jourtied, to meet again on the 12th day of January, 1842. 

Every person voting on the question of the adoption or rejection of this 
constitution, was required to be an American citizen of the age of twenty- 
one years, and was required to have his permanent residence, or home, in 
the State of Rhode Island. He was required to vote by a written or print- 
ed ballot, with his name written upon the face of it, and which was in the 
words following: "I am an American citizen of the age of twenty-one 
years, xand have my permanent residence, or home, in this State. 1 am (or 
not) qurdified to vote under the existing laws of this State. 1 vote for (or 
against^ the constitution formed by the convention of the people, assembled 
at Providence, and which was proposed to the people, by said convention, 
on the 18th day of November, 1841." (See a true copy of the vote in favor 
o\' the people's constitution given by William Sprague,* late a Senator of 
the United States from Ehode Island, and now opposed to the constitution 
for which he voted — appendix, No. 75.) 

The constitution also required that meetings of the citizens entitled to 
vote under it, should be held foe the purpose of its adoption or rejection, 
in the several towns of the State, ai]d wards of the city of Providence; at 
which meetings moderators and clerks were to be chosen, who were to pre- 
side over and direct the business of said meetings. 

It also provided that on tlie three first days prescribed for receiving the 
votes of the people, the citizens should deposite their ballots in person ; and, 
on the last three, in accordance with an ancient law of the colony, by proxy. 
(See appendix No. 143.) The proxy ballot was in the same form as the bal- 
lot which was required to be given in person, with the addition of the name 
of the person by whom it was received and deposited in the ballot-box, 
which was endorsed on the back thereof as a witness. (See exhibit K, in 
Luther's case, appendix No, 88.) 

The proposed constitution also required the moderators and clerks to re- 
ceive, and carefully to keep, the votes of all persons qualified to vote under 
its provisions, and to make registers of all the persons voting ; which, to- 
gether with the tickets given in by the voters, were required to be sealed up, 

♦ The Hon. Mr. Spratiue, as did many others who voied for ihe people's con>iiiutiin, after- 
wards uirned his back upon it, and gave his assistance and his influence to the charier aulhort- 
ties, to suppress it. 

2 



18 Rep. No. 54^. . 

and returned by said moderators and clerks, with certificates signed arf^ 
sealed by them, to the clerks of the convention of the people, to be by them 
safely deposited and kept, and laid before said convention, to bo counted 
and declared at its adjourned session on the I'ith day of January, 1842. 

In accordance with these provisions of the proposed constitution, on the 
days specified therein for the purpose, the people proceeded to vote on the 
question of its adoption or rejection. 'I'he votes were duly returned to the 
convention, and there counted, and the result declared as follows, viz : The 
whole number of votes given on the question of the adoption of the con- 
stitution was 14,000; of which 13,944 were in favor of the constitution, 
and 56 against it. (See testimony of John S. Harris, appendix No. 1.) 

It is proper here to remark, that all the original votes, registers, and cer- 
tificates, given and made on the adoption of the people's constitution, have 
been carefully preserved by John S. Harris, esq., one of the clerks of 
the convention, who has exhibited the same on oath to this committee, 
by whom they were all carefully examined and counted, from which 
the following result appeared, viz: Whole number of votes cast, 14,001. 
In favor of the constitution, 13,955; against it, 46. Of the 13,955 
voting in favor of the constitution, 10,193 voted in person, and 3,762 
voted by proxy. Also, of the 13,955 voting for the constitution, 4,925 
were qualified freemen under the then existing laws of the State, and 
9,026 were not qualitied, and did not enjoy the right of sulfrage under 
the then existing laws of the State. (See appendix No. 73.) As has been 
before shown in this report, the whole number of free white male citizens 
of the State, over 21 years of age, exclusive of aliens, insane persons, 
paupers, &c., was 2:^^,674. Of these, 9,590 were qualified freemen. The 
people's constitution, therefore, received the votes of a majority of 5,236 of 
the whole number of the free white male citizens of the State entitled to 
vote under it, and a ranjority of 260 of the freemen or persons qualified to 
vote under the then existing laws of the State. 

Having counted the votes, and ascertained the result, the convention, on 
the r3th day of January, 1842, passed resolutions declaring the constitution 
to have been duly ratified and adopted by a majority of tlie people of the 
State, and directing the officers of said convention to make proclamation, 
in due form, thai said constitution was henceforth the supreme and para- 
mount law and constitution of the State of Rhode Islanri ; which was ac- 
cordingly done. (See exliibit L. in Luther's case, appendix No. 89.) 

The committee cannot forbear calling the attention of the House to the 
extreme care and caution of the people of Rhode Island in this great move- 
ment, by which they now have it in their power to prove every material 
fact connected with it, from its first inception to its final consumnlation, 
by testimony which will bear the searching and rigid scrutiny authorized 
by the strictest technical rules of evidence. 

The people of Rhode Island then proceeded to electa Governor, Lieuten- 
ant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Senate, and House of 
Representatives, according to the provisions of the constitution adopted by 
them, and to organize a government under it. The officers thus elected as- 
sembled in the city of Providence on the first Tuesday of May, 1842, were 
duly qualified, and proceeded to discharge the functions of their respective 
offices. The Senate and House of Representatives were duly organized by 
the election of appropriate officers, and proceeded in the exercise of those 
acts and faculties which appertain to legislative bodies. Thus was a gov- 
ernment duly organized in ail its departments, and its machinery put in full 



Rep. No. 546. 19 

action under the constitution adopted by the people of Rhode Island, as be- 
fore mentioned, wliich retained its orijnnizalion, and exercised its powers, un- 
til finally snppressed by the charter orovernment of the State, aided and 
assisted by the President of the United States with the military power of 
the Union, (See exhibit N a, Luther's case, appendix No. 97.) 

Landholders^ constitution. 

The committee will now proceed to give a brief detail of the leadings 
facts connected with the proposal of the '-landholders' constitution," as it is 
called, to the people for their adoption, and its final rejection by them. 

After the commencement of the suffrage movement in 1840, and when 
it had become apparent that public sentiment in Kliode Island imperiously 
demanded an extension of the basis of suffrage, and a constitution republi- 
can in its principles and provisions, the charter government set about adopt- 
ing measures with a view to the forming of a constitution, and its submis- 
sion to tile people for their adoption or rejection. Accordingly, an act was 
passed by the General Assembly, at its January session in 1841, calling 
upon the freemenoi the several towns in the State to elect delegates to a 
convention to be holden at Providence on (he first Monday of November 
following, "to frame a new constitution for the State, either in whole or in 
part, with full powers for this purpose; and if only for a constitution in part, 
that said convention have under their especial consideration the expediency 
of equalizing the representation of the towns in the House of Representa- 
tives." The question of its adoption or rejection was also, by a provision 
of said act, to be submitted to the freeviea of the State. (See appendix, 
Mo. 152.) By a subsequent act, passed at the May session of the General 
Assembly in 1841, the apportionment of delegates to the proposed conven- 
tion was altered. (See appendix, No. 153 ) And, at the January session 
in 1842, the assembly passed another act, providing for the submission of 
the constitution which might be framed by the convention called by the 
act of January, 1841, to all persons who should be qu.alijied to vote under 
the provisions of said constitution. (See appendix. No. 154.) 

In pursuance of the provisions of the act calling the convention, dele- 
gates were duly chosen, and the convention assembled at the time appoint- 
ed, and proceeded to frame a constitution, a copy of which is annexed to 
thetestimojiy of John S. Harris. (See appendix, No. 3.) By the provisions of 
this constitution, the right of suffrage was conferred on — Ist. Every person 
who was entitled under the charter to vote. 2d. Every white male citizen 
of the United States, of the age of 21 years, having resided one year in the 
State, and in the town or city in whicli he claims to vote six months, pre- 
ceding the time of voting, and being possessed of a freehold estate of the 
value of $134, over and above all incumbrances, was entiiled to the right 
of suffrage. 3d. Every white male citizen of the United States, of the age 
of 21 years, having his permanent residence in the State two years, and in 
the town or place in which he claimed the right to vote six months, next 
preceding the time of voting; and every foreign naturalized citizen of the 
United States, of the age of 21 years, having his permanent residence in 
the State three years, and in the town or city in which he claimed the right 
to vote six months, preceding the time of voting, and was, moreover, pos- 
sessed of a freehold estate, over and above all incumbrances, of ^\2^. 

By the act of the General Assembly before referred to, passed at the Jan- 
uary session, 1842, all persons qualified, under the proposed constitution, 



20 . Rep. No. 546. 

were permitted to vote on the question of its adoption. In the month of 
March following it was submitted to the decision of those entitled to suf- 
frage under it, and was by them rejected by the following vote : In favor 
of ^he constitution, 8,013; against it, 8,689. Thus was the "landholders' 
constitution" rejected by the people, by a majority of 676 votes. 

In the mean time, the charter government proceeded to tal^e measures to 
prevent the organization of the government under the people's constitution ; 
and the people proceeded to take steps with a view to the organization of a 
government in accordance with its provisions; and did actually, as before 
slated, elect all the requisite officers, who were duly qualified, and all the 
machinery of the government was put in motion. Tliat government, and 
the constitution under which it was organized, were, as lias been before re- 
marked, suppressed by the acting charter authorities, through the interven- 
tion and aid of the President of the United States, with the military power 
of the General Government. 

Existing co?istilulion of the State. 

The people's constitution and government having thus been suppressed 
by force, the calamities which had befallen the State, in consequence of the 
long and obstinate refusal of the charter authorities to extend the basis of 
suffrage, and the irresistible demonstration of public opinion in surround- 
ing States, in relation to the impolicy of the course pursued by the charter 
authorities, with regard to the question of suffrage and the establishment 
of a republican constitution, induced the General Assembly again to call a 
convention, to frame another constitution to be submitted to the people; which 
that body did, by the act passed at the June session, 1S42. (See appen- 
dix. No. 157.) The act (for the first time in the history of the charter govern- 
ernment) called upon the " people," or such of them as should be qualified 
according to the provisions of the 6th section, and not the "freemen," eo nom- 
ine^ to choose delegates to the convention. Those qualifications were as 
follows : 1st. All "freemen" qualified to vote under the then existing laws. 
2d. All native male citizens of the United States, (including, of course, 
white and black,) of the age of 21 years and upwards, having had their 
permanent residence in the State three years, and in the town or city where- 
in they offer to vote one year, preceding the time of voting. On the 8th 
day of August delc^gates were chosen, who assembled in convention on the 
second Monday in September following, and proceeded to frame the consti- 
tution which now exists, in fact, in the State of Rhode Island, and under 
which its present acting government was organized. A copy of this con- 
stitution is annexed to the testimony of John S. Harris. — (Appendix, No. 10.) 
The following are substantially its provisions in relation to the right of 
suffrage : 

i. Every male citizen of the United States, of the age of 21 years, was 
entitled to vote, who had his residence in the State one year, and in the 
town or city in which he claimed the right to vote six months, and v/as 
possessed of a freehold estate, clear of incumbrance, of the value of $134, 
or the yearly rent of $7. 

2. Every mule native citizen of the United States, who had resided in the 
State two years, and in the town or city in which he claimed the right to vote 
six months, preceding the time of voting, had had his name registered, and 
had paid a tax amounting to $1, or had voluntarily paid the same amount 



Rep. No. 546. 21 

to the town in which he resides for the support of schools, or had been en- 
rolled and done military service during the year preceding his offer to vote. 

This last-mentioned constitution was snbmitted to that portion of the 
people of Rhode Island authorized to vote under its provisions, on the 2 1st, 
22d, and 23d days of November, 1842, for tlieir adoption or rejection. The 
vote upon tlje question of its adoption was as follows : In favor of the con- 
stitution, 7,024; ao:ainst it, 51 ; majority in favor at the constitution of the 
people votino- on the question of its adoption, 6,973. (See table of votes in 
John S. Harris's testimony.) 

The committee deem it proper to state, in connexion with the history 
of the origin and adoption of the constitution last mentioned, that the 
whole proceeding, from the commencement until a short time previous to 
the election of delegates to the convention which framed it, was had while 
the State of Rhode Island 7oas under the actual operation of martial law. 
The General Assembly, by an act passed at their Jinie Session in 1842, de- 
clared "the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" to be under 
martial law, until otherwise suspended by proclamation of the Governor of 
the State. (See appendix, No. 103 ) 

On the 8th day of August, 1812, the Governor issued his proclamation 
suspending the operation of martial law frotn the said 8th day of August lo 
the 1st day of 8e|)tember next ensuinij; and on the 30th day of August 
martial law was suspended for an indefinite period of lime. The military 
organization of the State was continued long after. 

Thus \vas the State of Rhode Island under tlie substantial operation of 
martial law at the very time the act of the Assembly was passed calling the 
convention which framed the existing constitution of the State, and so con- 
tinued until tlie existing government of the State u'as permanently estab- 
lished. A large portion of its citizens, who had participated in the attempt 
to establish a government under the people's onstitution, were in forced 
exile while the proceedings were had which re>ulted in the adoption of tlie 
existing constitution of the State, and dared not return from the fear of ex- 
posing themselves to the relentless proscription of a party tinshed with re- 
cent tritunph, and intent on revenge, and the perpetuation of their power 
by the most unscrupulous means. The existing constitution of that State, 
therrfore, toas voted for by the people under the duress of militarij force^ 
and the menace of political persecuiion. 

Another important fact it is also necessary to state in this connexion. 
The existing constitution of the State of Rhode Islatid did not receive^ on 
the question of its adoption, a majoritij of the votes of those persons wh.() 
were entitled, to the right of suffrage under its provisions. As before stated, 
of the 7.024 votes which were given for and against it, 6,973 were given in 
its favor. At the first election of Governor under its provisions, (which 
was held on the first Wednesday of April, 1843,) 16.52(J votes were given. 
(See appendix. No. 160.) I'he legality of these votes, which were given by 
voters registered under the provisions of the constitution, cannot be, and 
has not been, denied. Thus it appears that there were, at tlie time this con- 
stitution is alleged to have been adopted by the people, at least 9,547 per- 
sons in the State entitled to vote under its provisions, or a majority of 2,523 
who' neglected, refused, nr were prevented from voting on the question of 
its adoption. The committee are, therefore, clearly of the opinion that the 
existins: constitution of the State of Rhode Island did not, at the time of its 



22 Rep. No. 546. 

alleged adopiion by the people, receive a majority of the suffrages of the 
citizens who were entitled to vote under its provisions. 

^l"he authorities then in fact existing in Rhode Island seem to have anti- 
cfpaied such a result, and shaped their legislation ticcordingly. By the act 
calling the convention which formed the existing constiintion, a ma- 
jority of all of those who were entitled to vote^ under its provisions', on the 
question of its adoption, were required to give their voices in favnr of its 
adoption. Apprehending that a majority of such persons could not be ob- 
tained in favor of the constitution, the General Assembly, at its session in 
October, 1842, as has been before remarked, passed an actio amend the act 
calling the convention, by which it was provided that a majority of those 
7i-ho might vote on the question, only, should be necessary to its adoption. 
(See appendix, No. 159.) Therefore, according to the provisic)n& of this 
act, if twenty-five men only had voted, (thirteen for, and twelve against,) the 
constitution would have been adopted, and declared to be the fundamental 
law of the State. 

Of the comparative merits of the three constitutions proposed to the people 
of Rhode Island, it is only necessary to refer to all of them, to show that the 
people's constitution was very far superior to the other two, in the liberality 
of its provisions in regard to suffrage, its just and equal system of representa- 
tion, and its careful security of ihe rights of both persons and property. Al- 
though both the landholders' constitution, and the constitution now in force 
in Rhode Island, make comparatively liberal concessions, so far as regards 
the right of suffrage, by their apportionment of the legislative powers, the 
political power of the State is by both confined to a small minority of the 
people; thus continuing one of the gross abuses of which the people com- 
plained, and which again, m all |»robability, will lead to discontent arid dis- 
turbance. The committee have neither time nor space to go into a com- 
parison of the provisions of the three constitutions, in respect to the distri- 
bution of the legislative powers; but must refer to those instruments num- 
bered 3, 5, and 10 in the appendix, and to the census of 1S40, for tlje gene- 
ral assertion here made. 

On the first Wednesday of April succeeding its adoption, a general 
election of officers for the government to be organized under the existing 
constitution of the State was held, both parties participating in it; and, on 
the first Tuesday of May, the present government was organized in all its 
departments, and went into operation. The question now recurs. 

Was the people's constitxdion, in fact, adopted by a majorittj of the adult 
citizens of the State of Rhode Island! 

It has been alleged by the supporters of the charter government of Rhode 
Island, and has been reiterated on the floor of the House of Representatives 
during the present session, by the Representatives from the State of Rliode 
Island, that the people's constitution did not m fact receive a majority of the 
votes of tlie adult male citizens of the State, and that the apparent majority 
in its favor was obtained by fraud. The committee deemed so grave an al- 
legation from such a source worthy, at least, of their careful coiisidiMaJion ; 
and they liave duly weighed ihe question, whether the people's constitution 
did in fact receive the majority claimed for it? And, upon that question, 
they have come to an affirmative conclusion ; and they now submit the rea- 
sons on which it is based. They are as follows : 

1. They have carefully examined the votes given on the question of its 
adoption, and all the registers of the names of the voters, and the certificates 



Rep. No. 546. 23 

-of the number of the votes given in all the towns in the State. Each vote 
is signed by the name of the voter, and each proxy vote is signed by the 
name of the person receiving it, as a witness. This additional authentica- 
tion rendered the proxy vote doubly susceptible of legal proof, and, in the 
estimation of the committee, an equally, if not more, solemn declaration of 
the will of the voter. According to the count of the committee, 14,001 cit- 
izens voted on the question of the adoption of the people's constitution — 
13,955 beuig in favor of, and 4*3 ai^ainst its adoption. According to an esti- 
mate, (marked O in the case of Martin Luther, appendix No. lOl.) admitted 
to be as nearly correct as passible, there were in 1840, 25,694 males in the 
State of the age of 21 years, including every description of persons. Ex- ■ 
eluding aliens, insane persons, t^c, there were left 22,694 persons who were 
citizens of the State. By this estimate, which cannot be considered to favor 
the side of the people, it appears that the people's constitution received a plu- 
rality of 2,211 of all the male population of the State of every description, 
of the age o( 21 years; and a plurality of 5,216 of all those persons estima- 
ted to be citizens of the State. Here then, at least, was stroncr prima fade, 
if it were not conclusive, evidence of the fact that the people's constitution 
was adopted by a majority of the people of the State. It is sustained by the 
strongest positive proof 

2 It is corroborated by the fact, indisputable and admitted on all sides. 
that the landholders' constitution, intended by the charter government as a 
substitute for the people's constitution, was voted down by a majority of 676 
authorized to vote under its provisions. If the people were not in favor of 
their own constitution, why did they reject this ? The committee are aware 
tfiat it is alleged, without proof, that the landholders themselves united with 
the jieople, and voted down their own constitution. And it is alleged, with 
equal plausibility; on the other side, that many of tlie friends of the people's 
constitution, desiring an amicable settlement of the question, voted for the 
landholders' constitution, which made very liberal concessions in relation to 
suffrage. The allegations are of equal weight and plausibility, and balance 
■each other, in the estimation of the committee. They, however, regard the 
fact that the landholders' constitution was rejected by the people as strong 
corroborative proof that they preferred the constitution which had received 
a majority of their suffrages. 

3. The existing constitution received hut 7,024 votes out of an adult male 
population of 22,694 — aliens, &c., excluded ; which number did not equal a 
majority of those who voted in the first election held in pursuance of its 
provisions. 

These facts seem irresistibly to support the conclusion, that the people's 
constituion received the suffrages of a decided majority of the adult male 
citizens of the State. But there are other circumstances which maintain 
this conclusion. 

4 After the vote upon the question of the adoption of the people's constitu- 
tion had been token, and the result ascertained, a tender of the votes, regis- 
ters, and certificates, was made to the General Assembly, accompanied with 
the request that that body woidd. inquire into the fact of its adoption by a 
majority of the people. As before stated in this report, 4.925 of the freemen 
themselves, constituting a decided majority of their class, voted for the peo- 
ple's constitution ; their names were registered, under the charter laws, in the 
towns in wliich they resided. It was therefore susceptible of the clearest 
proof, whether or not that portion of the votes were genuine. The reniain- 
der, 9j026, being " non-freemen,"' were named on the registers of the several 



24 Rep. No. 546. 

towns as residents in those towns, and their votes were in exisfence, signed 
with their own names. It was, therefore, not a difficult thing to show 
whetlier these voters were genuine or not. But the charter authorities ob- 
stiiuttely refused to take this sitnpU method to put the question at rest for- 
ever. (See exliibit L a, case of Martin Luther, appendix. No. 92.) 

5. Another opportunity was presented to the existing government of the 
State of Rhode Island to disprove the fact that the people's constitution had 
been adopted by a majority of the adult citizens of the State. As herein be- 
fore stated, at the commencement of this investigation by the committee, no- 
_^tice was duly given to the Executive of Rliode Island, ajid to the members of 
the House of Representatives from the State, (Messrs. Cranston and Potter,) 
to attend its examinations. And when the committee proceeded to examine 
-and count the votes, the members before mentioned were respectluUy noti- 
fied and requested to attend the examination, and make such objections, and 
take such exceptions, as they miglit deem proper. But neither the Rxecu- 
tive of the State, nor its representatives before mentioned, have attended in 
person, or by agent, any meeting or examination of the committee. 

There were, then, at least two opportunities for the charter government, 
and its successors, either to confirm the fact that the people's constitution 
had received a majority of the votes of the people, or to disprove it, and 
cover its advocates with shame and disgrace, and thus put an end to the 
question forever. They declined both these opportunities. After this, the 
mouthsof the Oj posers of the people's constitution should be forever closed, 
and their tongues silent, in regard to the fact of its adoption by the majority 
of the people; and they should henceforth rely upon the more manly and 
honorable, but, in the opinion of the committee, untenable position, that the 
people could not move in the matter without the consent of the then exist- 
ing authorities of the State ; and, therefore, notwithstanding a majority voted 
in favor of the constitution, the act was illegal, and the constitution was a 
nullity. 

An impartial regard for truth compels the committee here to state, that 
allegations were made, through one of its members, that many of the votes 
given for the people's constitution, in ihe town of Newport, were, according 
to its own provisions, fraudulently received. A list was presented to the 
committee, containing the names of aliens, persons non resident, soldiers of 
the United States, persons at sea, minors, and persons alleged to have voted 
twice, whose votes were received in favor of the constitution. The com- 
mittee made careful examination of the votes and registers of the town, and 
found nearly all of the names of the persons alleged to be foreigners, and 
many of the names of the other descriptions of persons on both voles and 
registers. How many w^^yq actually of the classes named, the committee 
had no means of ascertaining, as no proof was offered in relation to them. 
One of the witnesses, (Mr. Harris.) however, states that the allegations, in 
part, are true, and that the votes of foreigners and soldiers were received ; 
and that there might have been two or three hundred votes received which 
ought not to have been received. The lists alleged to be fraudulent contain 
over five hundred names. The committee believe that the illegal votes do 
not equal that number; but, if the whole vote of the town of Newport 
(1,203) were rejected, there would still be left a large majority of the citi- 
zens of the State in favor of tlie people's consiitution. 

It is due also to truth to remark, that no other allegation of fraud, bearing 
any specific or tangible form, has been made against" the autheiuicity of the 
vote in fuvor of the people's constitution. 



Rep. No. 546. 25 

The committee now approach the main question involved in the centre- 
versy, which is — 

THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ALTER AND REFORM EXISTING FORMS 

OF GOVERNMENT. 

In the opinion of this committee, on the question whether or not the 
people of Rhode Island had the riglit, of their own sovereign wiU, inde- 
pendent of, and without the consent of, the existing authorities of the State, 
to change, aUer, reform, or abohsh the government deriving its power under 
the charier of King Charles the Second, turns the whole controversy m- 
volved in the late attempt to establish a republican constitution, and form 
of government under it, in that State. 

If the sovereign power of the State — by which is understood that inherent, 
original, and ultimate power, which is supreme over all constitutions and 
all laws, arid from which all political organizations, constitutions, and laws 
must emanate — do tiot in fact reside in the people, but in the political organ- 
ization thereof; or, in other words, the existing authorities, as contended 
for by the advocates of the charter government — then was the act of the peo- 
ple of Rhode Island, establishing the people's constitution, void, and the con- 
stitution a nullity. According to this theory, it would have been void if it 
had received the consent of every individual in the State. 

But, if the sovereignty of the State do reside in the people, and not in its 
political organization, or its authorities actually existing, then was the 
adoption of their constitution a rightful act, and the constitution itself 
of full force, and binding on all constituted or legal authorities, and all 
persons then existing and residing in tlie State, until abrogated by an act 
equally as solemn as that by which it was established. Their sovereign 
will was omnipotent; and all organized forms of government, all authori- 
ties, and all laws, were bound to give way and yield to its behests. 

Does the sovereignty of a State reside in the people? 

The committee cannot here forbear expressing their astonishment, that 
within the period of seventy years from the date of the American Revolu- 
tion, they should be called upon to vindicate, by argument, the great princi- 
ple on which that revolution turned, and which was proclaimed to the world 
in tiie solemn and impressive eloquence of the declaration of independence. 
The denial of the absolute sovereignty of the people in this free country, and 
in this age of enlightenment, in regard to political rights, is so novel, so dar- 
ing, and so audacious, as for a moment to paralyze the energies of thought, 
and upset all settled and preconceived notions of the rights and power of the 
people, and the nature and authority of the government which it has been 
heretofore supposed they could set up and pull down by any authentic act 
of their sovereign will. The fact, therefore, that opinions so hostile to the 
liberties and happiness of mankind are incoming so prevalent as to be 
openly and boldly expressed, not only by persons high in official stations, 
but by a distinguished individual (and many of his adherents) who is now 
aspiring to the proudest oiEce in the gift of the American people, renders it 
necessary that the important doctrine of popular sovereignty be reviewed, 
and again re-asserted by those wlio desire the maintenance of popular insti- 
tutions, and the perpetuation of liberty itself. 

The committee now proceed to consider the question above stated. They 
do not intend to theoriz ; themselves, nor to enter into elaborate argument 
upon the great question which they now propose to consider. Mainly in 
place of their own opinions and reasoning, they prefer to give, as entitled to 



26 Rep. No. 546. 

far greater respect and weis^ht, the views and opinions of eiiiinent writers on 
popular rio-hts, and of the fathers of American Hberty and independence ; and 
the practical exposition which has been given to the doctrine of popular 
sovereignty by the framers of a large majority of the constitutions of the sev- 
eral States, and of the highest judicial and legislative anthoriiiesof the Union. 

But, before proceeding to give the authorities on which they base their 
own opinions, and the right ofthe people of Rhode Island to abolish, by an 
act of tlieir inherent sovereignty, the government then existing in that State, 
and to establish another in its place, the committee will state briefly the 
different theories entertained at the present day in relation to tlie head or 
depository of the sovereign power of a State. 

In absolute governments, it theoretically resides in the monarch, from 
whom all power, law, authority, honor, and distinction are supposed to ema- 
nate. I'his theory entirely exchides the people from all voice or participation 
in the government, except as agents and subjects. They are used as mere 
instruments to execute the will of the supreme head, or regarded as sub- 
jects bound to obey. 

In mixed governments or constitutional monarchies, like that of Great 
Britain, the sovereignty of the nation is supposed to reside in the Crown, 
which is the representative of the king, lords, and comnions — in other 
words, it is held to reside in the political oraranizaiion of the State. Ac- 
cording to this theory, the people, as such, have no sovereign rights; they 
cannot cliatige the fundamental law of the empire, or its form of govern- 
ment, of their own sovereign will; but such change or alteration can only 
be done by the parliament, or legislature, with the assent of the king, or 
executive head. 

The republican theory differs radically and fundamentally from the two 
just stated. It holds that sovereignty is vested not in a single individ- 
ual who happens to be at the head of the nation, nor in its political or- 
ganization, or constituted forms of government, but in tlie people them- 
selves, by whom, and for whose protection and welfare, all government is, 
or should be, instituted. It holds that the sovereign power belongs to the 
whole people, of which each individual is joint tenant with his fellows, and 
an equal sharer in the political sovereignty ofthe State. Before the Revo- 
lution, the sovereign power was lodged with the King of England. He 
was the sovereign, and the people of the colonies the subjects. When 
the separation took place, the sovereign power was remitted from the king — 
who held it not by concession, but by usurpiition and force — to the people, to 
whom it always rightfully belornged. They were then, in fact, as well as 
theory, the sovereign; and all existing forms and institutions of government, 
and those afterwards to be instituted, were the instruments or means in their 
hands by which they secured and perpetuated their liberty, safety, and hap- 
piness. They can, therefore, fH all times, and in any manner they may 
think proper, alter, reform, or abolish existing forms of government, and 
institute other forms in tlie places of those they abrogate, whenever they 
deem such an act necessary for the perpetuation of their hberty, safety, or 
happiness. That this is the American theory, and the principle on which 
the existing political systems of the American Union are lonnded, the 
committee will now proceed to show by the following 

Authorities. 

They will first cite the Declaration of Independence, wliich is the first 
solemn and authentic assertion of the principle contended for. It says — 



Rep. No. 546. 27 

''We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal ; 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that 
amono- them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure 
these riirhts, governments are instituted among men, deriviiio- tJieir jt(st. 
potvc-rsfroin, the consent of the gootrned ; that when any form of govern- 
ment becomes destructive of their ends, it is the right of the peopb: to alter 
or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on 
such principles, and organizmg its power in such torms, as to them shall 
seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." 

As before remarked, this was the first authentic and solemn promulga- 
tion of the American theory of government. 

The committee are not unaware that it is objected, by the opponents of 
the doctrine of popular sovereignty, tiiat the sentence just quoted from the 
Declaration of Independence was only the mere assertion of the rigJit of 
revolution. Such a construction cannot be admitted, nor is it consistent 
with reason and common sense. If the right of revolution was only in- 
tended to be asserted by the illustrious signers of the document just quoted, 
they asserted only a right which is everywhere admitted, and everywhere 
exercised, wherever tlie people have the power and the wi!l to exercise it. 
It is a right which belongs to the oppressed in every land and clime, to 
every age and nation — as much to the people of Russia, of Turkey, or of 
China, as to the free-born citizens of America. Its exercise always implies 
force, and, if successful, it is illustrated with the honors of patrioiism ; but if 
unsuccessful, it is stig hatised vviih the epithet of rebellion, and covered with 
the disgrace of treason. The fathers of the American Revolution, when 
they asserted the great right of the people -to alter and abolish" the exist- 
ing government wlien it was perverted to the purposes of tyranny, or failed 
to answer the ends for which it was instituted, and maintained that right with 
their toil and blood, could never have intended that it was nothiuir more 
than tbe right which the oppressed people of England, the serfs of Russia, 
or the slaves of Turkey enjoy, and may exercise whenever they have the 
power and will to do it. They could never have contemplatpd any such 
absurdity; but they intended to assert that it was an inherent right in the 
people, which they could at all times peaceably exercise, whenever it be 
came necessary for their security and happiness. They were founding an 
empire whose government was to exist in the consent and for the benefit of 
the people; and thev were asserting a right which would enable the peo- 
ple to reform that government, when, from any cause, it became necessary, 
peaceably, and without bloodshed and viofence. They proclaimed that 
the people in their political capacity are above all laws, and all constituted 
forms of government, which were their own creations, and which tliey 
could mould and re form at pleasure. Such is the principle which the com- 
mittee believe was intended to be asserted by the signers of the Declaration 
of Independence; and in this view they rejoice, for the cause of liberty, and 
for the welfire of the human race, to find themselves sustained by many il- 
lustrious conmnentators on the American theory of government, and the 
founders of most of tbe constitutions of the several States of the Union. 
They proceed now to cite the additional authorities on which they rely; 
and they first quote the "father of his country," who, in his Farewell Ad- 
dress, says : 

"The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and 
alter ih^h constitution of government ; but the constitution which at any 



28 Kep. No. 546. 

time exists, till changed by an explicit and autJientic act of the whole peo- 
ple, is siicredlv obligatory upon all." 

Mr. Jefferson saj's : 

" It is not only the rights but the duty of those now an the stage of action^ 
to change the laws and institutions of government, to keep pace with the 
progress of knowledge, the light of science, and the amelioration of the 
condition of society, Not'iing is to be considered unchangeable, but the in- 
herent and inalienable rights of man." 

Justice Iredell, of the Supreme Court of the United States, in speaking of 
the difference between the principles of the European Governments and 
those of our own, (3d vol. Elliot's Debates.) says: 

"Our Government is founded on much nobler principles. The people 
are known with certainty to have originated it themselves. Those in 
power are their servants and agents ; and the yeople^ without their consent^ 
may remodel the Government whenever they think proper, not merely be- 
cause it is oppressively exercised, but because they think another form is 
more conducive to their welfareP — tStory''s Cominentaries^ vol. 1, p. 32(5. 

Hamilton says, (Federalist, JNo. 22:) 

"The fabric of American empire ouaht to rest on the solid basis of the 
consent of tlie people. The streams of national power ought to flow im- 
mediately from tliat pure original fountain of all legitimate authority." 

Jay. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, says: 

" At the Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the peo])le, and they 
are truly the sovereigns of the country ; but they are sovereigns without 
subjects, (unless the African slaves among us may be so called.) and have 
none to govern but themselves : the citizens of America are equal as fel- 
low citizens, and as joint tenants in the sovereignty." — 2 Dallas's lie- 
ports^ 41 Q.- 
Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, says : 

"It has been said that the people had already surrendered all their pow- 
ers to the State sovereignties, and had nothinof more to give. Hut, surely 
the question whether they may resume and modify the powers granted to 
government does not remain to be settled in this country." — 4 Wheat- 
on's Reports, 405. 

Justice Wilson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a mem- 
ber of the convention of 1787.*vhich framed the Constitution of the United 
States, and afterwards a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
says : 

"Of the right of a majority of the whole people to change their govern- 
ment at vnlL there is no doubt." — 1 Wilson, 418; 1 Tucker's Black. Conim., 
165, cited 324 p., vol. 1, Story's Conivi. 

Again, the same judge says : 

' Permit me to mention one great principle — the vital principle, I may 
well call it— which diffuses animation and vigor through all the others. 
The principle I mean is this: that the supreme or sovereign power of the 
society resides in the citizens at large; and that, therefore, they always 
retain the right of abolishing, altering, or amending their constitution, in 
whatever manner they shall deem expedient." — Lectures on Law, vol. 1, 
p. 17. 



Rep. No. 546. 29 

Again, he says: 

"Perhaps some poHtician, who has not considered with sufficient accu- 
racy our political systems, would answer, that, in our o-overnment, the 
supreme power was vested iu the constitution. This opinion approaches 
a step nearer to the truth, (than the supposition that it resides in the legisla- 
tures,) but does not reach it. The truth is, that, in our government, the 
supreme, absolute, and uncontrolable power remains in the people. A5 
our constitutions are superior to our legislatures, so the people are superior 
to our constitutions. Indeed, the superiority in this last instance is much 
greater; for the people possess, over our constitutions, control in act as 
well as right." — Works, vol 3, /j, 292. 

Again, he says : 

" The consequence is, that the people may change the constitution 
whnnever and however they please. This is a right of which no positive 
institution can deprive them. 

" These important truths, sir, are far froiTi being merely speculative ; we, 
at this moment, speak and deliberate under their immediate and benign in- 
fluence. To the operation of these truths we are to ascribe the scene, 
hitherto unparalleled, which America now exhibits to the world — a gentle, 
a peaceful, a voluntary, and a deliberate transition from one constitution of 
government to another, (from the confederation to the constitution of the 
United States ) In other parts of the world, the idea of revolution in gov- 
ernment is by a mournful and indissoluble association, connected with the 
idea of wars, and all the calamities attendant on .war. 

" Hut happy experience teaches us to view such revolutions in a very 
different light — to consider them as progressive steps in improving the 
knowledo;e of government, and increasing the happiness of society and 
mankind. 

"Oft have I viewed, with silent pleasure and admiration, the force and 
prevalence through the United States of this principle, — that the supreme 
power resides in the people, and that they never part with it. It may be 
called the panacea in politics, if the error be in the legislature, it may be 
corrected by the constitution : if in the constitution, it may be corrected by 
the people. There is a remedy, therefore, for every distemper in govern- 
ment, it the people are not wanting to themselves." — Wilsoii^s Worksy vol. 
3, p. 293. 

Again : 

"A revolution principle certainly is, and certainly should be, taught as a 
principle of the constitution of the United States, and of every State in 
the Union. This revolution principle — that, the sovereign power residing 
in the people, they may change their constitution and government when- 
ever they please — is not a principle of discord, rancor, or war; it is a prin- 
ciple of melioration, contentment, and peace," — Wilsoii's Led., vol. \,p.2\. 

Again : 

" As to the people, however, in whom the sovereign«power resides : from 
their authority the constitution originates ; in their hands it is as clay in 
the hands of the potter ; they have the right to mould, to preserve, to ftn- 
prove, to refine, and to finish it as they please. If so, can it be doubted 
that they have the, right likewise to change it?" — Vol. 1. /;. 410. 



30 Rep. No. 546. 

Again ; 

"The dread and redoublable sovereign, when traced to his ultimate and 
genuine source, has been found — as he ought to have been found — in the 
"free and independent man, Tliis truth, so simple and natural, and yet so 
neglected or despised, may be appreciated as the first and fundamental 
principle in the science of government," — Lectures on Law^ vol, 1, p. 25. 

And again : 

'•A proper regard to the oriffinal, and inherent, and continued power of 
{\\Q society to change its constitution, will prevent mistakes and mischief of 
a very different kmd. It will prevent giddy inconstancy; it will prevent 
unthinking rashness; it will prevent unmanly languor." — Wilson, vol. I, 
p. 420. 

Justice Patterson, of the Supreme Court of the United States, says: 
"The constitution is the work of the people themselves, in their original, 
sovereign, and unlimited capacity," " A constitution is the form of govern- 
ment delineated by the mighty hand of the people," is " paramount to the 
will of the Legislature," and is liable only " to be revoked or altered by 
those who made it," — 11 Dallas^s Rep. p. 304. 

The Supreme Court of the United States says, by Marshall, Chief Justice* 

" That the people have an original right to establish, for their future gov- 
ernment, such principles as, in their opinion, shall most conduce to their 
own happiness, is the basis on which the whole American fabric has been 
erected. The exercise of this original right is a very great exertion ; nor 
can it, nor ought it to be frequently repeated." — 1 Crunch 157, cited 431 
Stort/ Com. vol. 3. 

Rawle, an able commentator on the constitution, says: 
" Vattel justly observes, that the perfection of a State, and its aptitude to 
fulfil the ends proposed by society, depend upon its constitution. The first 
duty to itself is to form the best constitution possible, and one most suited 
to its circumstances; and thus it lays the foundation of its safety, permanence, 
and happiness. But the best constitution which can be framed with the 
most anxious deliberation that can be bestowed upon it, may, in practice, 
be found imperfect and inadequate to the true interests of society. Alter- 
ations and amendments then become desirable. The people retain — the peo- 
ple cannot, perhaps, divest the7nselves of the power to make such alterations. 
A moral power, equal to and of the same nature with that which made, alone 
can destroy. The laws of one legislature may be repealed by atiother legis- 
lature, and the power lo repeal them cannot be withheld by the power that 
enacted them. iSo the people may, on the same principle, at any time alter 
or abolish the constitution they have formed. This has been frequently 
and peaceably done by several of these States since 1776. If a particular 
mode of effecting such alterations has been agreed upon, it is most conve- 
nient to adhere to it, but it is not exclusively bindingJ^ — Rawle on the Con- 
stitution, p. 17. 

Justice Story, of the Supreme Court of the United States, says, in his 
Commentaries on the Constitution : 

" The declaration puts the doctrine on the true ground — that govern- 



Rep. No. 546. 81 

ment derives its powers from the co?isent of the governed. And the 
people have a rigfit to alter it," «fec. — p. 300, vol. 1. 

Again, Judge Story, speaking of the Declaration of Independence, says: 
" It was not an act done by the State governments then organized, nor 
by persons chosen by them. It was emphatically the act of the whole 
people of the united colonies, by the instrumentality of their representatives 
chosen for that among other purposes. It was an act not competent to the 
State governments, or any of them, as organized under their charters, to 
adopt. Those charters neither contemplated the case, nor provided for it. 
It was an act of original inlierent sovereignty by the people themselves ; 
resulting from i/ieir right to change the form of government^ and to insti- 
tute a neio government^ wh,enever necessary for their safety and happi- 
ness.^^ — Story^s Com. on the Constitution, vol. l,jo. 198. 

Again, commenting upon the origin of the Congress of 1774, he says : 

"In some of the legislatures of the colonies, which were then in session, 
delegates were appointed by the popular, or representative branch ; and in 
other cuj^es they were appointed by conventions of the people in the colo- 
nies. The convention of delegates assembled on the 4th of September, 
1774 ; and having chosen officers, they adopted certain fundamental rules 
for their proceedings. 

"Thus was organized — under the auspices, and with the consent of the 
people, acting directly, in their primary, sovereign capacity, and without 
the intervention of the functionaries to whom the ordinary powers of gov- 
ernment were derived in the colonies — the first general or national govern- 
ment. 

"The Congress thus assembled exercised, de facto and dejure, a sovereign 
authority — not as the delegated agents of the government de facto of the 
colonies, but in virtue of original powers derived from the people." — Story^s 
Com. on the Co?istitution, vol. \,pp. 1S5, 186. 

Mr. Paine, in his Essay on the Rights of Man, p. 184, contending for the 
right of t!ie people to change or remodel their constitutions, without the 
consent of the existing government, says : 

"Government has no right to make itself a party in any debate respect- 
ing the principles or modes of forming or oi changing constitutions. It is 
not for the benefit of those who exercise the powers of government that 
constitutions, and the governments issuing from them, are established. In 
all those matters, the right of judging and acting are in those who pay, 
and not those who receive.''^ 

Again, he says : 

" A constitution is the property of a nation, and not of those who exercise 
the government." 

Again, p. 185, he says : 

"The laws which are enacted by governments control men only as in- 
dividuals ; but the nation, through its constitution, controls the whole gov- 
ernment, and has a natural ability so to do. The final controlling power., 
therefore, and the original constituting power, are one and the same power." 

It may be contended that the authorities above cited refer only to the 
right of the whole people to form or remodel their constitutions— that when 



32 Rep. No. 546. 

the political compact has been once formed, it cannot be changed by a 
majority of the people, unless expressly stipulated in the compact, but must 
be changed by the act of the whole people, or such part of then, to whom 
the right is expressly reserved in the compact (or constitution) itself. 

The committee do not agree to this hmit of the power of the majority. 
All social and political compacts are formed for the " greatest good of the 
whole number." It cannot be supposed that any compact of society, or 
government, was ever entered into by persons possessing tfie same equality 
of right as they must be supposed to possess in the state of nature, witli the 
express object of securing a greater portion of power and privilege to the 
minority than the majority enjoyed. That could not be the design of 
social compacts, nor of constitutional compacts. The democratic theory 
of government is, that the majority shall govern. That is the theory on 
which is founded the wiiole American system of government. Constitu- 
tions are adopted to prescribe the rules by which the power of the majority 
shall be exercised. They provide certain organizations and modes through 
which the power of the majority shall be expressed in legislation and in the 
administration of government, that its action may be consistent, regular, 
certain, and moderate. But it should never be forgotten that these very 
constitutional limitations are the work of the majority. The sovereign 
will of the majority spoke those constitutional limitations into being; and 
it can alter them, modify them, repeal them, and substitute others in their 
place. That the majority should possess this right, is most obvious to 
reason. Political power, from numerous causes, may pass from the many 
to the few. By the local changes of population, it may be thus transferred, 
it is, in some degree, inseparable from representative fornjs of government, 
and more particularly wlien representation is apportioned to territory, (as it 
was in Rhode Island under the charter, and as it is in many of the States 
of the Union,) and not to population. 

By the power of construction^ which those possess who administer the 
Government, it may be perverted from the original purpose of its creation, 
into an instrument of oppression and injustice, even while retaining the 
republican form. Even great discoveries of science may so operate as to 
neutralize the wholesome action of Government, by concentrating power in 
the hands of a few, and thus rendering necessary a new adjustment of it. To 
counteract these tendencies of the powers of government to pass from the 
many to the few, it becomes necessary that the right of reform should ever 
exist in the majority. It is the living principle of free government, without 
which it could not long exist, but would inevitably become a prey to 
usurpation, and the instrument of despotism. Therefore, when a govern- 
ment is perverted from the true and legitimate purpose of its institution, or 
from any cause becomes burdensome and oppressive, the majority should 
always have the right to reclaim the power thus abused, and, by introdu- 
cing new checks and limitations, and making new distributions of it among 
its administrators, to secure its just and equitable administration. 

It is indeed contended, that, when the political compact is once formed, 
it is a contract, and cannot be changed without the consent of every indi- 
vidual who is a party to it. However plausible this proposition may be in 
the statement, its logic cannot bear the test of analj^sis. The political com- 
pact, like all others^ is to be tested by the obvious meaning and intention of 
the parties to it. And what is the intention of the parties to the political 
compact ? It is, to secure to those entering into it the full and complete 



Rep. No. 546. 33 

'enjoyment of life, liberty, and the right to seek iheir own happiness, not 
only tor the present, but for all future time. With a full knowledoje of the 
facis that all things connected with hunjan affairs are ever progressmg and 
ever changing — that forms of government establislied at one time may, by 
the lapse of time, and the change of circumstaiic*s, cease to be adapted to 
attain the ends of the political compact — those who enter into it cannot, at the 
time, suppose that its terms and farms are not to change with the changes 
of society, I,f such were the understanding, they will have stipulated for 
tne absurdity, that, while all other things connected with human affairs are 
subject to vicissitude, instead of conforming to the new conditions of soci- 
ety, the terms of the political compact are to be immutable and perpetual. 
But such could not have been the meaning of the original parties to it, sup- 
posing such an original compact of society ever to have been formed. On the 
other hand, it is reasonable to presume that it is one of the implied condi- 
tions of tlie social or political compact, that it shall be subject to all changes 
wliich may be necessary to make it conform to the new conditions of society, 
and to secure the object of its original formation. This is the voice of 
nature, of reason, of true philosophy. The dead cannot bind the living; 
and, therefore, when any compacts or institutions of the dead become bur- 
densome or oppressive to the living, the latter may alter or abolish such 
compacts or institutions, and form others that will secure to them the enjoy- 
ment of the rights to which they are, by nature, entitled. A contrary doc- 
trine would perpetuate the errors and imperfections of government through- 
out all time. Besides, it may be safely assumed that the social or political 
compact was formed (if the theory was ever true in fact) upon the principle 
of the majority, — that is, that the majority, having the power, prescribed the 
terms of the compact. It is not reasonable, therefore, to suppose that the 
majority, by whose consent the compact was originally formed, would yield 
up the powers to which they were by nature entitled, to the minority. 
And it is incumbent on those who assert a contrary doctrine to prove 
that such was the fact. It is incumbent on them to show that, in all com- 
munities where the minority actually possess and exercise the political 
power, and the majority are excluded from it, such exclusion is irilli the 
consent of the majority, and not the result of fraud, usurpation, or force, 
against their consent. On the other hand, it is always to be presumed that, 
in all communities in which the minority possess and exercise the political 
power, and the majority are excluded from it, it is not with the consent of 
the majority, but is the result of fraud, usurpation, or force, until the con- 
trary be proved. 

But the committee are not without authorities to sustain their views on 
this point. They again quote Judge Story, who says : 

" The understanding is general, if not universal, that, having been 
adopted by a majority of the people, the constitution of the State binds the 
whole community, proprio vigore, (by its own innate power,) and is unal- 
terable, unless by the consent of a majority of the people, or at least by the 
qualified voters of the State, in the manner prescribed by the constitution, 
or otherwise provided by the majority. No right exists, or is supposed to 
exist, on the part of any town or county, or any organized body within the 
State, short of the whole people of the State, to alter, suspend, resist, or dis- 
own the operations of that constitution, or to withdraw themselves from its 
jurisdiction ; much less is the compact supposed liable to interruption, or 



34 Bep. No. 546. 

suspension, or dissolution, at the will of any private citizen, upon Iiis own 
notion of its obligations, or of any infringement of ihem by ihe constituted 
authorities. Tlie only redress for any such infringenients, and ihe only 
guaranties of individual rights and property, are understood to consist in 
the peaceable appeal to the proper tribunals constituted by the government 
for such purposes ; if these should fail^ by the ultimate aypeal to the good 
sense and justice of the ntojorit'ij. And- this, according to Mr. Locke, is the 
true sense of the original compact, by which every individual has surren- 
dered to the majority of the society the right permanently to control and 
direct the operations of the government therein." — tStory^s Comm.^ vol. 1, 
f. 305-6. 

Mr. Chapman Johnson, a distinguished federalist of Virginia, in a speech 
in the Virginia convention in 1829-30, says : 

" But who is to judge whether the government has been adequate to the 
object of its institution? Who to judge of the manner of its reform'? 
Surely the people who ordained it ; the people, for whose happiness and 
safety it was instituted ; the people, to a majority of whom the right of re- 
form is declared unquestionably to belong ; — the people are the sole exclu- 
sive judges. It is their duty, 1 admit, to listen with all deference and re- 
spect to the counsels of their v/ise men, who may tell them, ' We have 
been long and attentive observers of the operations of your government; 
we have compared it with all the governments of the world, ancient and 
modern ; we are satisfied it is the best that ever existed ; we can de- 
monstrate that it has fulfilled all the great ends of its institution ; that it 
has secured you all the happiness and safety which it is the province of 
government to secure; and that an attempt to change it essentially is a 
wanton experiment, to make that better which is already good beyond the 
common lot of human institutions; it is to sport with the blessings of Prov- 
idence, and encounter the imminent hazard of losing all that is valuable in 
practice, in the vain pursuit of all that is perfect in theory.' After atten- 
tively and impartially considering all the arguments adduced to sustain 
these counsels, and carefully weighing every fact on which they rest, if 
convinced by them, it is a solemn duty to themselves, to posterity, and to 
all mankind, to reject all propositions to reform, to preserve a model of so 
much excellence as an example to the world, and as a rich inheritance to 
the generations that are to come. But, if they are not convinced ; if, on 
the contrary, their judgments are satisfied that they have not enjoyed the 
degree of happiness and safety which good government ought to assure \ 
that their government is not only imperfect in theory, but defective in prac- 
tice ; that its defects may be safely remedied, and its practical good much 
enhanced ; — then there is but one answer which they can give to these 
counsels: ' We acknowledge your experience, your wisdoip, your virtue — 
the great superiority of your attainments, and the miire sincerity of your 
opinions ; we admire the plain, candid, and manly language in which you 
have spoken disagreeable truths ; we thank you — sincerely thank you— for 
the parental solicitude with which you have raised your warning voice. 
Uut you must allow that we, too, have some experience in the operations of 
our own government; that we have enjoyed its blessings, suffered its evils, 
and have some opportunity of judging whether the one may be abated, or 
the other increased. You must remember that you are endeavoring to 
prove to us, by rhetoric and logic, that we are prosperous and happy, when 



Rep. No. 546. 35 

our own senses, and the reflections of our own minds, have conducted us . 
to a different conchision ; ours is the stake in this government; ours the 
loss, if ill should result ; ours the gain, if happiness should aUend our re- 
forin ; ours, therefore, is the province to judge, and you ncust excuse us if, 
dissenting from your opinions, we feel bound to follow the dictates of our 
own judgments.' 

" Tlie people, then, Mr. Chairman, must judge for themselves, when the 
casus foederis has occurred; when the defects of the government require 
reform ; and, judging (hat time to have arrived, the. vnquestioi/able right 
to reform belongs' to the majority." — Debates in the Virginia convention, 
pp. 202, 263. 

Mr. Locke, in his work on civil government, says : 

" For w.here any number of men have, by the consent of every individ- 
ual, made a community, they have thereby made that community one body, 
with a power to act as one body, which is only by the will and determina- 
tion of the majority; for that which acts any community, being only the 
consent of the individuals of it, and it being neces;-ary to that, which is 
one body, to move one way, it is necessary the hotly should move that way, 
whither the great force carries it, which is the consent of the majority ; or 
else it is impossible it should act or continue one body — one community — 
which the consent of every individual that united into it agreed that it 
should ; and so every one is bound by that consent to be concluded by the 
majority. And therefore we see that, in assemblies empowered to act by 
positive laws, where Jio number is set by that positive law which empowers 
them, the act of the majority passes for the act of the whole, and of course 
determines as having, by the law of nature and reason, the power of the 
whole ; and thus every man, by consenting with others to make one body 
politic under one government, jo//^5 himself under an obligation to every 
one of that society to submit to the determination of the majority^ and to 
he concluded by it.^ 

Mr. Madison, in relation to the same subject, says: 

" If we resort for a criterion to the different principles on which different 
forms of government are established, we may define a republic to be, or at 
least may bestow that name on, a government which derives all its powers 
directly or indirectly from the great body of the peopli^J'^ * * * 

«' It is essential to such a government that it be derived from the great body 
of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion or Si favored class of it ;. 
otherwise a handtiil of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a< 
delegation of their power, might aspire to the rank of republicans, ands 
claim for their government the honorable title of republic. 

" It is essential for such a government that persons administering it be 
appointed, either directly or indirectly, by the people; and that they hold, 
their appointment by either of the tenures just specified ; otherwise, every 
government in the United States, as well as any other popular government 
that has been, or can be, well organized, or well executed, would be de- 
graded from the republican character." — The Federalist, No. 39. 

These views are consistent with the universally received doctrine in re- 
lation to republican government, — that, in the formation of the social com- 
pact, the minority agree to submit to the will of the majority in the admin- 
istration of its political concerns. The object of the social compact is the 



86 Eep. No. 546. 

mutual safety and security of all ; and it is ever to be presuniod, whatever the 
fact may be, that the administration of its concerns will never be in viola- 
tion of strict and impartial justice. 

The committee will now cite another class of authorities — being no other 
than the declarations of right in the constitutions of twenty of the sovereign 
States of the Union. They follow : 

^'All jjower is inherent in the people ; all free governments are founded 
in their authority, and instituted for their benefit. Thep have, therefore, 
an unalienable and indefeasible right to institute government, and to alter, 
reform, or totally change the same, when their safety and happiness require 
it." — Constitution of Maine. 

'• The end of the institution, maintenance, and administration of govern- 
ment, is to secure the existence of the body politic, to protect it, and to fur- 
nish the individuals who compose it with the power of enjoying, in safety 
and tranquillity, their natural rights and blessings of life ; and, whenever 
these great objects are not obtained, the people have a right to alter the 
government, and to take measures necessary for their safety, prosperity, and 
happiness. 

" Government is instituted for the common good ; for the protection, 
safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people, and not for the profit, honar. 
or private interest of any one man, family, and any class of men ; there- 
fore the people alone have an incontestable., unalienable, and indefeasible 
right to institute government, and to reform, alter., or totally change the 
same when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it." — 
Constitution of Massachusetts. 

''Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and 
security of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emol- 
ument of any one man, family, or class of men ; therefore, whenever the 
ends of the government are perverted, or public liberty manifestly endan- 
gered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may., and 
of right ought ^o, reform the old, or establish a new government." — Con- 
stitution of New Hampshire. 

"That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, 
protection, and security of the people, nation, or community, and not for the 
particular emolument or advantage of any single man, family, or set of 
men, who are a part only of that community; and that the community hath 
an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or alter gov- 
ernment, in such manner as shall be by that community judged most con- 
ducive to the public weal." — Constitution of Vermont. 

" Tiiat all political power is inherent i?i the people, and all free govern- 
ments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit ; and 
that they have at all times an undeniable and indefeasible right to alter their 
form of government in suchmarmer as they may think expedient.'''' — Con- 
stitution of Connecticut. 

"That all power is inherent in tJie people, and all free governments are 
founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and hap- 
piness. For the advancement of those ends, they have at all times an 
unalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish their govern- 
ment in such m.anner as they may think proper." — Constitution of Penn- 
sylvan ia. 

" Through Divine goodness, all men have, by nature, the rights of wor- 



Rep. No. 546. 37 

sliippino- and serving their Creator according to the dictates of. their con- 
sciences, of enjoying and defending hfe and liberty, of acquiring and pro- 
tectino- reputation and propertv, and, in general, of attaining objects suitable 
to their condition, without injury by one to another ; and, as these rights 
are essential to their welfare lor the due exercise thereof, power is inherent 
in them; and theref)re all just authority in the institutions ol political so- 
ciety is derived from the people^ and established with their consent, to ad- 
vance their happiness: and they may for this end, as circumstances require, 
from time to time, alter their constitution of government." — Constitution of 
Delmvare. 

" 1. That all government, of right, oriiritiates frotn the people, is founded 
in compact only, and instituted solely for the good of the whole. 

"2. That the people of this State oui;ht to have the sole and exclusive 
right of regulating the internal government and police thereof." — Consti- 
tution of Maryland. 

"That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, 
protection, and security of the people, nation, or x^ommunity; of all the va- 
rious modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of pro- 
ducing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually 
secured against the danger of maladministration ; and that when any gov- 
ernment shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a viajor- 
ity of the conirmtaity hatli an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible 
right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most 
conducive to the public weal.^^ — Const iiu/inn of Virginia. 

" I. That all political power is vested in, and derived from, the people 
only. 

" 2. That the people of this State ought to have the sole and exclusive 
riffht of regulating the internal government and pohce thereof" — Constitu- 
tion of North. Carolina. 

" 'i'hat all power is inherent in tJie people, and all free governments are 
founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and happi- 
ness. For the advancement of these ends, they have at all times an una- 
lienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish their sfovernment, 
in such manner as they may think proper.'' — Consfitutiim, of Kentucky. 

"That all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are 
founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and happi- 
ness. For the advancement of those ends, they have at all times an una- 
henable and indefeasible right to alter, reflirm, or abolish the government, 
in such manner as theymnay think proper.'''' — 'Constitution of feniiessee. 

" That all 'men are born equally free and independent, and have certain 
natural, inherent, and unalienable rights, amongst which are the enjoying 
and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting prop- 
erty, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safely ; and every free re- 
publican government being founded on their sole anthority., and organized 
for the purpose of protecting their liberties and securing their independ- 
ence, — toefFect these ends, they have at all times a complete power to alter, 
reform, or abolish their government, whenever they may deem it necessary." 
— Constitutio)?, of Ohio. 

"That all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are 
founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and happi- 
ness. For the advancement of these ends, they have at all time^^ an una- 
lienable and indefeasible right to alter or reform their government in such 
manner as they may deem proper P — Constitution of Indiana. 



38 Rep. No. 546. 

<'That all political power is iiikercnt in the people^ and all free g^ovem- 
ments are founded on iheir authority, and established for their benefit ; and, 
therefore, they have at all times an unalienable and indefeasible right to 
alter or abolish their form of government, in such manner as they may 
think expedient. ^^ — Constitution of Mississippi. 

" That all power is inhe?-ent in the people, and all free governments are 
founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and hap- 
piness." — Constitution of Illinois. 

" All political power is iiihtrent in the people, and all free governments 
are founded on tlieir authority, and instituted for their benefit ; and there- 
fore they have at all times an unalienable and indefeasible right to alter, 
reform, or abolish their form of government, in such manner us they may 
think expedie7it.'''' — Constitution of Alabama. 

" 1. That all political power is vested in, and derived from, the people. 

" 2. That the people of this State have the inherent, sole, and exclusive 
right of regulating the internal government and police thereof, and of alter- 
ing and abolishing- their constitution and form of government, whenever it 
may be necessary to their safety and happiness." — Conf<tituiion of Mifsonri. 

" 1. All political power is inherent in the people. 

"2. Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of 
the people ; and they have the right at all times to alier or reform the 
same, and to abolish one form of government, and establish another, when- 
ever the public good requires it." — Constitution of Michigan. 

"That all power is inherent in the people., and all free governments are 
founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and hap- 
piness. For the advancement of these ends, they have at all limes an un- 
qualified right to alter, reform, or abolish their government, in such man- 
ner as they may think ]}i-oper.^'' — Constitution of Arkansas. 

An authority, in this case, better than all the foregoing, follows: 

"II. That all power is naturally vested in, and conse- 
quently DERIVED FROM, THE PEOPLE) THAT MAGISTRATES, THERE- 
FORE, ARE THEIR TRUSTEES AND AGENTS, AND AT ALL TIMES AMENA- 
BLE TO THEM. 

"III. That THE powers of government may be re-assumed by 

THE people, whensoever IT SHALL BECOME NECESSARY TO THKIR 

HAPPINESS." — Declaration of the convention of Rhode Island, called to 

ratify the constitution, of the United States in 1790. 

• 

Such are the opinions of the illustrious fathers of the republic, and such 
the declarations of the people of twenty States of the American Union! 

They affirm, in the most emphatic language, that all political power is 
inherent in the people; that all free governments are instituted by them; 
and that they have the indisputable and indefeasible right to alter or abolish 
them, at sucli time, and in such manner, as they may deem proper. Did 
the etninent men whose opinions have been cited — did the people, when 
they inserted in their constitutions of State government, the declarations of 
right above cited, intend no more than to assert the 7~ight of revolution, 
which could be only maintained by force and bloodshed, which the people 
of all countries possess, and to which oppressed minorities even may and 
do resort? Was such the right they intended to assert and secure to them- 
selves and their posterity? or, did they intend to assert their own inherent 



Rep. No. 546. 39 

sovereign right, which no power or authority could dispute, and which 
could he exercised peacefully, without violence, bloodshed, and slaughter? 

But, on this question, we are not without practical example in our own 
history. 

The constitution of the United States, whose beneficent influence is felt 
over the whole broad empire of the republic, was framed wiiliout the con- 
sent of any existing authority or government. The convention of 1787, 
which framed it, was called by the Congress of the United States, for the 
purpose of revising the articles of confederation. Instead of attending to 
that work, solely, it abandoned it altogether, and proceeded to frame an en- 
tire new system of government. One of the objections wliich was urged 
against the adoption of the federal constitution w^as, that the convention 
which framed it liad transcended their powers, and therefore their work v.^as 
without authority, and void. Mr. Madison, aduiitiina' the fact alleged to be 
true, defends the convention against the charge. He says the convention 
"had l^een the liberty assumed by a very few deputies from a very few States, 
convened at Annapolis, of recommending a great and critical object, id holly 
foreign to their commission^ not only justified by public opinion, but actu- 
ally carried into effect by twelve out of thirteen States;" and then proceeds 
to remark : 

"They (the members of the convention) must have reflected that, in all 
great changes of established governments, tbrnis ought to give way to sub- 
stance; that a rigid adherence in such cases to the former, would render 
nominal and nugatory the transcendent and precious right of the people to 
'abolish or alter their government, as to them shall seem most likely to effect 
their safety and happiness,' since it is impossible for the people spontane- 
ou>Iy and universally to move in concert towards their object; and it is 
iheretore essential that such changes be instituted by some informal and 
unatithorized propositions, made by somf^ patriotic and respectable citizen 
or number of citizens. They must have recollected that it was by this 
irregular and assumed privilege of proposing to the people plans for their 
safety and happiness, that the States were first united against the danger 
with which tliey were threatened by their ancient government; that com- 
mittees and congresses were formed for concentrating their efforts, and de- 
fending their rights; and that convenlions were elected in the several States 
for establishing the constitutions under which they are now governed. Nor 
could it have been forgotten that no little ill timed scruples, no zeal for ad- 
hering to ordinary forms, wore anywliere seen, except in those who wished 
to indulge, under these»masks, their secret enmity to the substance contended 
for. They must have borne in mind that, as the plan to be framed and 
proposed was to be submitted to the people themselves, the disapprobation 
of this supreme authority would destroy it forever; its approbation blot 
out all antecedent errors and irreirularities." — Federalist, No. 40. 

Thus was the present constitution of the Union brought into being by an 
irregular and unauthorized proceeding on the part of the convention which 
framed it. f3ut the subsequent approbation and ratification of the people 
blotted out --all antecedent errors and irregularities." 

This example does not stand solitary and alone in our annals. The 
people of the States of Tennessee, Michio-an, and Arkansas, when those 
(States were in the political condition of Territories, formed constitutions 
without the consent of Congress, and were admitted into the Union with 
'Ihe constitutions they had thus framed. On the part of those opposed to 



40 Rep. No. 546. 

their admission, it was objected that the people of those three Territories 
had not the ris^ht to adopt constitutions without the consent of Congress; 
and therefore the constitutions which they presented were unauthorized 
and void. On the other side, it was conteiided that, when they had the re- 
quisite number of inhabitants, the people of those Territories could, by an 
exercise of their own inherent sovereignty, frame constitutions, repubhcan 
in form, and claim of Congress admission into the Union ; otherwise, it 
was contended Congress, by refusing its consent, could forever prevent 
their forming constitutions, and prohibit their admission into the Union. 

During the debate upon the adnnssion of Michigan, in the Senate of the 
United States, Mr. Benton remarked that " conventions were original acts 
of the people. They depended upon inherent and inalienable rights. The 
people of any State may, at any time, meet in convention, wit/witt a lav) of 
their' legislature, and without any provision, or 4cVl^'s.T any pro- 
vision IN THEIR constitution, and may alter or abolish me whole frame 
of government as they please. The sovereign power to govern them- 
selves was in the majority, and they could not be divested of it." — Gales 
t^' Seaton^s Debates, vol 12, part I, p. 1036. 

The committee cannot forbear giving one more authority. In the con- 
vention which framed the present constitution of Virginia, a proposition 
was made to insert a clause providing a mode of its future amendment. 
The proposition was rejected, on the ground that a majority of the people 
had the power, at any time, and in any manner they pleased, to amend the 
constitution, or make a new one. The following is the vote by which the 
proposition was rejected : 

Ayes. — Messrs. Smith, Miller, Baxter, Mercer, Fitzhugh, Mason of 
Frederick, Naylor, Donaldson, Boyd, McMillan, Campbell of Washing- 
ton, Summers, Lee, Di^ddridge, Morgan, Campbell of Brooke, Wilson, Clay- 
tor, Saunders, Cabell, Stuart, Thonipson, Joynes, Bayly, and Upshur. — 25. 

Noes. — :Vlessrs Barbour, (President,) Jones, Leigh of Chesterfield, Taylor 
of Chesterfield, Giles, Brodnax, Droingi>ole, Alexander, Goode, Marshall, 
Tyler, Nicholas, Clopton, Anderson, Coffman, Harrison, Williamson, Bald- 
win, Ji hnson, McCoy, Moore, Beirne, Mason of Southampton, Trezvant, 
Claiborne, Uiquhart, Randolph, Leigh of Halifax, Logan, Venable, Madi- 
son, Stanard, Holladay, Henderson, Osbonie, Cooke, Griggs, Pendle- 
tor, George, Byars, Roane, Taylor of Caroline, Morris, Cloyd, Chapman, 
Mathews, Oglesby, Duncan, Laidley, Barbour of Culpeper, Scott, Green, 
Tazewell, Loyall, P';entis, Grigsby, Campbell of Be{ybrd, Branch. Townes, 
Martin, Pleasants, Gordon, Massie, Bates, Neale, Rose, Coalter, and Per- 
rin. — 6S. 

Among those voting against inserting a provision in the constitution of 
Virginia, providing for future amendments, on the ground that the ppople 
have at all times the right to amend it in any manner they misht deem 
proper, are the names of ./oA« '/'y/tr, acting President of (he United States, 
and of the late ex-President Madison, and Chief Justice Marshall. 

Thus it appears to be the clearly understood doctrine of American sages 
and legislators, from the earliest history of the republic to the present time, 
that the sovereign poicer of the State resides in the people of the State; 
and that in the exercise of their sovereign power, thw majority of the peo- 
ple can, in any maimer, and at such tiuic as they deem expedient, with- 
out the consent of existing authorities, and even against an express pro- 
vision of a constitution once agreed to by them pointing out the mode, alter^ 



Kep. No 546. 41 

reform, or abolish their existing forms of government, and institute others in 
the places of those abrogated. 

THE RIGFIT OF SUFFRAGE. 

But if is contended by the advocates of the charter government of 
Rhode Island, that tlse term " people" does not include the free white male 
resident citizens of the State of the age of 21 years, as contended for by 
the supporters of the people's constitution ; bill; that it implies only the 
" legaV' people, or those on whom the right of snfirnge had been conferred 
by the charier government; in other words, the '■'•frecvietC' of the State, 
who, as has be^n before seen, comprised but one third part of the white 
male citizens of the State, of full age. 

The committee will now, with as much brevity as possible, give their 
views upon the question, Who consViinle tlie paople of a State^ in wlio^n 
resides the sovereign poiver 7 and, also, upon the right of sriffrage which 
is involved in the question just stated. But, before passing to the consid- 
eration of. those questions, they will stop for a moment to expose the ab- 
surdity of the theory advanced by the advocates of a royal charter, that 
the ^^ legal" people only are invested with the sovereign power, and have a 
right to change the fundamental lorm of ijovernment. 

Who were the "legal" people in Rhode Island? In 1663, when the 
charter was first granted, they were all such persons as the grantees of the 
charter might "admit free of the company." At another time, "the legal" 
man must possess a "competent estate ;" at another time, he must be ad- 
mitted to freemanship by the freemen of the several towns ; at another time, 
he must possess a freehold worth £100; at another time, he must be the 
o^vner of a freehold of ilie value of £2ii(); at another, his freehold must be 
worth £41)1). and then again £40, and a^ain $134 ; at another time, this free- 
hold might be a mortgaged estate; at another, it must be free of incumbrance. 
At one time a certain period of residence was required in addition to the free- 
hold. At another, a different period. Now, could the sovereign power be 
vested in men who were measured by such a changeable, capricious, and 
arbitrary standard, as these regulations imply? Could the right of suf- 
frage depend upon such a variable and evanescent princifile? But, to cap the 
climax of absurdiiy on the part of those who contend that the " legal" peo- 
ple only (in otiier words, the persons " admitted free of the company") were 
the sole possessors of the sovereign power, the charter assembly, by the 
act calling the convention which framed the existing contitution of the State, 
admitted persons who were not the owners of freehold estates to vote in the 
election of delegates to the convention, and afterwards on the question 
of the adoption of the constitution. ''J'hus, at last, the "legal" people of the 
State became those who possessed a certain qualification of residence, and 
were not freeholders, nor freemen. It is an outrage upon reason to suppose 
that the sacred right of suffrag;e could depend upon such a variable standard 
— could be the victim of snch ever changing caprice. 

The committee will now o;ive their own views upon the right of suffrage; 
relying more, however, upon the practical exposition of the right given by 
the frauiers of the American constitutions, than any abstract theories of 
their own. 

They believe that the ri^ht of suffrage is a naf.ural, not a conveidioual 
right, which attaches to the man, independent of the accidents of birth or 
lortune; of which right he cannot be divested, except by usurpation or 
force. It exists antecedent to the formation of the social union and the 



42 Rep. No 546. 

political compact, and inseparably belongs to him as certain qualities insep- 
arably belong to things. The very act of men's convening in the social 
compact, ntiplies a prior exercise of the right of suffrage — the expression of 
voluntary clioice or consent ; for that is no more nor less than what is 
nnderstood by suffrage. It attaches to the individual man, and not to Ijis 
casual concomitants of high birih, talents, or fortune. 

All men liave by nature an equal right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. I'o secure the enjoyment of this right, tfiey first form the social 
wiion, and then the political compact, or institution of government. When 
they meet in the social union, which is the intermediate state between a 
state of nature and the poliiical compact, they meet on terms of perfect 
equality of right. But some possess qualities or things which others do 
not possess. Some have more property, some more talent, and some more 
physical strength, &c., than others enjoy ; and they may insist that their 
voice, or share of influence, in the political compact which they are about 
to form, shall be in proportion to then* property, their talents, or their 
physical strength. If these claims were obstinately persisted in, could the 
political compact ever be formed? Would the several possessors of those 
different qualities or things which they prefer as grounds of claim to supe- 
rior power, agree among themselves as to the proportions they should enjoy? 
Would those who possessed no property and but a usual share of mental 
capacity and physical strength, agree that those who possessed more of 
those qualities should enjoy a greater influence in the political compact 
than themselves ? It is plain, if the possessors of property, or the possessors 
of talent, or of physical strength, should insist that those things should 
entitle them to a proportionate share in the political compact, it never could 
be formed. 

To illustrate the theory proposed. Suppose ten men accede to the social 
union, with a view to form a political compact. One brings with him more 
property than all the others; another brings with him more mental ability; 
and another, more physical strength ; another, more mechanical skill ; an- 
other, more general knowledge, (fcc. Now, if property were the basis of 
power, the possessor of that would enjoy more influence in the government 
to be established than all the others. The others would, in fact, possess no 
power, because their voices would be overbalanced by that of the owner of 
the property. Would he not, therefore, become the despot and oppressor of 
the community ? And would not the same result take phice if talent, or 
physical strength, or mechanical skill, or, in fact, any other quality or thing, 
were the rule of distinction ? It is plain, therefore,, that noquahties or pos 
sessions, which attach to the person, can be the measure of p^wer in the 
government to be formed. If the right to political power cannot be attached 
to the things and qualities which men acquire, or accidentally possess, in 
what can it reside but in the man himself? All men have a natural right 
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of ha[)piness. That right infinitely transcends 
all possessions wliich men may have. It is a right shared equally by all. 
All, therefore, should have an equal power to protect it. Hence all men 
should have an equal voice in the governments which they have instituted 
for the protection of their rights. Such a conclusion accords with the 
voice of justice, of reason^ of common sense. The committee can never 
concede the principle, that one man shall have a voice in the government 
of a comtnunity, because he happens to possess property; and that another 
man shall have no voice in it, because he does not possess it. Riches and 
poverty are both the accidents of human life. Properly may be acquired 



Rep. No. 546. 43 

by skill, inherited by descent, seized by fraud, or obtained by chance; and 
It may be lost by misfortune, or squandered by folly, Beins: a casual 
appurtenance to man, which may be attached to him to-day and detached 
to morrow, it has no intrinsic claim to power, and should confer upon its 
possessor no additional weight in the body politic, A contrary doctrine de- 
grades the man, and gives to things of his own creation, which possess 
neither intellect, sensibility, nor moral worth, an importance and conse- 
quence which are duo only to the living immortal being, the image of the 
Deity — man himself — who possesses all those attributes. 

Besides, property needs no factitious political influence for its safety and 
protection. It needs not, for its own preservation, to be recognised as a 
political element in the social compact ; which is to speak, and act, and 
vote in the government of the community. It possesses m itself, and gives 
to its owner, a power independent of any political privileges wiih which it 
may be clothed. And the annals of the whole human race show, that 
whenever it has been uniied with political power, it has proved to be the 
enemy of freedom, and the friend and ally of injustice, oppression, and 
despotism. Our daily experience convinces us of the truth of the trite 
axiom, that " money is power." When aggregated in large masses, it has 
not only proved, in many instances, to be the tyrant and oppressor of the 
poor man, but it has openly and audaciously trampled upon the law, and 
set the power and authority of Government itself at defiance. It, therefore, 
needs not the assistance of political power for its preservation; — in other 
words, its possessor should have no greater voice in the government of the 
community, on the pretext that he needs it in order to protect his property, 
than he would liave without it. Nor does he personally stand in so nuich 
need of the protecting shield of government as the poor man, for the very 
reason that his property gives him a fiictitious influence, winch he who has 
none does not possess. He has more means in his hands to defend and 
protect himself from the encroachtnents and usurpations of government, 
and the oppression and violence of others, than the poor man. The poor 
man has just as much right to his liberty as the rich man; and the free 
and fidl enjoyment of t!ie fruits of his honest toil is of more importance 
to him than the rich man's property to its possessor, because the former 
cannot live without the fruits of his labor. The poor man is subject to all 
the great burdens of the state to which the rich man is subject, and he can- 
not escape from their performance as the rich man can and does escape. 
He p;iys as much of the revenues of the government, in proportion to his 
means, as the rich man. He is subject to military duty, and, in periods of 
public danger, he is liable to be called upon to peril his life in battle for his 
country. The rich man, indeed, is subject to tiie same obligations; but his 
wealth enables him to escape personally froiiF their performance. His 
wealth enables him to command others to perform the duty which society 
allots to him. Who fill the ranks of armies? It is mainly the poor. And 
who perform the prodigious labors which convert the forest into the field 
of culture? who build our dwellings, our towns, our cities, and our public 
works — in short, fill our country, and all countries, with monuments of 
utility, splendor, and magnificence? It is the man who toils — not he who 
lolls at his ease in opulence and luxury. 

Wealth ever seeks an alliance with power, because power confers upon 
it honors and privileges. Hence, its possessors are generally in favor of 
those forms of government which concede honors and privileges to men 



44 Rep. No. 546. 

who possess wealth, and are opposed to those forms of government which, 
denying all artificial grounds for the bestowment of honors and distinction, 
conter them only on superior merit and virtue. All governments which 
recognise wealth as the l)asis (entirely or partially) of power, honors, and 
privileges, must depart from the strict principle of justice in the dispensa- 
tion of" their favors. Free governments, which repel the idea of wealth as an 
element of political power, recognise the political rights of all persons to 
be equal. They are, therefore, founded on the principle of exact justice to 
all men. They aim to secure to all persons composing the body politic, 
without regard to rank or wealth, an equal share of power, and an equal 
voice in the administration of the government. Such a government the 
poor man is interested in maintaining, because in its preservation he finds 
the only sure protection of his rights and liberties. While, on the other 
hand, the possessors of wealth are naturally inclined agamst free or repub- 
hcan governments, because they do not concede any peculiar honors or 
privileges to property ; and they are naturally inclined to aristocratic or 
monarchical forms, because such governments do clothe property with 
honors, privileges, and political influence. 

The extension of suffrage, therefore, to those who do not possess prop- 
erty, will not weaken, but will do much to strengthen free governments; 
because it places the government more directly in the power of those 
classes of the people who are most interested in maintaining it— the middle 
and laboring classes. Those classes see that their rights are safe only 
under a government which recognises ia its administration the principle of 
exact justice to all, poor as well as rich. And, under such a government, 
it would not be difficult to show that property, in the general sense, is bet- 
ter secured to its possessors than under any other form; it being restrained, 
so far as human devices can restrain it, from encroachments on the rights 
of others. 

But it may be asked, if all who belong to the political society shall have 
an equal voice in controlling its concerns, why are women and children 
excluded? Why is the right of suffrage to be confined to'niales over 21 
years of age? 

In relation to women, the answer is, that their interests are so intimately 
blended with those of men, it would be useless to give them a voice in the 
government. The Almighty himself, by making them weaker in person, has 
decreed their dependence on man. They are, therefore, with propriety, rep- 
resented in the political concerns of society through the other sex, to whi'tn 
their affections and sympathies are allied, and on whom they are dependent 
for protection. This < xclusion is in accordance with the voice of nature, 
and the practice of all nations in all ages: it is in unison with the wis! es 
and desires of women theanselves, who prefer to wield the potent sceptre 
which sways the empire of the heart and the affections, to the rude en- 
counter and turbulent passions of the political arena. Besides, it is a fact 
which will be generally conceded, that women reflect the political senti- 
ments and feelings of their male relatives. And, if they did not, the dif- 
ference of opinion which they would express at the polls would lead to 
domestic dissensions, which could not fail to lower the moral tone of the 
community. All enlightened women, therefore, have, with scarcely an 
exception, concurred in the propriety of those wise ordinances of society 
which have, with a tender anxiety for their welfare, rescued them from the 
contamination of political strife. 



Rep. No. 546. 45 

in rec-arcl to children, it is well known that they are dependent for nur- 
ture and protection upon their parents. In addition to their weakness of 
person, tlieir intellects are undeveloped, and they have not the reason and 
judo-ment wisely to provide for their own interest and welfare. On account 
ol this weakness of mind and person, resuUiuff from the undeveloped state of 
both, they are ext^mpted from the burdens and obligations of society, and are 
only held amenable to the natural and obvious laws of justice; and then 
not until they are of sufficient capacity clearly to perceive the distinction 
between right and wrong. In the progress of nature, there must be a 
period when this weakness must cease — when the minor becomes capable 
of perceiving his true ititerests, and of protecting himself. When arrived 
at his maturity of niind and person. Nature herself impels him to go forth 
from his paternal roof, and do for himself in the world. At what age does 
this weakness cease? At what period in his life is he the mature man? It 
is admitted that all the individuals of the race do not arrive at maturity at 
the same age ; but there is an age when the majority do. What is that 
age? The iiation from which we derive not only our origin, but our 
municipal laws and customs, and, it is believed, many other nations, have 
fixed it at 21 years. Adopting the judgment of our mother land, the 
people of this country have fixed the commencement of the mature man 
at the same age. He is then held to be capable of enjoying and exercising 
all the rights and duties which attach to the mature man in society ; 
he is then held to be obliged by the contracts into which he enters ; he 
then becomes the subject of taxation ; in short, bears his share of all the 
burdens, and should participate in all the benefits, of society. 

And such has been the practical decision of the founders of the Ameri- 
can constitutions, as will appear by the following authorities, which are the 
provisiotis of the constitutions of a large majority of the several States of 
the Union, in relation to the right of suffrage: 

Authorities on the right of suffrage. 

"Every male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years 
and upwards, excepting paupers, persons under guardianship, and Indians 
not taxed, having his residence established in this State for the term of 
three months next preceding any election, shall be an elector for governor, 
senators, and representatives, in the town or plantation where his residence 
is so established ; and the elections shall be by written ballot." — Constitu- 
tion of Maine. 

"Every male citizen of twenty one years of age and upwards, (except- 
ing paupers and persons under guardianship,) who shall have resided 
within the commonwealth one year, and within the town or district in which 
he may claim a right to vote, six calendar months next preceding any 
election of governor, lieutenant governor, senators, and representatives, and 
who shall have paid, by himself or his parent, master, or guardian, any 
State or county tax, which shall, within two years next preceding such 
election, have been assessed upon him in any town or district of this com- 
monwealth ; and, also, every citizen who shall be by law exeujpt from tax- 
ation, and who shall be in all other respects qualified as above mentioned, 
shall have a right to vote in such election of governor and lieutenant gov- 
ernor, senators, and representatives; and no other person shall be entitled 
to vote in such election." — Constitution of Massachusetts. 



46 Rep. No. 546. 

"Every male inhabitant of each town, and parish with (own privileges, 
and places nnincorporiited, in this State, of twenty one years of age and 
upwards, excepting paupers and persons excused from paying taxes at their 
own request, shall have a right, at the annual or other meetings of the in- 
habitants of said towns and parishes, to be duly warned, and holden annu- 
ally, forever, in the month ot March, to vote in the town or parish wherein 
he dwells, for the senators of the county or district whereof he is a mem- 
ber." — Constitution of New Hampsfm-e. 

" Every man of the full age of twenty one years, having resided in this 
State for the space of one whole year next before the election of represen- 
tatives, and is of a quiet and peaceable behavior, and will take the [required] 
oath or affirmation, shall be entitled to all the privileges of a freeman of this 
State." — Constitutioti of Vermont. 

"Every white male citizen of the United States, who shall have gained 
a settlement in this State, attained the age of twenty one years, and re- 
sided in the town in which he may offer himself to be admitted to the 
privilege of an elector at least six months preceding, and have a free- 
hold estate of the yearly value of seven dollars in this State; or, having 
been enrolled in the militia, shall have performed military duty therein 
for the term of one year next preceding the time he shall offer himself 
for admission ; or, being liable thereto, shall have been, by authority of 
law, excused therefrom ; or shall have paid a State tax within the year next 
preceding the time he shall present himself for such admission, and shall 
sustain a good moral character, shall, on his taking such oath as maybe pre- 
scribed by law, be an elector." — Coiistilution of Connecticut. 

"Every male citizen of the age of twenty one years, who shall have been 
an inhabitant of this State one year preceding any election, and for the last 
six months a resident of tlie town or county where he may offer his vote ; and 
shall have, within the year next preceding the election, paid a tax to the State 
or county, assessed upon his real or personal property, or shall by law be ex- 
empted from taxation; or, being armed and equipped according to law, shall 
have performed within that year military duty in the militia of this State: 
and, also, every male citizen of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have 
been, for three years next preceding such elections, an inhabitant of this 
State, and for the last year a resident in the town or county where he may 
offer his vote; and shall have b'^.en, within the last year, assessed to labor 
upon the public highways, and shall have performed the 1 ibor, or paid an 
equivalent therefor, according to law, shall be entitled to vote in the town 
or ward where he actually resides, and not elsewhere, for all officers that 
now are, or hereafter may be, elective by the people. But no man of color, 
unless he shall have been for three years a citizen of this State, and for one 
year next preceding any election shall be seized and possessed of a freehold 
estate of the value of two hundred and fifty dollars, over and above all debts 
and incumbrances charged thereon, and shall have been actually rated, and 
paid a tax thereon, shall be entitled to vote at such election. And no per- 
son of color shall be subject to direct taxation, unless he shall be seized and 
possessed of such real estate as aforesaid." — Constitution of New York. 

" In the elections by the citizens, every white freeman of the age of twen- 
ty-one years, having resided in this State one year, and in the election dis- 
trict where he offers to vote ten days immediately preceding such election, 
and within two years paid a State or county tax, which shall have been as- 
sessed at least ten days before the election, shall enjoy the rights of an elec- 



Rep. No. 546. 47 

tor. But a citizen of the United States, who had previously been a qualified 
voter of this State, and removed therefronn and returned, and who shall 
have resided in the election district, and paid taxes as aforesaid, shall be en- 
titled to vote, after residincj in the State six naonths: Provided, That white 
freemen, citizens of the United States, between the ages of twenty one and 
twenty-two years, and having resided in the State one year, and in the elec- 
tion district ten days as aforesaid, shall be entitled to vote, although they 
shall not have paid taxes." — Constilutinn of Pennsylvahin. 

"And in such elections every free white male citizen of the age of twen- 
ty-two years or upwards, having resided in the State one year next before 
the election, and tlie last month thereof in the county where he offers to 
vote, and having within two years next before the election paid a county 
tax, which shall have been assessed at leasi six months before the election, 
shall enjoy the right of an elector ; and every free white male cuizen of the 
age of twenty-one years, and under the age of twenty-two years, having re- 
sided as aforesaid, shall be entitled to vote without payment of any tax." — 
Consiitutmi of Delaware. 

" That all persons possessed of a freehold in any town in this State, and 
having a right of representation ; and, also, all freemen who have been in- 
habitants of any such town twelve months next before, and at the day of 
election, and shall have paid public taxes, shall be entiib'd to vote for a mem- 
ber to represent such town ui the House of Commons." — Constitution of 
North Carolina. 

'• bjvery free white man of the age of twenty one years, being a citizen of 
this State, and having resided therein two years previous to the day of elec- 
tion, and who hath a freehold of fifty acres of land, or a town lot, of which 
he hath been legally seized and possessed at least six months before such 
election ; or, not having such freehold or town lot, hath been a resident in 
the election district in which he offers to give his vole, six months before 
the said election, and hath paid a tax the preceding year of three shillings 
sterling towards the support of this Government, shiill have a right to vote 
for a member or members to serve in either branch of the Legislature, for 
the election district in which he holds such properly, or is so resident." — 
Constilution of ISouth Carolina. 

"That every free white male citizen of this State, and no other, above 
twenty years of age, having resided twelve months in the county next pre- 
ceding the election at which he offers to vole; and every free white male 
citizen of this State above twenty-one years of age, and having obtained a 
residence of twelve months next preceding the election in the city of Balti- 
more, or the city of Annapolis, and at which he offers to vote, shall have a 
right of suffrage, and shall vote by ballot in the election of such county or 
city, or either of them, for delegates to the General Assembly, electors of the 
Senate, and sheriffs.'' — ConstUniion of Maryland. 

"The electors of members of the General Assembly shall be citizens and 
inhabitants of this State, and shall have attained the age of twenty one 
years, and have paid all taxes which may have been required of tfiem, and 
which they may have had an opportunity of paying, agreeably to law, for 
the year preceding the election, and shall have resided six months vvithin 
the county." — Consdtntiou oj Georgia. 

"In all elections for representatives, every free male citizen (negroes, mu- 
lattoes, and Indians excepted) who, at the time being, hath attained to the 
age of twenty one years, and resided in the State two years, or the county 



48 Eep. No. 546. 

or town in which he offers to vote one year next preceding: the election, shall 
enjoy the right of an elector; but no person shall be entitled to vote, except 
in the county or town in which he nmy actually reside at the time of the 
election, except as is herein otherwise provided." — CouslUvtioii of Kevduc.ky. 

•'Every free white man of the age of twenty-one years, being a citizen 
of the United States, and a citizen of the county wherein he may offer his 
vote, six months next preceditijj; the day of election, shall be entitled to vote 
for members of the general assembly, and other civil officers, (or the county 
or district in which he resides; Provided^ That no person shall be disquali- 
fied from voting in any election on account of color, who is now, by the 
laws of this State, a competent witness in a court of justice against a white 
man." — Constitution of Tennessee. 

" In all elections, all white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one 
years, having resided in the State one year next preceding the election, and 
who have paid, or are charged with, a State or county tax, shall enjoy the 
right of an elector ; but no person shall be entitled to vote, except in the 
county or district in which he shall actually reside at the lime of the elec- 
tion." — Constilntion of Ohio. 

In all elections not otherwise provided for by this constitution, every 
white male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years and 
upwards, who has resided in the Slate one year immediately preceding such 
election, shall be entitled to vote m the county where he resides ; except 
such as shall be enlisted in the army of the United States, or their allies." — 
Constitution of Indiana. 

"In all elections for representatives, every free white male citizen of the 
United States, who, at the time being, hath attained to the age of twenty- 
one years, and resided in the county in which he offers to vote for one year 
next preceding the election, and who, in the last six months prior to the said 
election, shall have paid a State tax, shall enjoy the right of an elector." — 
Constitution of Louisiana. 

"Every free white male person of the age of twenty-one years or up- 
wards, who shall be a citizen of the United States, and shall have resided 
in this State one year next preceding an election, and the last four months 
within the county, city, or town in which he offers to vote, shall be deemed 
a qualified elector." — Constitution of Mississippi. 

" In all elections, all white male inhabitants above the age of twenty- 
one years, having resided in the State six months next preceding the elec- 
tion, shall enjoy the right of an elector ; but no person shall be entitled to 
vote, except in the county or district in which he shall actually reside at the 
time of the election." — Constitution of Illinois. 

"Every white male person of the age of twenty-one years or upwards, 
who shall be a citizen of the United States, and shall have resided in this 
State one year next preceding an election, and the last three months within 
the county, city, or town in which he offers to vote, shall be deemed a quali- 
fied elector : Provided^ That no soldier, seaman, or marine, in the regular 
army or navy of the United States, shall be entitled to vote at any election 
in this State: And provided, also, That no elector shall be entitled to vote, 
except in the county, city, or town (entitled to separate representation) in 
which he may reside at the time of the election." — Constitution of Ala- 
bama. 

" Every free white male citizen of the United States, who shall have at- 
tained the age of twenty-one years, and who shall have resided in this State 



Rep. No. 546. 49 

one year before an election, the last three months whereof shall have been 
in the county or district in which he offers lo vote, shall be deeim-d a quali- 
fied elector of all elective offices: Provid/^d, Thut. no soldier, seain.tn, or 
marine, in the re(,ailar.army or navy ol the United States, shall be entitled to 
vote at any election in this State." — Constitution of Mhsourl. 

'•In all elections, every white male citizen above the a^e of twenty one 
yenrs, having resid d in the State six mouths next preceding any election, 
shall be entitled to vote at such election ; and every white male inhabitant 
of the age aforesaid, who may be a resident of the State at the time of the 
signing of this con^titntion, sliall have the right of voting as aforesaid ; but 
no such citizen or inhabitant shall be entitled to vote except in the district, 
county, or township in which he shall actually reside at the time ol sucli 
election." — Constitution of Michigan. 

" Every free white male citizen of the United States, who shall have at- 
tained the age of twenty-one years, and who shall have been a citizen of 
this State six months, shall be deemed a qualified elector, and be eiiiiiled to 
vote in the county or district where he actually resides, for each and every 
office made elective nnder this State or the United States: Provid>d^ Tliat 
no soldier, seaman, or marine, in the army or navy of the United States^ 
shall be entitled to vote at any election within this State," — Constiiution of 
Arkansas. 

The act of Congress of May 20, 1812, relating to the establishment of a 
Territorial Government in the Territory of Illinois, indicates the sense of 
that body in relation to the right of suffrage. The following is the provision 
of the act in regard to suffrage : 

» Kach and every free in/iilc nude person who shall have attained the 
age of twenty-one years, and shall have paid a county or territorial tax and 
who shall have resided one year in said Territory previous to any general 
election, and be, at the time of any such election, a resident thereof, shall 
be entitled to vote for members of the Legislative Council, and House of 
Representatives for the said Territory."' 

Such are the opinions of the people of twenty-three Slates of the Union 
in relation to the right of suffra^ce. The exposition of the ricrht by the 
Congress of the United States accords with those opinions. The rule or prin- 
ciple which they establish is agf and cinzenshi/). To establish the tact of 
cuizenship, they require residence, the payment of a tax, or the performance 
of some service ; but none of them require a freehold estate as the ultimate 
condition of the enjoyment of the right of suffrage. 

Thus has the practical exposition, by a vast majority of the people of this 
country, expressed through their constitutions and law's relative to suffrage, 
been in accordance with the laws of nature and of justice. And when this 
natural right has been disregarded in the political compact, it has n^'ver 
been done by the voluntan/ consent of those who have been deprived of it, 
as contended for by some, but by force and usurpation. 

The course of reasoning which the committee have pursued, and the 
authorities they have cited, establish clearly to their own minds the two 
following propositions: 

1st, That the sovereign power of a State is inherent in the people; and 

that, in the exercise of that sovereiijn right, they may alter or abolish, in 

any manner they may deem proper, all existing forms of grovernment, and 

ordain and establish other forms in the t)!ace of those which thev abroa-ute. 
4 * -^ o 



50 Rep. No. 546 

2d. That the (political) people include ail free white mole persons, of 
the age of twenty-one years, wiio are cMzens of the State, are of sound 
mind, and have not forfeited their right by some crime againiit the society 
ofwliich tliey are members. 

The people not fickle^ unstable, and fond of change. 

The committee arc not unaware of the objections which are ur^eA by the 
enemies of popular sovereignty against the doctrine of the unlimited power 
of the people over the political organization of a State. They contend that, 
if generally admitted, it would unsettle the foundations of all governments; 
that the people are unstable, fickle, and fond of change; and thai they would 
be constantly at work in the busmess of making and unmaking their govern- 
ments. Tins assumption is contrary to our own experience in this country, 
and to the evidence oi all history. So far from the people desiring change 
and instability, history [troves that they are ever in favor of stability and 
permanency; and that they long bear the abuses, oppressions, and tyranny 
of government, before they resort to their ultimate right, which is revolu- 
tion — by force, in despotic governments, and reform, through the peaceful 
exercise of their own infierent sovereign power, in commonwealths. This 
is the voice of all history, from the earliest periods of Greece to tlie present 
day. The secession of the people of Rome to the sacred mountain, the 
wonderful revolt of Massaniello in Naples, and the sanguinary and shocking 
revolution of 1790 in France, did not spring from the desire of change in a 
fickle people; but they had their origin in unfeeling, heartless, ruthless, and 
intolerable oppression on the part of their rulers, which goaded them to re- 
sistance and reven<J:e. Having no voice in the governments under which 
they lived, they were driven to tlieir ultimate power of might — in which 
exists the right of revolution, and all its terrible train of calamities. If 
ihey had enjoyed the peaceful right of sovereigtitt/, (admitted to lie at the 
foundation of the political institutions of America,) would such wrongs 
have existed? Or, in the attempt to redress them, would such scenes 
have occurred to afflict and shock humanity? To charge instability, vacil- 
lation, and turbulence to the people, is to libel them, and to contradict the 
■testimony of iiistory; in accordance with whose voice, the immortal author 
of the declaration of independence has declared that " ;ill experience has 
shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, 
than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accus- 
tomed." 

Although believing in the unlimited power of the people over all politi- 
cal organizations which they have themselves ordained, or which exist by 
their consent and sufferance, the committee do not hesitate to say that, when 
existing constitutions have pointed out the manner in which they shall be 
changed, it is better to make the changes which altered circumstances and 
the sinister construction of expounders and administrators of the powers of 
government may render necessary. But when tlie constitution piovides 
no way by which the people can make the necessary alterations, (as is now 
the condition of the people of Virginia, and was the predicament of the peo- 
ple of Rhode Island under the charter,) they have no alternative but to make 
the proposed change in the manner which seems to them most expedient. 



Rep. No. 546. 51 

The charter government had no power to authorize the adoption of a con- 
stitution. 

As lias been before remarked in this report, there was no provision ia 
the cliarter of Charles 11 by which the people could form a republican 
constiiution. The authorities constituted by the charter had no power to 
form a new consutntion themselves, or to authorize the people so to do. 
They did, indeed, possess legislative powers; but those powers were lim- 
ited by the laws and customs of England. They could make no laws 
which were "contrary and repus^uant unto the laws of this our realm of 
England. ' Did the King of England, when he granted the charter of 
16(33, intend to confer upon the grantees the power to form a republican con- 
stitution, which was then, and is now, contrary to the laws of England, 
and inconsistent with the whole system of aristocratic and monarchical 
government? Tiie idea is absurd, and would be dismissed without cere- 
mony if the advocates of the charter government were not driven to it as 
a veil, weak and flimsy as it is, to cover their own usurpations of power 
under the charter. Then, as tlie charter gave them no power to form a 
republican constitution, they had no legal power to form the existing con- 
stitution of the State, nor to authorize the people to vote for it. Therefore, 
according to the only plain and obvious construction of the charter, their act 
authorizing the people to establish the present constitution of the State was 
illegal and void. This is the necessary conclusion to which their own rea- 
soning tends. 

The people of Rhode Island did not pretend to proceed, in forming their 
constitution, according to law. They did not pretend that the act was legal, 
in the technical sense of the term. They did not even pretend that it was 
a constitutional act. They knew that sovereign authority precedes consti- 
tutional authority, and constituiional authority precedes legal authority. 
They knew that no constitution could be created, without the exertion of 
the sovereign power ; and no law could be made, without the permission of 
the constitutional power. In forming their constitution, they resorted to a 
right which was above law — thfeir own right of sovereignty. Their con- 
stitution, therefore, was the creation of themselves, through the exercise of 
their own inherent sovereign power. If the (ixisting constitution of the State 
had not this sanction of the sovereign power of the people, it could never 
be the law of the land. 'J'hat it had not, at its adoption, is proved by the 
fact that it did not receive the assent of a majority of the votes of the 
people. 

If the people's constitution was adopted by a clear majority of the people 
of Rhode Island, it was thenceforward the supreme tundamental law of 
the State, until abrogated by an act of the people as solemn as that by which 
it was adopted. Whether registering their names, and voting m an election, 
(as a majority of the people undoubtedly did,) under the existing constitution, 
is an act equivalent to the abrogation of the people's constitution, and the 
adoption of the present constitution, (he committee do not deem it necessary 
now to decide ; although, in a resolution which they propose to report to the 
House, they, for the purpose of harmonizing conflicting opinions, assume it 
to be the fact. That the people's constitution was once the supreme law of 
the State of Rhode Island, and that the government established under it 
was the legitimate constitutional government of the State, entitled to recog- 
nition by the General Government of the United Stales, and the guaranty 



52 Rep. No. 546, 

of the constitution : and that it remained so, until forcibly put down and sup- 
pressed by the charter government of the State, (then existing by usurpa- 
tion,) through the intervention of the President of the United Slates, vi^itb 
the military power of the Union, the committee do not entertain a doubt. 
The fact and the right of that intervention will be now considered. 

INTERVENTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH THE 
MILITARY POWER OF THE UNION, BY WHICH THE PEOPLES CONSTI- 
TUTION WAS SUPPRESSED. 

Before considering the evidence tending to establish the fact of the Presi- 
dent's intervention, it will be proper to state, that the President was duly 
informed of the adoption of the people's constitution by a majoriiy of the 
people of the State of Rhode Island, by a letter from the secretary of the 
people's convention, enclosing the report of the committee appointed to can- 
vass the voles, as appears by paper No. 32 accompanying his late message, 
(House Document INo. 225 ;) and also of the organization of the government 
under the people's constitution, by a communication of 'I'homas W. Dorr, 
who had been elected to the office of governor under that constitution, en- 
closing the resolutions of the General Assembly passed at its session in 
May, 1842, requesting him to inform the President of the United States of 
the organization of the government under said constitution. (See appen- 
dix, No. 170.) 

^I'he President, therefore, was officially advised of the fact that the peo- 
ple's constitution had been adopted by a majority of the people of the State, 
and that a government had been duly organized under it. 

The coiumiitee now come to the inquiry into the alleged fact of the 
President's interlerence. 

At an early stage of the investigation, the committee reported to the 
House a resolution calling on the President to report to tlie House the au- 
thority on which he deemed it his duty to interfere in the late difficulties in 
Rhode Island, and all papers, orders, &c., relating to such interference ^ 
which resolution was adopted. 

In reply, the President says: "1 have to inform the House that the Ex- 
ecutive did Tint di-em it his duty to interfere with tlie naval and military 
forces of the United Stales in tlie late disturbances in Rhode Island ; that 
• no orders were issued by the Executive, or any of the departments, to 
: military officers, for the movement or employment of troops in Rhode 
Island, oilier than those which accompany this miCssnge, and which con- 
teinpliited the streiigtheniiig of the garrisou at Fort Adams; which, con- 
sidering the extent of the agitation in Rhode Island, was esteemed necessary 
and judicious." 

Further on, the President says: " That 'requests and applications' were 
made to the Executive to fulfil the guarantees of the constitution, which 
impose on the Federal Government the obligation to protect and defend 
each Stale of the Union against 'domestic violence and foreign invasion ;' 
hut the Executive was at no titne convinced that the casus feeder is had 
arisen which required the interposition of the military or naval power in 
the controversy which unhappily existed between the people of Rhode 
Island." 

The President admits that at "wo time'^ was he convinced that the casus 
foederis had arisen which would justify his interference in the controversy 



Rep. No. 546. 53 

which existed among the people of Rhode Island ; but that the movement 
of troops to Rhode Island contemplated nothincf but the ^^strengiheainir of 
the gfirrifOTt at Fort Ada/ns.^' The cominiltee will now submit a plain 
statement of the facts connected with the movement of troops to Rhode 
Island, and then leave it lor the House and the world to jadj^e whether 
th<^ President has assigned the true reason for such movement; or whether 
it did not proceed from some other reason in the Exccniive mind, which 
is carefully concealed in his message to the House ; and in this revuw of 
the facts, it will be necessary to refer particularly to dates and events. 

The first election under the people's constitution was to take place on the 
Monday next after the third Wednesday of April, 1842; and the organiza- 
tion of the government under it was to take place on the first Monday of 
May following. Anticipatmg tliese eveiits, Samuel Ward King, then the 
acting Governor under the charier, on the 4th day of April, 1842, ad- 
dressed a letter to the President of the United Stat s, informing him that 
the State of Rhode Island "is tlireatened with domestic violence." He 
then adds: "Apprehending that the Lej^islature cannot be convened in 
sufficient season to apply to the Government of the United States for effec- 
tual protection in the case, I hereby apply to you, as the Executive of the 
State of Rhode Island, for the protection which is required by the consti- 
tution of the United States."' Here, then, was a requisition upon the Presi- 
dent of the United States from the Governor of Rhode Island, before any 
election had been held under the people's constitution, or any ifovernment 
oroanized. No forcible resistance of any kind, lo the actino; authorities of 
the State, had in fact at that time appeared. The movement on the part of 
the people had been entirely p-aceful in its character, from the begiiming, 
as any political movement could be. And here commenced the first series 
of measures on the part of the charter autliorities, intended to crush by 
force, and by the aid of the Geiitira! Government, this peaceful movement 
of the people. 

On the same day, (the 4ih of April.) Governor King addressed another 
eommunication to the President, in which he informs that functionary 
that "the State of Rliode Island has been agitated by revolutionary move- 
ments, and is now threatened with domestic violence," and suofgests to the 
President that "there is but little doubt but that a proclamation from the 
President of the Uniti-.d St-itrs, and /he presence here of a niilitary q/ficer 
to act tinder the authority of the United States^ would destroy the delusion 
which is now so prevalent, and convince the deluded fhat, in a contest 
witli the government of this State, they would be involved in a contest 
with the Government of the Uniti d Stales, which could only eventuate in 
their destruction." For what purpose was this proclamation of the Presi- 
dent, and the presence of this military officer, sought? The plain answer 
is, fir the purpose of intiniidaiing the people, and preventing them from 
electing and or^anizino- a government under the constitution which they 
had adoj)ted. (See appendix, No. Iti3 ) 

Did the President, comply with tins request of Governor Kinof, and enter 
into his scheme to intimidate the people from the peaceful exercise of their 
sovereign and legal rights? Facts will oive the answer. On the lltli 
day of Aprd, before the election held- by the people undir their constitniion, 
and, o| course, before any iiri{;mizaUon of a government under it, the Presi- 
dent replies to Governor King's requisition, laying down the postulate 
iJiaJ, HO new constitution would be recognised by him^ udiich had not been 



54 Rep. No. 546. 

the result of " legal and peaccahle proceedings adopted and pursued by 
the authnrides and people of (he iStiife ;^^ placinor the "authorities" before 
the people, and thus implying- that the action of the latter must be sanc- 
tioned by the consent and approbation of the former; and then promisin<r 
the assistance, at the proper time, which Governor King requested. On 
this point the President adds : " I have, however, to assure your excellency, 
that, should the tmie arrive (and my fervent prayer is, that it may never 
come) when an insurrection shall exist against the government of Rhode 
Island^ and a requisition shall be made upon the Executive of the United 
States to furnish that protection which is guarantied to each State by the 
constitution and laws. 1 shall not be found to shrink from the performance 
of a duty, which, while it would be the most painful, is. at the snnie tinje, 
the most imperative. I have also to say, that, m such a contingency, the 
Executive coidd not look info real or supposed defects of the existing gov- 
ernment, in order to ascertain whether some other plan of government 
proposed for adoption was belter suited to the wants, and more in accord- 
ance with the wishes, ot any portion of her citizens." (See appendix. No. 
164.) 

Here, then, was the promised assistunce, and here were the means of in- 
timidation, which tlie charter government sought. The letter was imme- 
diately promulgated to the people, by tlie authorities of the charter govern- 
ment, through the Asseml'ly and the press. They were told that the 
power of the General Government was arrayed against them, and that if 
they proceeded in ttie attempt to establish a government under their con- 
stitution, they would do it at the peril of life; for the charter government, 
aided by the military power of the United States, would crush them at 
once. No insurrection existed, no domestic violence had occurred, <nt 
ivhich the Presidinf. ahme was authorized to interfere ; yet they beheld the 
President, in anticipation, promising the military [)ower of the United 
States to a government which they believed held on to its power by usurp 
ation against right, and in defiance of the will of the people, to be used 
against them, to slaughter and destroy them if need be. Amazed at such 
coriduct in the Executive of the United States, but not dismayed, they pro- 
ceeded to the election of the officers of their government; and in the face 
of these menaces and schemes of intimidation, they gave for their governor 
nearly 8,<i0l) votes, elected all iht^ officers of the new government, and on 
the first Tuesday of May proceeded to organize it. 

Ill the menaces *of the charter government, countenanced by the Presi- 
dent, the committee believe will be lound the true reason for the diminished 
vote in this election, as compared with the number of votes given in favor 
of the adoption of the people's constitution ; and not in the reasons assigned 
by John Whipple and others, in their communication to the President un- 
der date of April U), 1842.— (See a; pendix. No. 167) 

Afier the election and organization of the peopU-'s gf)vernmenf, what was 
the course of the ciiarter government juid of the President ? 

The act.K of the Executive will be first examined. On the 11th day of 
April — the very day on wliich tlie President promised his assistance to the 
charter authorities — Major Payne, commanding at Fort Adams, is cotifi- 
dentially directed, by an order from tlie War Department, to secure the 
arms and ammunition of the United Stati s at Fort Griswold, and other 
exposed places. On the 25th of April, Colonel Fanning, commanding at 
Fort Monroe, Virginia, is ordered to inanediately cause two companies of 



Rep. No. 546. 56 

his garrison " to be f Med up loitli efftctive mm,^^ and to enibark as soon as 
possible for Governor's Island, harbor of New York. Colonel Fanning 
was also directed to accompany his trooi)s, and to report immediaiely after 
his arrival to Colonel Bunkhead. On the 25th day of April, an order was 
issned from the War D.^partment to Colonel Bankhead, coma:iandn)g at 
Fort Columbus, New York, to '-immediately cause two companies in the 
harbor of New York to be filled up with eJfecUve men out of the other two 
present, and to be held in readiness at Fort Columbus, with tents for de- 
tached service.''^ On the 2d of May those companies (being artillery) ar- 
rived at Fort Adams, in Rliode Island. O.i the 5th of May, Colonel i>ank- 
head himself was ordered "to repair individually to Newport, R. I., and 
there remain until all appearance of domestic violence shall have disap- 
peared." But (hat is not all. By an order dated April 2(3th, addressed to 
Major Payne, a military esjnona^e was established by the General Gov- 
ernment in the Str.te of Rhode Island. — (See appendix. Military orders.) 

On the 4th day of May, Governor King communicated to the President 
the resolutions of the charter assembly, announcing the existence of an 
insurrection, and calling upon the Kxecutive of the United States to act 
upon the requisition of the Assemblv^ by interposing the authority and pow- 
er of the Uiiited States to suppress the insurrection. (See appendix. No. 168.) 

Thus had the President issued his letter promising aid to the charter 
Government against the people. He had sent a n^iiitary otiicer, as request- 
ed, to Rhode Island, who was to act in concert with the cliarter authorities. 
He had di.-ected two companies of artillery, with a full complement of ef- 
fective men, ready for active and " del ached'''' service, to enter the territory 
of Rhode Island. He had placed two conjpanies more, equally effective, 
and prepared for active service, within ten hours' sail, and in striking dis- 
tance of that State ; and htid established a milildnj espionage over the peo- 
ple of the State. Did not all this constitute a MiLirAiiv dkmonstration 
upon the people of Rhode Island ? And did it not have the effect which it 
was designed to have 1 Did it not intimidate and subdue tlie people, compel- 
ling them to abandon their constiujtion and government? And cannot a 
people be as effectually conquered by a military demonstration, as by actual 
attack and slaughter? No man in the possession of his reason will deny the 
affirmative replies to these questions. And yet the PresidentJn his message 
to the House in answer to the resohuion of that body, says that the casus 
foederis never arose during the late disturbances in Rhode Island, which 
would justify his interposition with the military power of the Union ; that he 
never did interfere ; and that all tliis movement of troops into the territory 
of Rhode Island, and concentration of them within striking distance in the 
neighborhood, was only intended '■'•to strengilicn the garrison, at Fort 
Adams!" Was it necessary that the troops intended "to strengthen" Fort 
Adams should be provided with tents for ^'' detached'^ service} If they 
were designed only to strengthen that post, wliy were they provided with 
equipage, tents, &c., for active service in the feld? Notwithstanding the 
positive assertion of the President to the contrary, the committee feel that 
they would deny the irresistible convictions of their own understandinjjs if 
they should say that he did not interfere, with the military power of the 
Union, on the side of the cliarter authorities, against the people of Rhode 
Island, by which their constitution and government were put down and 
suppressed. 



56 Rep. No. 546, 

The first attempt of the people of Rhode Islond to establish tlieir consti- 
tution and government was suppressed by the means and instrumentalities 
above described. In the latter part of June, (oUowino^ the events before 
mentioned, Governor Dorr made another attempt to re-establish the author- 
ity of the people's constitution and government. It will now be shown 
what connexion the President had with this second effort of Governor Dorr 
to reinstate the authority of the government under Vi^hich he acted. 

In anticipation of this second attempt of Governor Dorr to re-establish the 
people's government, Governor King addressed a letter to the President, 
Jinder date of ,Vlay 25, statinsf tlie grounds of his apprehensions, and add- 
ing, "In this position of affairs, I deem it my duty to call upon your 
excellency for the support guarantied by the constitution and laws of 
the United States to this Government." Did the President remain silent 
and inactive on this requisilioti ? Let the facts answer. On the 28th of 
May, the President replied to the letter of Governor King as follows: 
"Should the necessity of the case require the interposition, of the authority 
of the United States, it will be rendered in the manner prescribed by the 
laws." How was it rendered ? On the 28th of May, Colonel Bankhead 
was ordered '• to communicate personnlly ivi/h Governor King''' in relation 
to the subjects of his letter. On the 29ih day of May, another order from 
the War Department was addressed to General Eustis. of Boston, request- 
ing him to make inquiry in relation to the movements of the '-insurgents,'^ 
wliich was to be done "quietly and privately," and the result communi- 
cated to the dep.irtiTient. On the 2Sth of May "presidential instructions" 
were a]so addressed to the Secretary of War, directing Colonel Bankhead 
to take certain measures, witli a view to the contemplated attetript " to place" 
Dorr in the chair of State in Rhode Island." On the 22d day of June, 
Colonel Bankhead reported to the Secretary of War certain facts and cir- 
cumstances, which led him to believe "that Mr. Dorr and his party are de- 
termined to enter the State in force ; and that, in a few days, serious diffi- 
culties will arise." On the 29th of June, the President addressed a com- 
municaiion to the Secretary of War, in which lie states that it is now "evi- 
dent that the difficulties in Rhode Island have arrived at a crisis which 
njay require a prompt interposition of the Executive of the United States to 
prevent the effusion of blood;" and, '^ with a view to ascertain the true con- 
dition of things, and to render the assistance of this Government, if any be 
required, as prompt as may be, you are instructed to proceed to Rhode 
Island." The Secretary was also directed to make requisitions upon 
the Governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut for miliiia. He also car- 
ried in his poclcet a proelamalion of the President against the "insur- 
gents." Colonel Bankhead, in the mean time, iims in co7nmuiiicalion with 
Governor King, as appears by his letters to the Secretary of War, under 
date of .lune 23. On tlie 27th of June, Colonel Bankhead writes to Adju- 
tant General Jones, at Washington, stating the forces of the charier govern- 
ment, and of Governor Dorr, at Chepachet ; and add.'^, "it seems to be im- 
possible to avoid a conflict betv/een the two parlies, without the interposition 
of a strong regular force." He then proceeds to speak of the condition of 
things in the city of Providence, and of the strengtli of Dorr's position, and 
adds, "it would, therefore, be highly imprudent to make the attack, even if 
no secret foes were left behind within the city, without a positive certain- 
ty of success ; and, with the aid of a few disciplined troops, a defeat [to Dorr] 



Rep. No. 5i6. 57 

there would be rninons and irreparable. A force of 300 regular troops would 
insure success, and probably without bloodshed." Ac{ainst whom were these 
"reijular troops" to act, but against Dorr ? And did Colonel Bankhead re- 
ceive these reitjforcements ? 

By general orders No. 33, " the lio^ht companies of the 1st and 3d artil- 
lery, on being relieved, will proceed to Fort Adams, to constitute two of 
the foi/r companies assigned as the permanent garrison of that post ;" and, 
on the 1 Ith of June, the assistant adjutant general wrote to Col. Bankhead 
that "the two companies now at Fort Adams, to be replaced by two light 
companies, njay wait for the arrival of the latter." Thus ivus Col. Bank- 
head svpplied vuth nenrly the mu/iber of men required ; and a circum- 
stance, not unworthy of note, connected with these military movements, is, 
that, at this juncture, two ordinary companies of artillery were removed, 
and their places supplied with two companies of " li^fit^^ or Jlijing artillery, 
which are the most effective force in tlie service. The United States troops 
at Fort Adams were also provided with ammunition, flints, haversacks, 
provisions for two days' service in the field, daily disciplined, and informed 
by these officers that they were to act on the side of the charter authorities 
against the people. Oariridges for cannon and muslcets were also taken 
from the stores of the Uniteil States, and delivered to the charter troops. — 
(See affidavit of George S. Reed, appendix No. 57.) 

In view of these facts, can any one doubt that they constitute a second 
MILITARY DEMONSTRATION agaiust the pcople of Rhode Island and Mr. 
Dorr, their riglitful Governor, who was attempting to reinstate the peo- 
ple's constitution and government against the charier authorities, who had 
become the usurping and insurrectionary party in the State? Yet the 
President affirms that the casus foederis never arose when he was author- 
ized to inti^rpose the authority and power of the General Governn)ent in 
the political disputes of tiie people of Rhode Island ; and, in his late mes- 
sage, in face of the facts above stated, he gravely avers to the House and 
the country "that the Executive did not deem it his duty to interfere, with 
the naval and military power of the United States, in the late disturbances 
in Rhode Island ;" but the movement of troops to that State was merely 
"^0 siren !^i hen the ^arriyon at Fort Admns T 

The committee have stated the facts, and, notwithstanding the positive 
denial of the President that he did interfere with the military power of the 
General Government on the side of the charter party against the people, 
they feel bound to say that the testimony supports a conclusion entirely 
opposi e to that to which the President has arrived. It was by this second 
military demonstration that the people were again defeated, and their con- 
stitution finally suppressed. 

Had ihe President a right to interfere at all on the side of the charter au- 
thorities agaiust the people who, in the exercise of their sovereign power, 
were engaged in a peaceable and orderly attempt to establish their constitu- 
tion and government, but who were unlawfully, and without right, resisted 
in this attempt by the charter authorities? The President derives his au- 
thority to act in the case under consideration (if from any source) from 
the fourth section of the fourth article of the constitution, which is in the 
followmg words : 

"Tile United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a re- 
publican form of government, and shall protect each of them against inva- 



58 Rep. No. 546. 

sioii ; and. on application of the Legislature, or of the Executive when the 
Legislature cannot be convened, agauist domestic violence." 

And also he rehes upon the laws of Congress passed in pursuance of this 
provision of the constitution. This provision of the constiiution, and the 
laws of Congress made in pursuance of it, authorize the President to in- 
terfere only in cases of domestic violence or insurrection against tlie duly 
constituted authorities of a State — authorities which are admitted on all 
sides, even by the insurgents themselves, to be constitutional and legal. In- 
surrection cannot exist against a defimct government, which claims power 
by usurpation and force. The Shay's rebellion in Massachusetts, and the 
whiskey insurrection in Pennsylvania, were insurrections against govern- 
ments admitted and recognised by the insurgents themselves to be constitu- 
tional and legitimate. In such cases, there can be no doubt as to the 
duly of the Executive, But the act of the people by which they, in 
the exercise of their inlierent sovereign will, substitute one government 
for another, cannot be deemed an insurrection against the government they 
have abrogated ; and, in such a case, the Presid«',nt would be guilty of a 
violatioti of the constitution, if he were to interfere and put them down by 
the military power at his command. Instead of a "constitution- 
maker," he would, in such a case, be the peri'etuator of usurpers and 
tyrants. The interpretation which he makes of his own duty under the 
constiiution, in assuming that the act of the people in changing their con- 
stitution cannot be authentic without the consent of the existing authorities, 
makes him not only an "agitator" between the parties, but a constitu 
tion-maker, or rather a constitution destroyer. His interpretation 
of his duty would have perpetuated in power the thirty tyrnnts of Aihens, 
if they had happened to be the " aulhorities" of the State of Rhode Island ; 
and, with due deference to the higli source whence such doctrines emanate, 
the committee believe tliat they are most pernicious and dangerous in their 
effects upon free government, and deserve to be stamped with reprobation 
by the American people. They would forever put the bar up against all 
reform in existing governments, except by force ; they therefore tend to 
produce the anarchy and bloodshed which the President so ft eliiigly affects 
to deprecate, or they tend to despotism. The President, in substance, says 
to the party which hapfjens to be in possession of power in a State : " Do 
as you please with the power you pos>ess ; pervert it as much as you 
please ; pay no regard to the people, if you please ; deprive them of as 
much of their rights as you please. If they attempt to regain them without 
your consent, — if they attempt to abolish the constitution, or frame of gov- 
ernment, under which you act, and which you have perverted, and to 
establish another in its pfice without your consent, I will interpose with 
the military power of the Union, and put them down. They are insurrec- 
tionists against your government, and rebels against your authority; and it 
is therefore my constitutional duty to put them down." What effect would 
doctrines like tlT£se have in the commonwealths of wliich this republic is 
com[)osed, but to create tyrants and to establish despotisms, or to bring 
about bloody revolutions and civil war? And, to decide in favor of tlie ex- 
isting government, is he not as much an ^^ agitator' between the contend- 
ing parties, and a " constitution f/iukei;" as if he were to decide in favor of 
the people? 

The President also assumes, in his message, that, as the charter was the 
form of government which existed in Rhode Island at the Revolution, and 



Rep. No 546. 59 

at the time of the adoption of the constitution of the United States hy the 
State of Rhode l--land, it was the form of government which the United 
States stipulated to guaranty. He further, in snltstance, contends that he 
had no rigfit to take notice of the act of the people of Rhode Island by 
which they abrogated the charter, because the act was not done by the eon- 
sent of the authorities deriving their power from the charter. 

To make the difierence between themselves and the President more ob- 
vious, the committee will stale their views of the effect of the Revolution 
upon the charter. Prior to tlial event, the institutions of the colonies re- 
cognised the theoretic principle, that the sovereign power was vested in the 
crown of Enoiand. AH charters of government were derived from the 
crown, and could be altered or revoked at the pleasure of the king; and all 
laws passed by the legislatures of the colonies required the assent of the 
king or his representative; the king was the admitted sovereign, and 
the people aspired to be no more than subjects. The revolution established a 
new theory, viz: that the people, in their political capacity, were sovereign: 
and in tlieir individual capacity, the subjects of their own laws. When the 
separation between thecoloni(\s and the motfier country actually took place, 
the sovereignty reverted from the crown of England to the people of the 
several colonies. The people, therefore, stood in the same relation to all 
the existing governments of the colonies, as that in which the crown stood 
before the .'•eparation. They could abolish them, and substitute others in 
their places, or they could permit them to exist. In some of the States tliey 
proceeded immediately to the work of revoking the royal charters by which 
their governments were established, and instituting written constitutions in 
their places. If any of the old charters existed, (as tfiey did in Coimecticut 
for many years after the Revolution, and in Rhode Island until recently,) 
they existed by the consent, or rather sufferance of the people, who possess- 
ed the power to abolish them at will. While they tlius existed, with the 
consent of the people, the comiDittee concur with tlie President in the 
opinion, that they were entitled to the guaranty of the United States under 
the constitution, provided (he government, under them, was in form repub- 
lican. But the President contends that the United States, acting through 
its constituted authorities, has no right to take notice of any change of these 
original frame-works of government, the royal charters, (or even of con- 
stitutions adopted in their places.) unless such change shall have been made 
by the people with the consent of the authorities existing under those 
charters; — in other words, r)o act of the people, changing those charters, 
can be authentic without such consent ; and that he, actino- for the United 
States, in executing the guarantee of the constitution, has no discretion in 
the matter, but must stand by the authorities, and against the people. On 
this point the committee differ with the President. Tliey hold that when 
the casus fosderi^ tirlses which demands the execution of the constitutional 
guarantee to a State, the authorities of the Union, charged with the execu- 
tion of thai Guarantee, /n.ii.'^t deliberate. Tliey must decide whether they 
are called upon to guaranty a republican form of government ado{)ted by 
the [)eople of the State claiming tlie guarantee, or to perpetuate a govern- 
ment which is not, or which has ceased to be, repul)lican. The section of the 
consiitmion containing this stipulated guarantee, e.r vi termini requires this 
deliberation and decision. And in accordance with this view of the sub- 
ject, Mr. Madison, in the 4Rd number of the Federalist, remarks: ''As long, 
therefore, as the existing repvblican forms are continued by the Stales, 



m^ Kep. No. 546. 

they are guarantied by (he federal constitution. Whenever the States }?rai/ 
choose to siihstiLiUc, other republican forms ^ they have a right to do so, and 
10 claim the federal guarantee for the latter." 

In addition to the authority of Mr. Miidison, the committee will refer to a re- 
cent and conspicuous example, in which the then Executive of the United 
States exercised tliis deliberation and decision. The committee refer to the 
refusal by certain individuals of one political party in Pennsylvania, in 
1838, to surrender the offices and authority they lield to other persons who 
had been elected by the people of that State to the same offices. The 
former were in possession of the govern ment of the State in all its depart- 
ments. They were the official government of the State. They came to the 
determination to treat the election by the people of others to their places, 
as though it had not been held. Great excitement followed this resokition 
of tlie official government, and the people assembled at its seat in such 
numbers as to induce those holding the offices of the government to fear fhat 
tliey would be ejected from their places by force. In this emergency, a requisi- 
tion was made upon the President of the United States for his int. rposiiioti 
with the military power of the Union to protect the Slate from insurrection 
and domestic violence. It was made by a government de facto ^ claiming 
to be such de jure, and to all appearance orijanized in all its departments. 
Yet the President deliberated. He considered whether those persons con- 
stituting the government de facto were holding it by right. He investigated 
the fcicts, and saw that the people had elected a new governmetit, which, 
although the individuals constituting it had not been qualified, and had not 
assumed their offices, was the government de Jure^ and that tiie other was 
in fact a usurpation. He therefore decided against the usurping government, 
in favor of the rightful one, and refused to comply with the requisition. 
The resrdt, as is well known, was the ascendency of the people over the 
usurping party. 

According to the interpretation given by the President, of the duty of the 
Executive under the clause of the constitution guarantying to the States 
republican forms of government, and protecting them from domestic vio- 
lence, the eminent individual who filled tlie execiuive chair at the time 
of the event above alluded to occurred, was bound to interpose the power 
of the United States in favor of tlie actual government making the requisi- 
tion, having no discretionary power to inquire whether the requisition |)ro- 
ceeded from a legitimate or a usurpina- government. In such a construction 
of his duty, the committee repeat that they do not concur with the President. 

This subject will be further considered in another part of this report. 

The committee have no doubt of the fict, because it is shown by the 
testimony annexed to this report, and by the notorious history of the times, 
that, if the President had not intt^rposed with the military power of the 
United States, in favor of the charter government, tlie people's constitution 
would have gone into effect, and the government organized undrr it would 
now have been the government of Rhode Island. Their constitution was 
adopted in peace, and without opposition. Their government wa" organ- 
ized without molestation, and no serious opposition was made to it by the 
charter authorities, until they hadnceived the pledge of aid from, the Pres- 
ident. W ithout this assistance, no reasonable man, cognizant of the facts, 
can doubt that the charter authorities would have peaceaf)ly and qui<;tly 
surrendered their places and power to the government of the people. Not- 
withstanding, therefore, his averment to the contrary, (which the committee. 



Rep No. 546. 61 

in courtesy, are bound to receive as honestly made,) the fact cannot lie de- 
nied that he made himself the "agitator" between the two parlies in Rhode 
Island ; and that he defeated one consutntion. and imposed upon the pi'ople 
of the State another— thus making himself the "coNSTiTUTioN-MAKEii" 
for the people of Rhode Island. 

The President also professes to entertain the bc^lief, that a course contra- 
ry to the one he pursued in Rhode Island vvonld lead to civil war, anarchy, 
and bloodshed. With due deference to the opinion of the President, the 
committee entertain a belief directly the reverse. The experiment o( the 
President was indeed successful in Rhode Island — a State small in popula- 
tion as well as in territory. But, if he had thus interpose d in a snnilar 
controversy between two parties of the people of the great and powerful 
States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, or Virginia, what would have 
been the result? Would the party against whom he interfered have 
submitted peaceably to presidential dictation? Would they have feared 
the power of the Union ? And could the President rely on the aid of 
the people of other States, in such an emergency, — especially when the 
aim and object of his interposition were to trample down the great funda- 
mental principle of American institutions, by tlie tenure of which j)rin- 
ciple the people hold their liherties, — and to perpetuate in power a gov- 
ernment which the people of a State lind abrogated and repudiated? In 
such a contest, on which side would be the sympathies and the active aid 
of the generous, magnanimous, and liberty loving people of this country? 
The President may rely upon it, tiiat they would not be on the side of 
the General Government and a factious minority against the people. If 
it had been the people of any of the large and powerful States of the 
Union with whose political controversies the President had interfered, 
instead of Rhode Island, he would have been resisted at once, and he then 
would liave witues.-ed the melancholy spectacle of civil war, aiiarcfiy, and 
bloodshed, which he deprecates. Tiie conflagration would have l)een 
lit up by a brand from his own hand, and he would have seen an uprising 
of the people against himself and the authority he wielded, which would 
have swept away himself, and his ministers and agents of power, as the dust 
is swept from the eagle's wings by the winds of the raging tempest. Such, 
in the opinion of the committee, would have been the awful consequences, 
if a single individual of the people of Rhode Island had been slaughtered 
by the hireling soldiery of the United States. It would have kindled a civil 
war which might have pervaded the whole Union, and prostrated in blood 
and desolation the fairest fabric ever erected to human liberty. 

The people of this country are justly jealous of the power of the General 
Government. While they will stand by it with patriotic fidelity, when it 
moves within the proper orbit of its powers, they will never permit it to 
step beyond the sphere of its duties, and interfere with the political contests 
of the people of the several States. In such emergencies, the President will 
always find the American people arrayed against the power of the General 
Government. In the unhappy controversy in Rhode Island, the President 
himself saw evidences of tins fact, in the almost universal sympathies of 
the people of other States in favor of the suffrage party of Rhode Island, 
and in their indignant condemnation of executive interference. Such was 
the state of feeling among the people during the occurrence of the events 
under consideration, as was too clearly manifest to be mistaken by the Pres- 
ident. He could not have shut his eyes to the portentous spectacle of a large 
public meeting composed of men of wealth, talent, and the highest respec- 



62 Rep. No. 546. 

lability in the city of New York, which was called expressly on the occasion 
of his interference. Nor could he have failed to perceive the spirit which 
brought together similar assemblages of the people m Boston and other 
places. Not nntil he had inltrposed the power of the Union in the dis- 
pute^ was there any disposition among the people of other States to min- 
gle actively and personally in the fray. It was to oppose him and his 
power that individuals from other States joined the standard of (Jovernor 
Dorr, if any did join it ; — of which fact, however, the committee have had 
no proof, although there is proof that citizens of other States served in the 
ranks of the charter party, during the late difficulties in Rhode Island. 

The President concludes the review which his message takes of his con- 
duct which resulted in the establishment of the existing constitution of the 
State of Rhode Island, with the following self-gratulating remark: " Thus 
the great American experiment of a change in government, under the in- 
fluence of o])inion, and not of force ^ has been crowned with success, and 
the State and people of Rliode Island repose in safety under institutions of 
their own adoption, unterrified by any future prospect of necessary change, 
and secure against domestic violence and invasion from abroad." 

That the remark of the President, above quoted, may be stamped with 
its true character, the committee will briefly review the circumstances under 
which this "great American experimentof a change in government," of which 
he speaks, was effected. The people of Rhode Island, in the exercise of what 
they believed to be their sovereign right, without force and in a peaceable 
manner, adopted a constitution in place of the charter under wliich they 
had long lived. At the time appointed in their constitution, they proceeded 
to elect and organize a government under it, in place of the government 
existing under the charter. They called upon the charter authorities to 
surrender the power which they (the people) had decided to withdraw from 
those authorities, and to place in other hands. The charter authorities re- 
fused, and called upon the President to aid them in putting down the people 
w-ith the military power of the Union. This aid was promised, and, with 
that view, troops and munitions of war belonging to the United States were 
sent into the territory of Rhode Island ; and, through this interposition of 
the President, the people were conquered., and their government overturned 
and suppressed. Martial law was proclaimed; awA while it continned in 
force^ the people were called upon, by an act of the Legislature, to elect dele- 
gates to a convention which was authorized to frame a new constitution. 
The election of delegates took place on the last Tuesday of August, 1842. 
On the eighth of the same August, martial law was temporarily suspended by 
proclamation of the Governor, not repealed. It may, therefore, with truth 
be said, that; the delegates to this important convention were elected tin- 
der the actual existence of martial law. The convention assembled, 
framed a constitution, and submitted it to the people for adoption on the 
21st, 22d, and 23d days of November, 1842; prior to which time (viz: on 
the 3()th day of August) martial law was indefinitely suspended by procla- 
mation of the Governor, although the act authorizing the Governor and 
council to proclaim it at any time, still remains unrepealed. The people 
voted, and the constitution received less than 7,000 votes, (which number 
is less than one-third of the suffrages of the whole people,) and was de- 
clared to be adopted, and the present government of the State was organized 
under it accordingly. During the whole of this time the State of Rhode 
Island was under actual military organization; many of its citizens were 



Rep. No. 546. 63 

in j)rison, on charges of treason and other crimes; many were in forcible 
exile, and a majority were writhing under the degradation of military con- 
quest. The fart is^ therefore, that the existing constitution of the State 
was actually framed and adopted under the mejiace and duress of martial 
laiD and military force. And yet, in tlie face of this pregnant and pointed 
fact, the President coolly asserts to the House and the country, that this 
" great American experiment of a change of government" was accomplished 
'• under the influence of opinion, and not of Ibrce !" 

The committee submit to the House and the country to compare the facts 
with the President's assertion, and to draw the inference, 

THE POWER OF CONGRESS IN RESPECT TO THE iMATTER OF THE ME- 
MORIAL. 

The committee now proceed to consider, briefly, the power and the duty 
of the Government of the United States in reference to the matters pre- 
sented to the consideration of the House by the memorialists. In addition 
to the inquiry into the allegations of fact in their memorial, they pray Con- 
gress to execute the guaranty of the United States to the people of Rhode Is- 
land, by reinstating their constitution, which was suppressed by the charter 
authorities, illegitimately holding power, assisted by the Executive of the 
United States with the military power of the Union. All the power which 
Congress possesses over the subject-matter of the memorial is derived from 
the fourth section of the fourth article of the constitution, which has been be- 
fore cited. That provision of the coiisiitution guaranties to each State "a 
republican form, of gov ernn lev t^'' xsvi& stipulates "to protect each of them 
against invasion ; and, on the application of the Legislature, or of the Ex- 
ecutive, when the Legislature cannot be convened, against domestic vio- 
lence." "^rhis provision of the constitution vests in the Congress of the 
United States a supervision over all the State constitutions ; so fiar as the as- 
certcuninent of their republican character is concerned. And when those 
constitutions do not provide fir a republican form of government — which, in 
addition to an outward popular organization, the committee understand to 
be one which exists in the consent of the people, and over which they have 
control — it is the duty of Congress to set it aside, and to recognise and en- 
force one which possesses this republican character. This act of supervision 
implies the prior action of the people, or of a party assuming to be the peo- 
ple, of a State. And further than the exercise of this supervision, the com- 
mittee contend that Congress has no power and cannot go. Congress can- 
not prescribe to the peo|)le of a State the details of their constitution, if none 
of its provisions conflict with a republican form. It cannot dictate to the 
people as to whom shall be confided the political power of the State. The 
people, as hereinbefore defined — who do not, in the opinion of ihe commit- 
tee, include slaves, nor persons under pupilase or guardianship, nor aliens, 
nor insane persons, nor paupers, who contribute nothing to the effective 
means of the community, nor persons who have forfeited the confidence of 
the community by crimes against its rights, — the people, thus defined, have 
supreme, unlimited control over their constitutions. The majority may 
make such distribution of political power in their constitutions as they may 
think proper. They may limit and restrict it as they please, provided it is 
the will of the majority, and provided the power is at all times reserved to 
the people as before defined, (to include every free male citizen, with the 



64 Rep. No. 546. 

exceptions above stated,) to alter, reform, or abolish the existing govern- 
ment, ill manner and form as they shall dtem most ex[)edient. 

The committee also are of the opinion that the Government of the Union 
is bound, at all times, to take notice of this sovereign act of the people, when- 
ever it is done, and to protect the people in the exercise of it. Congress is 
bound to pass laws, if none now exist, (which the committee beheve to be 
the fact,) to protect the people of the several States in tiie enjoyment and 
exercise of their sovereign powers. If this were done, and if these were the 
doclrmes entertained by the authorities of the Union, no change of govern- 
ment by the people of a State would lead to bloodshed and civil war. Such 
changes wo ild l^e made with as little excitement as occurs at an ordmary 
election. Each party would know that the validity of the act by which the 
change was effected would be tested by a superior tribunal, governed and 
controlled in its action by the supreme law of their common country; and 
they would await its decision — with anxiety, to be sure, but in tranquillity 
and peace. Then, indeed, would be exhihited the sublime spectacle of 
"the great American experiment of a change in government, under the in- 
fluence of opinion, and not of force.'' It would not be effected by a resort 
to the bloody right of revolution, which is tlie common right of the serfs 
and vassals of every despot in every hind and clime; but it would be 
brought about by the peaceful operation of the great principle which lies at 
the foundation of all the American institutions of government — the sov 

EREIGNTY AND SUPREMACY OF THE PEOPLE. 

Coijgress is as imperatively bound by the provision of the constitution 
before reterred to, to protect the States from invasion and domestic insur- 
rection and violence, as it is to guaranty to them republican forms of gov- 
ernment. But those insurrections must, of course, be against governments 
rightfully exisiing^ by the will and consent of the people, and not by 
usurpation, against their will. The people, in attempting to put down 
such governments, cannot be rebels and insurrectionists. On the contrary, 
they are entitled to the aid and succor of the General Government in such 
an act. 

In respect to the guaranty claimed by the memorialists for the people's 
constitution and government, the committee have before remarked, that, on 
the first election under the existing constitution of Rhode Island, an un- 
doubted majority of the people did register their nairies and give their suf- 
frages according to its provisions. Whether that act was equivalent to an 
abrogation of the people's constitution, and a ratification of the present con- 
stitution of the State, the committee, as they have before remarked, will not 
undertake to decide. And for the purpose of producing unanimity, as 
much as possible, in the opinion of the House, they do not propose any 
further action in reference to the subject, than to declare, by resolution, 
that, until the people's constitution was thus abrogated, the acts of the gov- 
ernment established under it were rightful, and entitled* to full faith, credit, 
and authority. 

And the committee would here respectfully suggest to the House the 
propriety of some legislation by Congress, with a view to meet emergencies 
like that which has occurred in the Slate of Rhode Island. The action of 
the Kxecutive in that emergency, by which the will of the people of that 
State was suppressed, and the people themselves conquered and degraded, 
clearly demonstrates the necessity of such legislation, in order to prevent 
that arm of the General Government which is first applied to in such- 



Kep. No. 5i6. 65 

cases, from becoming the arbiter of the people in questions affecting the 
exercise of their sovereign power, and the "constitution-maker" of the 
States. 

TYRANNY AND DESPOTISM OF THE CHARTER AUTHORITIES. 

The committee will now pass to the consideration of the conduct of the 
charter authorities in reference to the people of Rhode Island, with a view 
to prevent them from adopting a constitution, and organizing a government 
under it ; together with such other acts of tyranny and outrage, in the name 
and under the forms of law, perpetrated by the charter authorities and their 
adherents, against the advocates and supporters of the people's constitution 
and government, during the late unhappy disturbances in that State. And, 
first, the legal expedients resorted to, to prevent the people from adopting 
their constitution, and organizing their government, will be noticed. 

Coercion of the people hij penal enactments. 

The charter assembly, at its session in March, 1842, with a view, and 
for the express and avowed object, of preventing the people from proceeding 
to the election of a governor and other State officers, and a legislature, ac- 
cording to the provisions of tlieir constitution, passed an act entitled "An 
act in relation to offences against the sovereign power of the State," more 
generally known afterwards in the political vocabulary of the State as the 
"Algerine act." (See appendix, No. 2.) The first section of this act, 
after declaring all " town, ward, or other meetings," for the election of any 
" town, ward, city, or State officer or officers," not held according to the 
laws of the charier government, illegaf and void, proceeded to enact that 
"any person or persons 7iiho shall net as inoderator or moderators., warden 
or wardens^ clerk or clerks,^^ in such meeting declared to be illegal, "or in 
any name or manner receive, record, or certify votes" for any officers at such 
meetings declared to be illegal, '■'■shall he deemed guilty of a misde??ieanor^ 
and be punished, by indictment, with a fine not exceeding one thousand 
dollars, nor less than^'re hundred dollars, and be imprisoned for tJte term 
of six ?nonths.'^ 

The se 'Olid section enacts, that any person or persons who shall '^signify 
that he or they will accept any office by virtue of such elections declared 
by the act to be illegal, or shall " knowingly suffer or permit his or their 
name or names to be used as a candidate or candidates" for any office at 
such election, shall be adjudged guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor, 
and be punished, by indictment, in a fine of two thousand dollars, and be 
imprisoned for the term of one year." 

The third section, in substance, enacts that any person who shall "as- 
sume to exercise" any office "under any pretended constitution of govern- 
ment for this State, or otherwise," within the territorial limits of said State, 
or "shall assemble for the purpose of exercising any such functions," every 
such exercise of, or meeting for the purpose of exercising any of said func- 
tions "shall be deemed and taken to be an usurpation of the sovereign 
power of this Slate, and is hereby declared to be treason against the State, 
and shall be punished by impriaonment during life.''' 

The fourth section of the act provides that "all indictments under this 
act, and all indictments for treason against this State, may be preferred and 
5 



66 Rep. No. 546. 

found in awy county of this State, without regard to the comity in which 
the offence was committed.'''' The same section authorizes tlie supreme 
court to remove any indictment for trial to any county in the State. 

Such, in substance, are the provisions of the celebrated act in relation to 
offences against the "sovereign power" of the Slate. The whole of it was 
aimed at the people's constitution, and was intended to prevent the election 
and organization of a government under it. The first section was designed to 
deter the people from electing the officers necessary for the organization of 
their government ; and with that view, it was declared to be a misdemeanor 
to officiate as moderator or clerk at such meeting, under a penalty of $1,01)0, 
and imprisonment for the term of six months. The second section was de- 
signed to prevent the people from having any candidates; and to intimidate 
such persons as were inclined to act as candidates, it was declared to be a 
" high crime and jnisdejueanor''^ if they " signified''^ that they would accept 
an office to which they might be elected, or if they, knowingly ^^snff'ered or 
permitted'''' themselves to be candidates; .and the offender subjected himself 
to a penalty of i2,000, and imprisonment for the term of one year. The 
third section declares the exercise of the functions of any office, or meeting 
for that purpose, (which was thus forbidden,) to be "^reaso/t" against the 
State, which subjected the offender to imprisonment for life! The fourth 
section committed an atrocious violation of every principle of justice, by 
authorizing a partisan court (since proved to be — see Charge of .ludge Dur- 
fee, appendix No. 212) to transfer the accused from the county in which 
the alleged offence was committed, to some other county, for trial, (perhaps 
among his enemies,) in which his conviction woidd be rendered more cer- 
tain. Such a provision is in direct conflict with the sixth amendment of 
the constitution of tlie United States, which secures to the accused an im- 
partial trial by a jury of his peers in the county or district in which the 
offence shall have been committed. Such a provision in regard to the trial 
of the accused would not, in this age, be permitted to disgrace the legisla- 
tion of any civilized and enlightened t^uropean Government which pro- 
fesses to be free. In all its provisions, it is equally obnoxious, derogatory 
to the rights of the people, and disreputable to the State and the age. It 
seems to have been reserved for the legislators of Rhode Island to discover 
that '■^signifying^^ to accept an office, or '■'■permitting'''' one's name to be used 
as a candidate, was a "high crime and misdemeanor;" or that, assuming 
to exercise the functions of such office was " treason against the State." 
When were such acts before denounced as crimes in any free country? 
When, before, were men accused of high crimes, permitted to be transported 
from the county in which the crime was committed, to another, for trial, in 
order to insure conv'iction? The venue is often permitted to be changed 
when the accused cannot have a fair trial in the county in which the offence 
was committed, but never to render his conviction more certain. The 
change of venue is permitted as an act of humanity to the accused^ to secure 
to him a just and impartial trial, and not to enable the government to wreak 
its vengeance with more sure and certain success. Such vindictive tyranny 
is worthy only of the oge of the Stuarts and their judicial instrument, the 
infamous Jeffries; and would now be scouted for its abominable injustice 
and tyranny, even in England. 

The recent trial and conviction of Thomas W. Dorr, who officiated as 
governor under the people's constitution, for the alleged offence of treason, 
•furnishes a conclusive illustration of the tender mercies of the act under con- 



Rep. No. 546. 67 

sideration. His alleged offence was commilted in the county of Providence; 
ill wliich county, the people's constitution had most friends and supporters. 
He was transported to the county of Newport for trial, where lie had the 
most political enemies. After several days wasted in empannelling a jury, 
there being over 100 summoned, a jury was at length packed, being every 
man of them his political enatnies ; and he was passed through the forms of 
a trial, and convicted, as every man knew he would be, under such a fiarci- 
cal, if not disgraceful proceeding, in the name of justice. 

The committee rejoice that such a law, and such an administration of it, 
have never soiled tlie character of any State in the Union — except Rhode 
Island. They believe it to be violative (in two of its features, at least) of the 
constitution of the United States. Its definition of treason is a violation of 
that provision of the constitution which declares that treason shall consist 
in " levying war against the United States, or in adhering to their enemies, 
giving them aid and comfort." Its provision authorizing the transfer of 
persons accused of crimes from the county in which the offence was com- 
mitted, to another county, for trial, with tlie obvious purpose of enabling 
the government the more readlli/ to convict them, is, as has been before re- 
marked, in violation of the constitution of the United States, which provides 
that the accused shall be tried in the district in which the offence shall have 
been committed, and which has been previously ascertained by law. 

The whole aim and object of this act was to prevent the people of Rhode 
Island from organizing a government under the constitution adopted by 
them; and if tiiey should persist, to enable the charter government, if suc- 
cessful in the contest, to wreak its vengeance upon those who dared to advo- 
cate and defend that constitution and governmenl. The people, however, 
treated the act with the scorn and contempt which it merited, and proceeded 
to elect the officers provided by their constitution, and to organize their 
government. Tiiey, also, through their legislature thus elected, repealed 
the odious law, the provisions of which have been recited, and set it aside 
as one of those execrable acts of a despotic power which deserve the deci- 
sive condemnation of frecinen. And if it had not been for the unauthorized 
and censurable interference of the Executive of the United States with the 
military power of the Union, on behalf of the charter government, the de- 
funct power of the odious statute under consideration would have never 
been revived, and the State of Rhode Island would not have attained that 
preeminent distinction for vindictive and relentless political proscription 
which it now enjoys, and which exceeds in its ruthless vengeance the con- 
duct of any modern civilized government pretending at all to regard the forms 
of liberty, equity, and justice. 

'I'he act above mentioned was passed before any election had occurred 
under the people's constitution, and before any govertmient imder it was 
organized. Its object was, as before remarked, to prevent such election and 
organization from taking effect. After their constitution and government 
were suppressed, the people of Rhode Island, as the memorialists allege, in 
order to bring the question in relation to their right to change their form of 
government before the House of Representatives of the United States, to be 
there considered and determined, proposed to elect members to the House, 
that the question might be raised by the compel ition for seats which would 
take place between the members elected under the people's constitution, and 
those elected under the existing constitution of the State. To prevent the 
people from resorting to this peaceful mode of testing the questions, both of 



68 Rep. No. 546, 

ri^ht and of fact, involved in the adoption of the constitution, and as Kseew- 
ingly fearful of the result, the General Assembly, under the existiuij consti- 
tution of the State, at its January session, 1843, passed an act in addition to 
the act " in relation to offences against the sovereign power of the State," 
(which act has been before described ;) in and by which, the provisions of 
that act in relation to such oflTences were re-enacted. It declared all meet- 
ings, not according to the laws of the charter government, and its successor^ 
the present government of the State, to be illegal and void; subjected the 
moderators, clerks, candidates, and officers, assuming to exercise the func- 
tions of their several offices, to the same penalties; declaring these acts tO' 
bd misdemeanors, high crimes, and treasons. Not stopping at the re enact- 
ment of the provisions of the " Algerine act," it took one bold stride farther, 
and denounced all meetings held by the people for electing officers, except 
according to the dominant power of the State, to be ^^ riotous, tumulinous, 
and treasonable assemblies ;"' and directed the Governor of the State, sher- 
itTs of counties, &c., (fcc, to command such meetings to disperse forthwith ; 
and if such con)mand were not followed by instant dispersion^ they were 
authorized to use first the civil posse, and next to call out the military pow- 
er of the State, to disperse such assemblies. Thus, under the refined pro- 
x'isions of this act, all meetings, however ordei^ly and peaceable, which vi^ere 
held for the purpose of electing officers, and which were not authorized by 
the rulino: party in the State, were declared to be "riotous, tumultuous, and 
treasonable assemblies," which might be commanded to disperse instantly / 
and if that order was not instantly obeyed, the awthorities, thus empowered 
by the act, could call out the military force, and instantly shoot down those 
who were concerned in the meetings declared to be " riotous, tumultuous, 
and treasonable." The committee have looked in vain in the statute-books 
of the several States of the Union for an act which, in its provisions, bears 
any resemblance to the one under consideration. And they believe it to be 
the first instance in the republic in which a State has provided, by legal 
enactment, to have its citizens, who are holding a peaceful meeting, shot 
down by an armed military, if they do not instantly obey an order to dis- 
perse.* — (For the act now under consideration, see appendix, No. 232.) 

But llie committee forbear to comment upon the despotic and sanguinary 
features of such legislation, further than to remark, that, by it, the people 
were intimidated and prevented from electing members of Congress, under 
tlieir own constitution and laws; and therefore were deprived of that op- 
portunity of submitting their cause to the arbitrament and decision of the 
nation, through its Representatives in Congress assembled. 

Such were the legal coercions resorted to by the dominant authorities 
of Rhode Island, to prevent the people, not only from organizing a govern- 
ment under their constitution, but from presenting the questions of right 
and of fact, growing out of their movement, for the decision of Congress — 
the only tribunal that could determine those questions by direct jurisdic- 
tion — through its power of supervision over the constitutions of the States, 

There is one more legislative expedient resorted to by the charter author- 

* In April, 1842, ihe charter assembly amended the existing riot act of the State, which re- 
quired one hour to elapse after proclamation, before military force could be used, so as to author- 
ize its application msianler alter the proclamation ; but it did not declare the meetings ot the 
people, to elect officers under their constitution, " riotous, tumultuous, and treasonable assem- 
blies," although there is no reason to doubt that to disperse such instantly by the bayonet was 
the object of this amendmen: o; the riot act.— (See appendix, No. 23-2, A.) 



Rep. No. 546. 69 

hies to suppress the suffrage movement, to whicli the committee will briefly 
allude; and which was, the scheme of the legislature to disband all the mili- 
tary companies suspected of being inclined in favor of the snffrage move- 
ment, and to reorganize companies composed entirely of adherents of the 
cliarter cause. The latter companies were also favored by legislation in 
numerous ways ; armories were built for them, and douceurs, in other 
forms, voted by the legislature, to encourage them and secure their fidelity. 

As military service is one of the qualifications of suffrage under the ex- 
isting constitution, the law was so contrived as to exclude the suffrage men 
from qualifying themselves in that way. The power of enrollment was re- 
tained in the hands of the charter party, who could enroll such as they 
pleased, or exclude such as they pleased ; and thus, to some extent, they 
had a control over the right of suffrao^e. 

For the particular acts of the General Assembly, passed with a view to 
the above objects, and which proved to a great extent successful, the com- 
mittee refer to the appendix, where they are collated. 

The committ.;e now proceed to notice, briefly, some of the misrepresent- 
ations, persecutions, and outrages of which the suffrage party have been 
made the victims by the dominant authorities of the State of Rhode Island, 
and by persons intrusted with office and power under said authorities. 
The misrepresentations of which the people have been the objects, will be 
first noticed. 

Misrepresen tat ion s.. 

During the progress of the debate upon the memorial which is now be- 
fore the committee, the signers of it were, in substance, charged by one of 
the members now representing the State of Rhode Island in the House, 
with presenting to the House a tissue of falsehood, which lie alleged the 
memorial contained; which charge applied to all tlie material averments 
of the paper. The same member, also, among other things, charged the 
suffrage party, and their confederates, with having formed a plot to plunder 
the banks of the city of Providence, and to subject its women to brutal vio- 
lence; which plot was carried so far towards its execution as the designa- 
tion of a signal, on which the infernal work of plunder and violence was 
to commence. 

In relation to the general charge of falsehood preferred aofainst the me- 
morialists, the committee are bound in justice to say that all the material 
averments and allegations contained in the memorial have been proved to 
be true by the testimony, oral and documeniary. which has been presented 
to the committee, and which is hereunto annexed. 

In relation to the charge that the suffrage party, or any person connected 
or confederated with it, in or out of the State of Rhode Island, had formed 
a plot to phmder the city of Providence, and to comniit the other enontities 
alleged, the committee deemed it of so important a character, (coming from 
the source it did,) as to require their n:o.st searcliing scrutiny and inves- 
tigation — well knowing that no party or class of men in this coimtry would 
uphold a party who could be guilty of concocting a plot so wicked, atro- 
cious, and diabolical. The committee felt that, however just the cause of 
the suffrage party of Rhode Island might have been in the outset, if they 
had stained it by a crime so revolting, they had forfeited all claim to the 
sympathies and the support of their countrymen, and had debarred them- 



70 Rep. ^■o. 546, 

selves of all favor from the House. With a view, therefore, of eliciting aO' 
the facts connected with this charge, and to g-ive the utmost opportunity to 
the individnal who preferred it to substantiate if by testimony, the com- 
mittee, at an early stage of their investigation^ passed the following reso- 
lution: 

'■'■Resolved^ That the chairman of this committee request the Hon, Henry 
Y. Cranston, of the House of Representatives, to communicate to this com- 
mittee the names of the persons by whom the fact, stated by him in his 
speech in the House of Kepresentatives, during the present session, upon 
the resohition, reported by this conjmittee, for power to send for persons 
and papers, that the suffrage party of the Slate of Rhode Island, and their 
confederates in or out of said State, had, during the late difficulties in that 
State, formed a plot to rob the banks and violate the women of the city of 
Providence, can be proved." 

A copy of this resolution was immediately delivered to the Hon. Mr. Crans- 
ton by the chairman of the committee. Yet, during the whole investiga- 
tion, he has named no witness, nor given other information to the commit- 
tee, by which the charge preferred by him against the suffrage party could 
be proved. The committee, nevertheless, deemed it their duty to resort to 
every means in their power to prove, or disprove, the charge. And with that 
view, questions were propounded to John S. Harris, Welcome B. Sayles, 
Aaron White, jr., and Captain John R. A^nton of the United States army — 
persotiswho were examined before the committee. The three first persons 
named are friendly to the people's constitution, bnt they are gentlemen of 
undoubted good character and unimpeachable veracity. Captain Vinton 
is a native of the State of Rhode Island, and. as appears from his testimony, 
was in fivor of the charter crovernment, and is now in favor of the existing 
government of his native State. Yet. the committee are glad to express 
their belief that, however strong his attachments were, and may be, to the 
doiiu'nant party of that State, his high sense of honor would not permit him 
to asperse, even by implication, much less by direct assertion, any portion 
of his fellow citizens, however much he might differ with them in opinion. 
He and the other three witnesses named concur in the statement that no 
authentic proof of any such plot as is before described ever came to their 
ktiowledge. Therefore, in the absence of all proof of, and all attempt to 
prove, the existence of such a plot, the committee are constrained to say 
that it has not appeared to them, nor do they believe, that there is any 
foundation whatever in flict for such a charge. In saying this, they, of 
course, biipute no willful desiofii to misrepresent on the part of those who 
have been instrumental in making such a charge against the suffrage party. 
They state only the facts, and leave to the House and the world to judge 
as to the motives of the originators of the calumny. 

Proscription, by the charter authorities, of the friends of the people^s con- 

stliution. 

When, by the assistance of the Executive of the United States, the domi- 
nant party in Rhode Island had triumphed over the people, and suppressed 
their constitution and government, humanity suggested, and ihe President 
himself recommended, to the victorious party, to deal kindly and gently 
with their fellow-citizens with whom they had so seriously differed. The 
President, as if conscious that he had used his power in an unpopular, if 
not an intrinsically bad cause, urged tiie charter party, in earnest and 



Rep. No. 546. f 1 

emphatic terms, to grant to the people the extension of the riglit of suffrage 
which they claimed, and to pass an amnesty fir past offences. This course 
every enlightened person would have advised, and every government, con- 
tent with a successful vindication of its authority, and not intent in wreak- 
ing on its subdued subjects its vindictive and insatiable vengeance, would 
have pursued. Yet the government of Rhode Island did not approve of 
this reasonable, this enlightened, this christian course of conduct towards 
those of its sahjerjs who favored the people's constitution, and have since 
fallen into its power; but it has pursued them with forced exile, with in- 
dictments, trials, and punishments, to an extent which cannot fail, when 
known, to call forth the emphatic and indignant condemnation of every 
magnanimous and mercifnl man. The ruling party in that State are now 
engaged in this work — in indicting, trying, and condemning men equally 
as respectable, virtuous, and excellent in character, as themselves — men 
upon whom no taint of crime rests — some for misdemcaiiors^ in acting as 
moderators or clerks of a peaceable meeting ; some for high crimes and 
misdemeanors, in " si^nif//ing'^ that they would be candidates for office 
under the people's conslitution ; and others for " /rmso«" against the State, 
in exercising the functions of office after they had been so elected. And all 
these prosecutions are for offences committed against a defunct govern.- 
meni, which the dominant party of the State have admitted ought to have 
been abrogated, by the fact that they have adopted a new constitution and 
government in its place, and conceded to the people the great principle 
contended for — the right of suffrage. But a recapitulation of distinct cases 
of proscription and persecution will speak more eloquently than words the 
sentence of condemnation and of reprobation which ought to be pro- 
nounced upon the ignoble and malicious motives which prompt such perse- 
vering, relentless, and ruthless revenge. The committee refer to the fol- 
lowing cases of proscription and persecution still persevered in by the 
present ruling party in Rhode Island, which have come to their knowledge, 
and which they have reason to believe are but a few of the many indict- 
ments and prosecutions still pending in the courts of that State: 

1st. They begin with the case of Andrew Essex, a/ormer, of the town of 
Cranston, Providence county, who is indicted for a ^^ high crime and mis- 
demeanor ^^^ for accepting the office of justice of the peace, having been 
elected thereto under the people's constitution. The penalty of his "offence 
is a fine of $2,001), and imprisonment for one year. Indictment still pending. 

2d. The next case is thai of Charles A. Slocnm, a farmer, of the 
town of Cranston, /or acting as moderator of a town meeting under the 
people's constitution. Penalty — a fine not exceeding $1,000, nor less than 
$.500, and imprisonment for the term of six months. Indictment still pending. 

3d. The next case is that of Bnrrington Anthony, esq., of Providence, 
for signifying his acceptance of the office of sheriff, to which he had been 
elected under the people's constitution. Penalty — fine of ,$2,000, and im- 
prisonment for the term of one year. Indictment still pending. 

4ih. The next case is that of Franklin Cooley, of Providence, stone- 
cutter^ for the crime of treason, in accepting the office of representative of 
the city of Providence under the people's constitution. Penally — impris- 
onment for life in the Stnte prison. Indictment still pending. 

5th. The next case is that of Benjamin Arnold, of Providence, grocer, 
indicted for the crime of treason, he having accepted the oflice of rrpre- 
sentative of the city of Providence under the people's constitution. Pen- 
alty — imprisonment for life. Indictment still pending. 



72 



Rep. No. o4G. 



6ih. The case of Clavis H. Bowen, esq., of Glocester, indicted lor acting 
OS dtrk of a lown ittoeiinsr in Glocester. unier the pet^ple's consmntion. 
Penally — one not exceeding $l.lW. nor less than S^^<^^<^^ ft«d in prisonment 
for six monihsu Indicimem still pending. 

Tth. The case ol Hezekiah Willard, a njercliant, ol the city of ProTidence, 
indicted for treason, he having occtpttd the oliice or senator from said city 
of Providence, under the people's constitniion. Penally — imprison men t 
for liH. Indictnient still pending. 

Sth. The case of William H. Smith, esq., of the city oi Providence, in- 
dicted fi^r trtasiVK he having occtpted ihc oifice ot Secretary ol Siate under 
ilie peoples conslitutiou. Penalty — imprisonment for life. Indictment 
sull pending. 

9th. The case of David Parmenler, a f/ioemaltr, of the city of Provi- 
dence, indicted for acting as uxxleraior of a lown meeting in the city of 
Providence, under the people's constitution. Penally — fine not exceeding 
$l,lXH\ nor le5s than $5iX\ and imprisonmeni for six months. Indictment 
sdil pendmg. 

lOih. The case of Charles S Sander?, of Sraithfie'd. a pointtr, indicted 
for trmson, he having Itried inrr against the State on the ITlh day ot May. 
Penalty — imprisonment for hie. Indictment still pending. 

(For t!ie ten cases above mentioned, see appendix. >'o. 229. certincate of 
the clerk of the court in Providence county.) 

Ihh. The case of Wilmarili Heath, of Ba rrins ton. a r'arm^r. indicted 
for actin? as nK»derator of a town meeting: in Barrmgton. under the people's 
; ^ ,-n. Penalty — fine not exceeiiiug 81.lXX>. nor less; than SotH). and 
::enT six months. Heath was ir:ed at the last March term of the 
< ::, ibund guilty, ••recommended to wierry^ by the jury, and 

<!::..;.:. : -s:poned to ihe next terra. 

I2ih. 'i'he case of Martin Luther, a shoemaktr, indicted for acting as 
moderator of a town meeting in Warren, in the ci'»unty of Bristol, and for 
receiving voles under ihe ].»eop!e's constitution. Tried at the March term 
of ihe supreme cour. 1>44, found guilty, and sentenced to pay a fine of 
$-'l\». and be imrrisoned six mouths. This man is note in prison under 
this s^u:-r act. 

ISiii. The cai»e of Benjamic M, Bos worth, of Warren, a machine maker, 
indicted for aetin? as clerk of a town meeting in Warren, and for receiving 
and rcconiing votes at said meeting, under the people'^ constitution. Tried 
at the Marcir term of the supren>? court, 1S44, found guilty, and recom- 
iDended to mercy by the jury. Stutence postponed to the next term. 

14ih. The case of Joseph Gavit- of Chariest own, a fanner, indicted for 
trems!«m in assembling to exercise the functions of the office of a member of 
the Hoose of R^reseuTaiives under the |XK>ple"s constitution. The offence 
charged as baling been commiiied in the cotnijf of Proridemce : indict- 
ment found in the cotutf^ of Waskiugton. Penalty — imprisonment tor life. 
iDdiotOiect still pending. 

loth. The case of Sylvester Hime& of North Kingston, 9. farmer, indicted 
lor treasoH. in assembiios to exercise the functions of a member oi the House 
^M Representatives under the people's CO' > The offence charged to 

Ita ve teea committed in the county of f :-: ; indicted in the county 

0f }f'iisAiMgton, Penally — imprisonment i or .jie, Indicrnaent still rending. 

l<kb. The case cf George T. Nichols, of North Kingston. ?i farmer, in- 
cicied for actine as moderator and receiving voles at a town meeting in 
^GTih JKiiis^oDj uDi&Bi the people's constjiution. Penalty — nne not ex':reed- 



Rep. No .516. 73 

ins 81,000. nor less than 8500, and imprisonment for life. Indictment still 
pending. 

17th. The case of William P. De^n, of Providence, gentleman ; indicted 
for treason, in levyinir war against the State. Offence alleged to have been 
commiited in the county oj Providence : indicted in Washington county. 
Penalty — imprisonment for life. Indictment still pendin?- 

ISth. The case of Charles W.Campbell, shoemaker, and Andrew Thomp- 
son, houseicright, of Providence ; indicted for breaking open an engine- 
house and stealin? •■ two brass cannons." the property of the State of Rhode 
Island. The offence is alleged to have been committed in Providence 
county ; indicted in Bristol county. Indictmerit still pending. 

(For the fore^oin? cases, see indictments m the appendix.) 

Nearlv all the nineteen case> above described are for constructive, or 
rather factitious, treasons and other offences, under the act best known as 
the "Alseriue act." And fourteen of them are men in the humblest walks 
of life, being farmers and mechanics. What civilized government, out of 
the limits of Rhode Island, would pursue with such an unrelenting spirit 
of malice and revenge such humble men ? Dignified and chivalrous gov- 
ernments, if they deem it necessary to make any sacrifice of life or liberty, 
content themselves with striking down the leaders in treason and rebellion, 
and never degradeand demean themselves by persecutins: the humble and un- 
distinguished participants and followers in such enterprises. Even under tlie 
despotic Governments of Europe, at this day. such conduct to.vards the 
humble subject would be deemed dishonorable, unmanly, and grovelling. 
Besides, the offences are too paltry to be worthy of the eff jrts of a respect- 
able government to punish.* 

And what adds a deeper shade oi discredit to this disreputable proscrip- 
tion on the part of the existing government of Rhode Island, not a single 
njan of tlie nineteen indicted, whose cases are given above, ever intended 
to commit, or supposed they were committing, a crime, when they were 
doine the very acts for which they stand charged with crime. They sup- 
posed they were pursuing a ffreat right, «hich was euarantied to them by 
the institutions ot their country : and if they had not entertained this belief, 
not one of them would have been concerned in acts which, according to 
the laws of Rhode Island as now administered, have subjected them to the 
penalties of fine and imprisonment, even during life. Intention constitutes 
the very essence of crime. That essential ingredient, it may be safely as- 
sumed, is absent in every one of the cases above cited. If those men were 
not right in the course they pursued, they were deluded : and after thai de- 
lusion had been dispelled by defeat and subjection, is it humane, is it magf- 
nanimous, is it just, to punish it as a crime ? The committee cannot but 
hope that more lenient counsels will prevail among the ruling party of 
Rhode Isl.ind ; ar-d they trust that, if the spirit of vengeance and retaliation 
cannot 1^ allayed, a decent respect for the opinions of the world will induce 
them to forbear the further persecution of their lellow citizens, who have 
been guilty of no offence but an honest difference of opinion, on a great 
question affecting their dearest rights and liberties. 



mak mtmbers of Uuir fatniUts. to be enrolled in lAfmilUia .' For the tacts conoecied with these 
shameful and 3 ssracefui proceedinss, ihe commiisee reier to the statetneni of Mrs. Abbr H. 
Lord, toseiher wiih a copF of ihe iDilicuneni against her. which will be found in ihe addenda 
10 ihe papers appended lo ibis repcn. 



74 Rep. No. 546. 

It is also worthy of remark that, in the difficulties which occurred in 
Khode Island, daring tlie attempt to establish the ])eople's constitution, the 
committee have not yet learned that a single life was taken, or private pro- 
perty violated, by the suffrage party or any individual attached to it. This 
fact speaks volumes in favor of the moderation of its course, and shows 
conclusively that none of its members could have been actuated by criminal 
intentions. 

It is also due to truth to remark, that the committee have reason to be- 
lieve that the nineteen cases, described above, fall very far short of the 
whole number of prosecutions for similar offences. It is a fact notorious 
to the country, that several others have been indicted for treason, among 
whom is the Hon. Dutee .1. Pearce, of Newport, formerly a distinsuishetl 
member of Conffress from the State of Rhode Island, who was a member 
of the House of Representatives imder the people's constitution. 

Another case is that of Thomas W. Dorr, who was elected to the office 
of governor, under the people's constitution, and who has recently been 
tried f)r the crime of treason. He is known personally to one of the mem- 
bers of this committee to be a gentleman of high character, and very supe- 
rior talents and accomplishments — a man whose good name would never 
intentionally be stained with the perpetration of crime. His native State 
has seldom produced a man favored with brighter faculties, or adorned 
with purer virtues. What could such a man care about the honor of 
being at the head of the government of Rhode Island, except it was to as- 
sert and vindicate what he believed to be a great principle of right, on 
which he believed the liberties of the people depended ? He is connected 
by relationship with the most respectable and wealthy families belonging to 
the ruling party of the State ; he has talents of a high order, and an edu- 
cation finished and complete. And if he had continued to support the in- 
terests of the charter government, his pathway to the highest honors within 
its gift was open and unimpeded, and his success not to be doubted. For 
what could such a man abandon such prospects, for the purpose of leading 
the people in a hazardous and perilous enterprise, if it were not to assert 
and vindicate a great principle? Could he be charoed with a desire for 
the honors and emoluments of office? The office of governor of Rhode 
Island, with its salary of .'$400, could hardly be a prize sufficiently dazzling 
to win such a man from his high hopes and brilliant promises. Could it 
be love of plunder? His enemies have admitted that, aside from his politi- 
cal theories, he was honest. Who, then, will for a moment suppose that 
Thomas Wilson Dorr ever contemplated the crime of treaso7i, which implies 
a wicked and corrupt attempt to overthrow a government admitted to be 
rightfully and legitimately existing? What other obvious intention could 
he have, but to assert and vindicate the great principle of popular sov- 
ereignty, involved in the contest between the two parties in Rhode Island? 
Yet this man has been convicted of treason by a jury of twelve men, (every 
one of whoin was his political opponent,) and is now liable to be sentenced 
to imprisonment for life for that offence. Does justice, or the security of the 
State of Rhode Island, require such severity of punishmeiU ? Yet the com- 
mittee deprecate no mercy for Governor Dorr. The time will come when his 
countrymen will appreciate the great principle for which he now suffers 
the vengeance of his persecutors, and do justice to his acts and his motives. 
The same sentence will also remove from his shoulders, to those of his pur- 
suers, the load of stigma which they have attempted to cast upon him. After 



Rep. No. 546. 75 

the hipse of seventy years from the Revohition, the cause of hberty may 
require tiie blood ot some martyrs, even in America ; but from it, hke armed 
men from the dragon's teeth, will spring up myriads of brave and fearless 
asserters of the rights of tlie people, by whose courage and efiorts the prin- 
ciples of the declaration of independence n.ay be reinstated in our institu- 
tions of government. 

Bliscellaneoiis acts of onirage and oppression by persons acting under the 
authority of the charter government. 

Under the general authority conferred upon the committee, they caused 
a conmiission to be issued to Benjamin F. Hallett, esq , of Boston, to take 
the testimony of certain witnesses therein named, in order to prove specific 
acts of outrage and violence, by which the people of Rhode Island were in- 
timidated, and their constitution suppressed.* A large mass of proof lias 
been obtained by the commissioner, in pursuance of the authority delegated 
to liini by the committee, an abstract of which follows ; 

1. Tlie first matters inquired into by the commissioner were the outrages 
of the ciiarter troops in Pawtucket, and the murder of Alexander Kilby, the 
particulars of which follow. 

"^I'hey first call the attention of the House to the murder of Alexander 
Kilby, a citizen of Pawtucket, Mass. This event occurred on the 27th 
day of June, 1842, being immediately after the State of Rhode Island was 
placed under martial law. On that day, a detachment of charter troops 
was sent from Providence to Pawtucket, which is a large manufacturmg 
village, situated partly in Rhode Island, and partly in Massachusetts — Paw- 
tucket river dividing the two portions of the village, which were united by 
a bridge. Until the arrival of these troops, there appears to have been no 
disturbance or particular excitement among the people on eitlier side of the 
river. After their arrival, and near the evening, they coumienced acts of 
outrage and violence, which can find no excuse or palliation in the con- 
duct of the inhabitants. They began these outrages by repeated discharges 
of musketry, loaded tvith ball cartridges^ among the populace of the vil- 
lage, who had been drawn together more from curiosity than any other mo- 
tive, and who htid offered no resistance or violence to the military. Many 
of the balls thus discharged rattled upon the brick walls of the liouses, 
others penetrated and lodged inside. Two of the citizens were hit and 
slightly wounded, and Alexander Kilby, a peaceable and quiet citizen, was 
shot dead. To show the circumstances under which he was killed more 
particularly, the committe^e extract the following statement from the depo- 
sition of Samuel W. Miller, who stood near Kilby at the time he was shot, 

* Commissions were first issued to Waller S. Bur:jess, George Turner, and Jesse S. Tourtel- 
lot, esquires, who were citizens of Rhode Island. Before proceeding to execuie their commis- 
sions, they were threatened with prosecution by the present sovtrnment oC the Siaie, under an 
act oi'ihe Slate prohibiting the administration of extra-judicial oaths; an act originally aimed 
at the oaths administered at masonic lodges. These threats were thrown out to intimidate 
the commis-ionevs from executing their fommissjons, in the vain hope of suppressing the facts 
which the investigation bv the committee was likely to elicit. Yei, as appears by the doc- 
uments accompanying the President's messasje, in answer to a resolution of the committee, this 
law was repeatedly vi(jlaied by Judge Pitman, Henry Bovven, and Thomas M. Burgess, ad- 
herenis of the charter government, who did not scruple to take depositions and adininisier 
oaths contrary to its provisions,; for which they have never been called to an account, and 
never will be. The committee, however, were not defeated by this paltry expedient lo elude 
an inquiry into their acts, by the existing authorities of the Stale. 



76 Rep. No. 546. 

Miller was a resident of Pawtucket, on the Rhode Island side of the river. 
He says : 

'•On Monday evening, June 27, 1842, about dusk, I crossed over the 
bridge from the Rhode Island to the Massachusetts side, at Pawtucket, 
there being a guard of armed men stationed on the bridge at that time. I 
went up to Mr. Abell's hotel, and remained there until about 8^ o'clock^ 
p. m., when a person came in and stated that a woman had been killed on 
the bridge. I had previously heard the discharges of musketry, but, sup- 
posing them to be blank cartridges, I did not take any notice of them. I 
immediately started for the bridg(^, to learn if tlie report was correct ; and 
had proceeded as far as the corner of Mr. William Sweet's shop, within 
eighteen yards of the soldiers at the bridge, when 1 was accosted by Mr. 
Alexander Kilby, who put out his hand and asked when I was going down 
the river. At that moment I saw two of the soldiers on the bridge taking 
deliberate aim at us, and heard JNehemiah Potter, of Pawtucket, then in 
command of the soldiery, and whom 1 knew well, give the order to fire. I 
know that he was the person wlio gave the order to fire. 1 grasped Kilby's 
hand to pull him one side ; but before 1 could succeed, one of the guns 
went off, and he fell dead at my feet ; the other missed fire, which probably 
saved my own life. I left Kilby on the ground, and hurried back to Abell's 
hotel, the soldiers continiiina to fire, the effects of which may be seen in a 
number of ball holes in the buildings in the vicinity of the bridge on the 
Massachusetts side. * * * Kilby, at the time he was shot, was doing 
nothing to assail or provoke the soldiers, nor had I seen him. * * * j 
never knew nor saw Kilby take any part in the suffrage cause. I saw no 
persons assailing or insulting the soldiers when Kilby was killed, and knew 
no reason why they should have fired on us." — (See Miller's testimony, ap- 
pendix No. 24 ) 

Several other witnesses confirm the testimony of Miller, in all its essen- 
tial particulars; as well in respect to the killing of Kilby, and the indiscrimi- 
nate firing upon the citizens of Pawtucket, as to the fact that the troops 
had no adequate provocation for such an unjustifiable and atrocious out- 
rage. No coroner's inquest was held on the body of Kilby ; and he was 
buried while the bridge was surrounded by the charter troops with caiuion 
loaded and matches lighted, the funeral procession passing near to them in 
its way to and from the place of burial. 

n'hus was a peaceable and inoffensive man murdered in cold blood, in 
mere wantonness, and without a pretence of justification by the charter 
troops of Rhode Island. Kilby, the murdered man, left a wife and seven 
children in indigent circumstances. After his death, it is proved that the 
citizens of Pawtucket and other places contributed sums of money, amount- 
ing to about ^200, for their relief But the authorities of Rhode Island 
have done nothing to mitigate the privations and sorrows of a family whose 
protector and father was shot down by the wanton act of troops ni their 
own employment. 

Other acts of violence were committed upon persons and property at the 
same time, by the charter troops. Among them are the following cases : 

Daniel F. Cutting was hit in the arm with a musket ball, and slightly 
wounded. Another man, William R. Silloway, was slightly wounded iij 
the knee with a musket ball. Robert Abell and Larned Scott, while passing 
over the bridiie on to the Rhode Island side, in a covered carriage, were 
shot at without cause or provocation, the ball penetrating the carriage, and 
passing through between the two inmates, at the imminent hazard of their 



Rep. No. 546. 77 

lives. Samuel W. Miller was arrested by the charter troops without cause^ 
rudely treated, and finally discharged. His housie was searched, his shop 
broken open, and his property damao;ed. Amos Ide was arrested by 
James N. OIney, a citizen of New. York, and placed under a guard of four 
men, two of whom said they were citizens of New York, and one was a 
citizen of Massachusetts. He was finally discharged, nothing appearing 
against him. 

John S. Despean was arrested without cause, taken to Providence, and 
discharged. The soldiers took possession of his confectionary shop, and 
converted a portion of its contents to their own use, for which he never has 
been paid. 

The witnesses all concur in the statement that the disturbances which 
occurred in Pawtucket were produced by the charter troops sent there 
from Providence. All the acts of violence and outrage detailed above, 
fwere unprovoked and unjustifiable; and the discharge "of loaded muskets 
into the centre of a populous village can be ascribed to no other motive 
tlian a wanton disposition to destroy human lile. For proof of the facts 
above stated, the committee refer to the depositions of the witnesses in the 
appendix. 

2. The second matter inquired into by the commissioner, was the deten- 
tion of Governor Dorr's order to disband the sutfrage forces, by which the 
peace ol the State, and the lives of its citizens, were kept in peril a day 
lono^er ; and the interference with the public press. 

The testimony under this head shows that before 7 o'clock in the after- 
noon of the 27th day of June, 1842, Governor Kmg and his council had 
intercepted and knew Governor Dorr's order to disband his troops, which 
was enclosed in a letter to Walter S. Burgess, esq., with an urgent request 
that the order should be forthwith published in the Express newspaper, the 
organ of the suffrage party, and that Governor Kmg and his council, to- 
gether with Col. James Bmikhead, of (he United Slates armi/, {ivho ap- 
]iears to fiave been present at the co/isu/tation, ) beheved that the sutfrage 
troops had been disbanded. It further shows that Governor King and his 
council intercepted and broke open Governor Dorr's letter, and detained it 
until 9 o'clock the next morning. The depositions under this head, and 
that of Col. Harvey Chaffee, taken to prove the facts hereinafter stated un- 
der the fourth head, establish the very material fact, that on Monday eve- 
ning, the 27th ol Jime, it was known to the charter authorities, civil and 
military, that Dorr had disbanded his men, and resistance was at an end • 
that they knew he only desired to have his men allowed to return peacea- 
bly to their homes ; that they had the means to have published his order on 
Monday evening or Tuesday morning, and thus have put an end to the 
excitement and all the subsequent outrages ; that, with this knowledge, 
they suppressed the order until about Tuesday yioon ; and, in the mean 
time, they sent their troops to Chepatchet, who captured the abandoned tort, 
and seized and conveyed to Providence a large number of innocent per- 
sons as prisoners, besides committing numerous other outrages upon the 
persons and property of suffrage-men ; that, instead of sending the intelli- 
gence of the disbandment of the suffrage forces to Pawtucket, to quiet mat- 
ters there, they sent two companies of troops, which led to the murder of 
Kilby, as has been before described. The testimony also proves that 
some four hours after they knew in Providence that the whole suffrage en- 
terprise was at an end, within four miles of Providence, and after i't was 



78 Rep. No. 546. 

known that Kilby had been shot, Governor Kino: sent a park of artillery to 
Pavvtncket to blowup the bridg-e between Rliode Island and Massachusetts.'" 

It further appears, by the deposition of Kobert Abell, (appendix No, 31,) 
that on the night Kilby was shot, (June 27.) at about 12 o'clock, John 
Whipple, esq., of Providence, escorted by two armed men, entered Abell's 
house, and told him Dorr had left Chepatchet and the war was over. This 
fact brings the knowledge home to the charter authorities before most of the 
outrages hereinafter mentioned were committed, and demonstrates, beyond 
the power of contradiction, that revenge^ and not defence^ was the ruling 
motive of the charter authorities and their adherents, after the disbanding 
of the suf rage-men. 

Tlie testimony under this head also proves a direct interference of armed 
men, coupled with the menaces of the charter party to suppress the suffrage 
press, and by which the "Express" newspaper was suppressed, as is directly 
proved by the depositions of its proprietors and editors, whose testimony is 
confirmed by the fact tliat Governor King gave them a license to publish 
the order of Governor Dorr disbanding his troops. 

Aaron Simons, a person attached to the office of the " Herald," states that 
Samuel Dexter, son in law to the present Governor of the State, (James Fen- 
ner.) came into the office, made use of abusive and violent language, saying 
"that the press and types ought to be thrown into the street, and that he 
would be one to help do it. From threats out doors, and other causes, the 
press was kept in awe during the continuance of martial law, and the liberty 
of the press was, in a great measure, suppressed." 

For the threatening and abusive language, tending to excite the angry 
passions of the mob, indulged in by the adherents of the charter govern- 
ment towards the conductors of the suffrage press, the committee refer to 
the testimony in the appendix. 

3. The third branch of the testimony taken by the commissioner relates 
to the arrests, searches, and acts of violence committed upon the persons 
and property of the suffrage citizens of Rhode Island. The following are 
the most striking cases: 

The first is the case of Leonard Wakefield. He was a methodist cler- 
gyman, residing in Cumberland, Rhode Island. He was arrested on the 
30th day of June, 1842, (three days after all appearance of hostility on the 
part of Governor Dorr had ceased,) and taken, with twenty-one other pris- 
oners, to Providence, marched through the principal streets of that city 
amid the jeers and insults of the mob, committed to prison, and confined in 
a loathsome cell twelve feet by nine, poorly ventilated, with fifteen other 
persons, and kept on an allowance of two rations of stale bread and meat 
per day. He was imprisoned five or six days, and, nothing appearing 
against him, he was discharged. He was in favor of the suffrage cause, but 
had always exhorted both parties not to resort to arms. 

Elias Whipple was arrested on the 6th day of July, confined in prison for 
the space of 31 days, on a charge of treason, and required to find recog- 
nizance in the sum of $10,000, which he succeeded in doing. The grand 
jury found no bill against him. He had taken no part in the conflict, but 
to vote for the constitution and Governor Dorr. 

Mehituble Howard, of Cumberland, a female, aged 62 years, was grossly 
assaulted and insulted. The following is her plain and simple story, ex- 
hibiting a cowardly ruffianism on the part of her assailants, as disgraceful 
to humanity as it was unprovoked and uncalled for. She says : 

"On the 29th of June, 1842, in the morning, between 5 and 6 o'clock, 



Rep. No. 546. 79 

Alfred Ballou, with seven other men, all armed with guns, came to my 
house and entered it, 1 forbidding them to enter. Myself and grandchildren 
were the only persons in the house. He broke the door open, and drove it 
off the hinges. As Ballou can^ in, he seized me by the siioulders, and 
shook me hard, leaving prints where fie took hold of me. He then pushed me, 
and pushed me against a post about three or four feet from where 1 was stand- 
ing, which bruised my shoulder very much. He came up to me again, seized 
me, and pushed me again towards the window, saying 'get out of the way,' 
in a loud voice. He then gave me a shakC; and left me, saying, 'where is 
Liberty, (meaning my son,) and where is the gun V He went up stairs, and 
searched the chambers, turning the beds over in which the little children 
were. He then came down, went into my lodging room, and took a gun 
and carried it off. 1 was much overcome ; but when he came out, I said 'I 
don't fear you, Mr. Ballou.' He then came up to me, laid his hands on me, 
shook me, and said in a very loud voice, ' Do you know that you are under 
martial law?' He then took his bayonet, and put the point of the bayonet 
against the pit of my stomach. He pressed the bayonet against me, and 
said, '1 will run you through,' looking very angry and spiteful. The point 
of the bayonet went through my clothes, and fractured the skin, but did not 
break it, but caused the blood to settle the size of a ninepence, or larger. I 
really believed at the time he intended to run me through. VVilh my hand 
I knocked* the bayonet away, and he stepped back, and stood and looked 
at me with a stern look, and then went out of the house. My husband was 
a suffrage-man, which is the only reason 1 know for this treatment. Ballou 
had been a neighbor of ours for near forty years. He was a charter man. 
1 was hurt very bad, and unable to do much work for several days after, 
and have never recovered from the effects of the shock upon my system. 
I am sixty two years of age." 

Nehemiah Knight was arrested for saying it was "a mean business to 
shoot Kilby." He was again arrested, and marched through the streets of 
Providence, to the armory, by a gang of white men and negroes armed, 
(mainly negroes,) and was guarded by negroes. He was kept in confine- 
ment two days, when, nothing appearing against him, he was discharged, 

Elizabeth Nutter was assaulted and rudely treated by one of an armed 
band of charter men, while they were searching the house of a Mr. Has- 
well, where she resided. 

Otis Holmes, a citizen of Providence of great respectability, had his 
dwelling-house, store, and brewery broken open by a band of armed char- 
ter men. He offered them his keys ; but they preferred to force their way 
by violence. After searching his house, store, and brewery, he was marched 
off— two men holding him by the collar, while another walked in front 
with a pistol, to the office of Henry L. Bowen. The gang consisted of 
thirty men with muskets. He made no resistance ; he heard no charges 
against him, and, without examination, was committed to jail, where he 
remained seven days ; and then, without examination, he was put into one 
of the cells of the State prison, with seven others. He adds : " It was large 
enough for us to lie down by lying heads and points. I remained there 
twenty-one days. The suffering was extreme from heat and want of air, 
with plenty of vermin. The health of the prisoners suffered materially. 
During the time, I was examined by the commissioners. They charged 
me with keeping arms to aid the suffrage cause. No proof was shown. I 
was remanded. I then got a writ o{ habeas corpus before Judge Staples of 
the supreme court, and went before hina in a room in the jail, and, upon a 



80 Rep. No. 546. 

hearing, was discharged. I was then immediately committed by the sheriff, 
on a warrant from Henry L. Bowen, on a charge of treason. I then ap- 
plied for another writ of habeas corpus, which Judge Staples ordered to be 
heard before the whole court at Newpo#. 1 was there, and allowed 
bail in the sum of $12,000, with sureties. At the next sitting of the court 
in the county of Providence, the grand jury found no bill against me, and 
1 was discharged. 1 was in close prison fifty nine days." 

Henry Lord, a non combatant, was taken near Acote's Hill, marched with 
other prisoners, with arms pinioned, to Providence, and there confined in 
the State prison, with thirteen others, in a cell 7 feet by 10, in which he was 
kept twenty-one days, and discharged on parole. 

The house of Martin Luther, in the town of Warren, was broken open 
on the 29th of June, 1842, by nine armed charter men, and the female 
inmates rudely treated — their lodging rooms being broken into before 
they had time to put on their necessary clothing. They used violent lan- 
guage to the mother of Mr. Luther — pointing a weapon at her breast, and 
threatening to " run her through" if she did not tell where her son Martin 
was. 

Stafford Healey, a hired man of Mr. Luther, was, at the same time the 
transaction last described took place, forcibly seiz od by the same armed men 
who broke into Mr. Luther's house, carried to jail, where he was confined 
seven days, and then discharged — nothing appearing against him.» 

Jedediah Sprague was arrested and confined in prison twenty two days 
on a charge of treason, when, nothing appearing against him. he was dis- 
charged. His family were also grossly maltreated by the charter military 
at Chepatchet, and his property despoiled and forcibly -taken away to a large 
amount, ($2,546. as he alleges,) which he has never been able to recover, 
and for which the government of Rhode Island have, as yet, allowed him 
nothing. For a particular account of the gross maltreatment of the females 
of his family and the plunder of his property, reference is made to his tes- 
timony in the appendix. Other depredations were also committed by the 
charter troops upon the property of the citizens of Chepatchet, as appears 
by the testimony. 

For the details of the cases above mentioned, the committee refer to the 
testimony under the third head in the appendix. 

4. The fourth and last matter of inquiry was the taking of Acote's Hill, 
Dorr's post atChepachet; orders-tt) the military; interference of the United 
States officers, and the using of the custom house at Providence as a place 
of deposite for military stores belonging to the charter authorities. With- 
out giving a digested abstract of the testimony under the last-mentioned 
heads, the committee will briefly refer to the facts which it establishes. 

They will first give an account of the capture of Acote's hill. It appears 
from the testimony that the encampment of Gov. Dorr was broken up on 
the morning of the 27th of June, 1842. This fact the charter government 
had learnt from the intercepted order of Gov. Dorr disbanding his forces ; 
and, of course, before a soldier was ordered by them to Chepatchet, there was 
no enemy to meet, no fighting to be done, and no honors to be won by the 
toil and blood of battle. The troops, therefore, were sent to capture a de- 
serted fort — an achievement which they performed with a chivalrous hero- 
ism which became an enterprise so desperate, as will be seen by the following 
account of the incidents connected with the expedition. On the morning of 
the 28th, the charter troops arrived from Providence. As they approached, 



Rep. No. 546. 81 

they discharged their pieces at persons indiscriminately, whom they hap- 
pened to see, and capturing such persons as they took a fancy to capture. 
There was no person in the encampment of Gov. Dorr, and nobody in arms 
in or about the hill, and no resistance whatever was offered by any one to * 
the charter force. Having made their bloodless assault upon the disman- 
tled fortress, they returned to a hotel near by, vvliere several persons were 
captured and confined, and sundry acts of violence and insult to peaceable 
citizens were committed. The scene is thus described by Mr. Josepii Hol- 
brook, a gentleman residing in Boston, who was an eye witness. He says : 
"An advance of from eighteen to twenty five men, of the charter troops, (so 
called,) came up to the hotel ; the main body of a division of about seven 
hundred men not being then in sight. The advance party were armed with 
rifles or carbines, and swords, and pistols ; and as they approached at 
double quick time, they fired their pieces, without any apparent cause or the 
least provocation, at any persons they saw indiscriminately. When this 
advance party came up to tlie hotel, I inquired of one of them, who com- 
manded the party? and he said Lieut. Pitman, and pointed him out to me. 
From what I then learned and saw, 1 have not the least doubt tliat this per- 
son v,'as Mr. Pitman, the clerk of the United States courts of Rhode Island. 
I said there was no need of violence. Several persons were standing in the 
entry of the hotel, the front door being open. There was no show of re- 
sistance, and nothing to make it with. One of the persons in the entry was 
recognised by the men who came up, as Mr. Eddy, a suffragenian, as I then 
understood. He was called by name, and ordered to come out. He replied 
that he should not. Two of the armed party then rushed into the house, lo 
force himV)ut. A scuffle ensued between them in the entry, and the front 
door was accidentally shut. Lieut. Phman observing this, gave the door a 
kick with his foot, but it did not open ; he then leveled and took aim with 
his carbine, and appeared to be going to discharge it. Seeing this, I caught 
him by the shoulder, and begged of liim not to fire, as he might kill some 
of his own men, as well as others. He replied : "I don't care a God damn 
if I can kill somebody," and instantly fired. A ball passed through the key- 
hole of the front door, and took efte; t in the thigh of Horace Bardine ; and I 
saw him in a few minutes coming from the house, hid by two men, and 
shot in the thigh. Lieut. Pitman's party charged upon them as soon as 
they appeared, and were forced back ; and I did not see Bardine afterwards." 
— (See Holbrook's testimony.) 

Another witness (Col. Mitchell, of Boston,) gives substantially the same 
account of the conduct of the charter troops on the occasion referred to; and 
states the additional fact, t/iat Col. Bftnkhead, of the United States army^ 
was there in. company with the charter troops. 

The next day, after picking up as many siragslers as they could find to 
swell their triumph, the charter army returned to the city of Providence 
with their prisoners in charge, and the spoils and plunder of tlie enemy. The 
finale of this celebrated military enterprise is thus described by Henry 
Lord, a man sixty years of age, who <vas among the captives. The troops 
had in charge about one hundred prisoners, all unarmed men, whom they 
had picked up by the way side in their march from Providence. He says: 
" The next morning we were mustered and tied together with large bed 
cords. The rope was passed in a close hitch around each man's arm, pass- 
ing behind his back and fastening him close to liis neighbor, there being 
eight thus tied together in each platoon. We had no use of the arm above 



82 Rep. No. 546. 

the elbow. In this way we were marched on foot to Providence, sixfeeil 
miles ; threatened and pricked by the bayonet if we lagged from fatigue, 
the ropes severely chafing our arms; the skin was oti' of mine. In two 
instances, when the soldiers were halted, we were refused the use of tlieir 
cups to get water from the brook which passed the road, and had no water 
till we reached Greenville, about eight miles. It was a very hot day; I had 
had no water or breakfast that morning, and I received no food until the 
next day in Providence. We were marched thus tied through the streets, 
and, after being exhibited, were put into the State prison. Fourteen were 
put into my cell, which was seven feet by ten. After remaining in prison 
twenty-five days, I was released on parole." — (See Lord's testimony.) 

Such was the achievement of the charter troops at Chepatchet, and such 
the exhibition they made in their march of triumph through the streets of 
Providence ! 

The testimony under the last named head proves also the following im- 
portant facts, namely : 

That the United States troops at Fort Adams were provided with ammu- 
nition, flints, and haversacks to carry rations. Provisions were also pre- 
pared for them for two days' service. They were daily inspected, and in 
every respect prepared for active service, and 'were given to understand by 
their officers that they were to act on the charter side against the suffrage 
cause. 

That the magazine at Fort Adams was used as a depository for powder 
belonging to the charter government, which was taken away from tmie to 
time. 

That cartridges for cannon, and United States muskets, were delivered to 
the charter troops from the United States magazine at Fort Adams. 

That the United States custom-house at Providenc'e was made a depot of 
arms and accoutrements by the charter authorities. 

That the following officers and persons in the service of the United States 
took an active part on the charter side, bearing arms and serving in the 
military, viz: John Pitman, United States judge for the district of Rhode 
Island; John S. Pitman, clerk of the United States courts; Edward J. 
Mallet, postmaster at Providence ; William R. Watson, United States col- 
lector; Sylvester Hartshorn, United States marshal ; Richard W. Greene, 
United States district attorney ; Peleg Aborn, United States surveyor ; Rem- 
ington Arnold, inspector of customs; and Elisha H. Rhodes, United States 
boatman. All these individuals were seen in arms in the ranks of the 
charter troops, and Edward J. Mallett and Sylvester Hartshorn were par- 
ticularly officious in heading armed men and searching the houses of 
citizens belonging to the suffrage party. For the details of which, the com- 
mittee must refer to the testimony taken by the commissioner, and annexed 
in the appendix. 

It is also proved that arms belonging to the State of Massachusetts were 
provided for the use of the charter tjoops ; and it is also in proof that boxes 
of accoutrements marked " U. S. A.," and belts bearing the initials of the 
United States, were among the deposiles of arms at the custom house in 
Providence. This, and other facts proved in the course of the investiga- 
tion, leave no doubt on the minds of the committee that both arms and 
a'mmnnition ivere supplied to the charter troops from the stores of the 
Unittd States. 
The testimony shows that, especially afier the declaration of martial law, 



Rep. No. 546. 83 

the most lawless and outrageous proceedings, on the side of the charter 
party, took place in reference to the persons and property of the suffrage 
party. Every individual of the former party seemed to imagine hmiself 
clothed with a license to invade the domicils of the latter, seize and injure 
their property, and commit assaults upon their persons. Never in the his- 
tory of this country were the rights of the minority, in a political quarrel, 
so grossly disregarded and so wantonly violated. And never in our annals 
were such outrages perpetrated, even under the iron rule of martial law. 
The committee have given but few of the instances of insult and outrage 
upon persons and property which have come to their knowledge in the 
course ot their investigations; a full detail of which would require more 
time and space than they could devote to this portion of their report. And 
fhey are bound, in justice to the suffrage party, to say, that, during all their 
trials, so well calculated to exhaust their forbearance, they were guilty of 
no bloodshed nor personal violence. Their fellow-citizens of the charter 
side suffered neither. in person nor property by their acts. 

CONCLUSION. ' 

The committee cannot forbear, in concluding the views which they have 
very hastily, and therefore crudely and imperfectly, thrown together in re- 
lation to the questions of fact and of rii{ht connected with the suffrage 
movement in Rhode Island, to submit a few remarks designed to awaken 
the House, and, through the House, the American people, to the transcendent 
importance of the great lejidiiig question involved in tliis inquiry, viz: the 

INHERENT SOVEREIGN RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO CHANGE AND REFORM 
THEIR EXISTING GOVERNMENTS AT PLEASURE. 

It is the solemn conviction of their minds, that upon the full, free, and 
universal acknowledgment of this sacred right, in this and in every other 
country pretending tt) be free, the liberties of the people depend. For if 
they surrender this great principle, and admit that the sovereign power of 
the State does not reside in them, but in the political organization, or actual 
existing government; and that they cannot correct the defects in the original 
organic forms of government, or cannot abolish them and substitute others 
in their places, without the consent of the existing government, — what de- 
fence have they against the encroachments of those in power, either by 
actual and forcible usurpation, or false and insidious construction of the 
fundamental law? What ramparts exist against the approaches of despotic 
power? In what does the doctrine that the people cannot resort to their 
ultimate right of sovereignty, without the consent of the existing authori- 
ties of a State, as contended for by the President of the United States, differ 
in substance and essence from the divine right of kings ^ openly preached 
in the dark ages of European despotism? 

The committee feel more deeply the importance of this subject of their 
investigation, from the great and imminent danger which now threatens 
the invaluable conservative principle of popular sovereignty, upon which, 
in their humble belief, the whole fabric of the American system of republi- 
can government is reared. They have seen, with deep regret and anxious 
alarm, the principle for which they are contending opetdy scoffed down 
and repudiated by one of the great political parties into which the people 
of this country are divided. They have seen it smothered by the leaders 
of that party in the Senate of the United States, who refused to listen to 



84 Rep. No 546. 

the complaints of tlie aggrieved people of Rhode Island, or to make an effbrg 
to Slay tlie executive arm of the Government, when it was unlawfully level- 
ed against them and their cause. (See the proceedings of the Senate on the 
Rhode Island question, 27th Congress, 2d session — appendix.) And, lastly, 
they have seen one of the leaders of that party, now their acknowledged 
candidate for the highest office in the gift of the American people, arraying 
himself against the cause of free government, and denying and repudiating, 
in his open approval of the course of the President in the late difficulties in 
Rhode Island, the great principle upon which all free governments must be 
founded, viz : the sovkreignty op the people. (See letter of Henry 
Clay to John B. Francis, dated March 31,1844 — appeadix.) Wlien the 
committee witness the spectacle of a large and powerful party, individually, 
and collectively, through its organized political bodies, and its head and 
leader avowing openly and undisguisedly doctrines inimical to the liberties 
of the people and the principles of free government, they cannot but be 
deeply alarmed for the safety and perpetuity of our republican institutions. 
Therefore it is, that they look upon the question presented to the House and 
the country by the people of Rhode Island, as the most solemn and momen- 
tous in its character of any that has arisen since the American Revolution. 
On its decision by the American people depends the ultimate fate of free 
governments, and the weal or woe of countless millions destined to fill the 
places which we fill, and in their appropriate time become the watchmen 
and guardians of the temple of liberty, and the venerable and sacred mon- 
uments which it contains. 

The committee are aware that it is alleged against the investigation in 
which they have been engaged, that no good can result from it. It is 
urged that the events which have given rise to n are past and gone, and 
no practical results can be attained by agitating the matter at this day. It 
is urged that, even if it were to appear that the people of Rhode island 
were riglit in the principle they contended for, no remedy could now be 
extended to them ; and, therefore, it is best that the wrongs they have suf- 
fered should be permitted to slumber undisturbed in the dark tomb of 
events, which have lived their brief moment, and passed away to be buried 
and forgotten. But is it not of some consequence that the great principle 
involved in the suffrage movement should be defined and settled, even if 
no other benefit can result from this investigation ? Is it not of the utmost 
importance that the people of the several States of this Union should be 
apprized of the views of Congress (which has an ultimate supervision over 
all their constitutions) in relation to the great question of their right to 
change and reform them, that they may know how far they may be per- 
mitted to exercise this right, and in what mode, and under what restrictions? 
It is for the want of this very knowledge that a large majority of the people 
of Rhode Island have been involved in all the consequences of alleged 
treason, and many of them actually indicted and prosecuted, with a view 
to subject them to its terrible penalties. It is for the want of this knowl- 
edge that they have been denounced as rebels and insurgents, and have 
been conquered and subdued by the government which they believed was 
ruling over them without right, aided by the military power of the Union. 
The people of Rhode Island, in common with the whole body of the 
American people, confided in the assurance contained in the Declaration 
of Independence — that they had a right to alter or abolish existing forms of 
.government, and institute other forms in their places. They saw this great 



Rep No. 546. ' 85 

Tii^ht proclaimed in the constitutions of twenty of the sovereign States of 
this Union ; they saw it promulgated, in clear and emphatic terms, by all 
the o-reat writers upon the subject of free government; and they had no 
doubt it was their right. And is it 'or a moment to be supposed that the 
majority of the people of a State, comprising in its ranks many of its best and 
purest citizens, would have incurred the perils of treason, and exposed tliem- 
selves to the odious charge of insurrection and rebellion, and all their train of 
penalties, persecutions, and disgrace, on the pretence of exercising a great 
right, without entertaining an honest and sincere belief that they possessed 
it? And, if they have not this right, is it not due to justice and humanity 
that these deluded people should be disabused of their delusions, and 
tauglit tlie unwholesome truth that they are the subjects of government, 
and not its sovereigns; and that they cannot meddle with its fundamental 
forms, without first obtaining the consent of those who happen to possess, 
for the time being, the offices and power of government? In the belief 
of the committee, it is due to the unfortunate people of Rhode Island, 
wliose honest motives have led them to incur thi' sutferings and persecu- 
tions of which they are now the victims, as well as to the American 
people at large, who may, from the same view (true or mistaken) of their 
rights, incur the same penaltit'S and persecutions, to settle the question of the 
right of the people over their governments, which, hitherto, they have sup- 
posed existed in their own consent, and were instituted for their own benefit. 
For this reason, if no other could be assigned, the committee believe the 
investigation with which they have been charged will be attended with 
beneficial results — not oiiJy to the people of Rhode Island, who are imme- 
diately interested, but to tile people of the whole Union, whose rights are 
involved in the issue of this question. 

And they exult in the belief tliat their views and opinions touching the 
important matters involved in this inquiry have been so decidedly expressed 
as to leave no doubt in relation to their character. They do not hesitate to 
avow, in the most emphatic terms, their profound and conscientious con- 
viction that the people of Rhode Island were right in the princi|;le on 
which they acted in their late effort to establish a republican constitution 
in place of the old charter, under which they had so long lived. They 
believe that the doctrines promulgated by the President, in relation to the 
rights of the people in such cases, and the aid given by the Executive of 
the United States to the charter authorities, by wliich they were enabled 
to conquer the people and suppress their government, are at war with 
the great principle which lies at the very foundation of free govern- 
ment, and not warranted by the constitution. The committee believe that 
the President, in sustaining the pretensions of a government which had 
been abolished by the people of Rhode Island, and which held its power 
by direct and flao^rant usurpation, has inflicted a blow upon the cause of 
popular rights, for which a long life of meritorious service cannot atone. 
And that the evil example set in this matter by the Executive may not 
hereafter be regarded as a precedent for similar invasions of the rights of 
the people, on the part of those who may be clothed with the dignity and 
power of the presidential office, they recommend to the House to impress 
upon it the seal of its most decided and emphatic condemnation. 

In accordance with the facts found in tlie matter suomitted to the com- 
mittee by the House, and the principles endeavored to be maintained by 
them, they report, for the consideration of the House, the accompanying 
resolutions. " 



86 Rep. No. 546. 

Resolved, That all free men. when they form the social compact, are 
equal; and that no man, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive, separate, 
public emolumenls or privileges fron] the community. 

Resolved^ That all power is inherent in the people, and all free govern- 
ments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, 
and happiness; and for these ends they have at all times an unalienable 
and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish their government, in 
such manner as they may think proper. 

Resolved., That the sovereign power of the State of Rhode Island is in- 
herent in the people thereof; and that they have at all times the unalien- 
able and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish their government, in 
such manner as they may think proper ; and that any constitution or frame 
of government, republican in its form, adopted by them, is entitled to the 
guaranty of the United States, until abrogated by an act of said people, as 
solemn and authentic as that by which it was adopted. 

Resolved., That the constitution adopted in December, 1841, by the 
people of Rhode Island, is republican in its form, and was rightfully adopt- 
ed by a majority of said people, and, as such, was entitled to the guaranty 
of the United States until it was virtually surrendered by the assent of 
said people to the existing constitution of said State, as indicated by tlie 
act of rejiistering their names and voting in the first general election under 
said last mentioned constitution. 

Resolved, That the government established under the constitution adopt- 
ed by the people of Rhode Island in December, 1841, and duly organized 
according to its provisions, was, until the said coifstitution was surrendered 
by the assent of the people to the existing constitution, the legitimate con- 
stitutional government of said State; and that all acts, laws, and proceed- 
ings of said government, under said constitution of 1841, and in accordance 
therewith, and the records thereof, are entith d to full faith and credit in all 
the other States of the Union, and in the courts of the United States. 

Resolved, That the interference by the President of the United States 
with the military power of the Union, on the side of the late charter gov- 
ernment of Rhode Island, against the constitution adopted in 1841, and by 
which the same was suppressed, was unauthorized by the constitution and 
laws of the United Stales, and in derogation of the rio;hts of the people of 
Rhode Island. 

Resolved, That John Pitman, United States judge for the district of 
Rhode Island ; John T. Pitman, clerk of the United States courts for the 
district of Rhode Island ; Edward J. Mallett, postmaster at Providence; 
William R. Watson, collector of customs at the port of Providence; Syl- 
vester Hnrtshorn, marshal of the United States for the district of Rhode 
Island ; Richard W. Greene, attorney of the United States for the district of 
Rhode Inland ; Peleg Aborn, surveyor at the port of Pawtuxct; Remington 
Arnold, inspector of customs ; and Elisha H. Rhodes, United States boat- 
man at said port of Pawtuxet, by personally interfering with arms, in a 
military capacity, in the late political contest of the people of Rhode Island, 
growing out of the attempt to establish a constitution for said State, have 
been guilty of conduct unauthorized by the constitution and laws of the 
United States, of evil example, and tending to compromit tlie Government 
of the United States in its relations with the State of Rhode Island, and to 
produce forcible collision between the people of said State and the authori- 
ties of the United States, at the imminent hazard of involving the whole 
Union in the calamities and horrors of civil war. 



Bep. No. 546. 87 



JOURNAL 



■SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE RBODE ISLAND MEMORIAL. 



THURSDAY, February 29, 1844. 

The committee met. Present: Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, Caiisin, McCIer- 
aiand, and Preston. 

Mr. Burke moved the followino^ resolution : 

Resolved, That this committee do keep a journal of its proceedings; 

Which was unanimously adopted. 

Adjourned to Saturday, March 2, at 10 o'clock, a. m. 

SATURDAY, March 2, 1844. 

No business was done by the conmiittee. 

THURSDAY, March 7, 1844. 

The committee met. Present: Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, McClernand, 
and Preston. 

Mr. Burke moved that the following resolution be reported, by the chair- 
man, to the House of Representatives, for its adoption, viz : 

Resolved^ That the select committee on the memorial of certain mem- 
bers of the Rhode Island Legislature, have power to send for persons and 
papers. 

Which motion passed in the affirmative by the following vote: 

In the affirmative — Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, McClernand, and Preston. 

In the negative — None. 

Mr. Burke then moved that the committee do recommend to the House 
the following resolution, viz: 

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to lay 
before this House the authority, and true copies of all requests and applica- 
tions upon which he deemed it his duty to interfere with the naval and 
military forces of the United States, on the occasion of the recent attenjpt 
of the people of Rhode Island to establish a free constitution in the place 
of the old charter government of that State; also, copies of the instruc- 
tions to, and statements of, the charter commissioners, sent to him by the 
then existing authorities of the State of Rhode Island ; also, copies of the 
correspondence between the Executive of the United States and the char- 
ter government of the State of Rhod^Island, and all the papers and docii- 



88 Rep. No. 546. 

ments connecteiJ' with the same ; also, copies of the correspondence, if any, 
between the heads of departments and said charter government, or any per- 
son or peitons connected with said government, and of any accompanying 
papers and docnments ; also, copies of all orders issned by the Executive 
of tlie United States, or any of tlie departments, to military officers, for the 
movement or employment of troops to or in Rhode Island; also, copies of 
all orders to naval officers to prepare steam or other vessels of the United 
States, for service in the waters of Rhode Island ; also, copies of all orders 
to the officers of revenue cutters for the same service ; also, copies of any 
instructions borne by the Secretary of War to Rhode Lsland, on his visit in 
1842 to review the troops of the charter government; also, copies of any 
order or orders to any officer or officers of the army or navy, to report 
themselves to the charter government; and that he be further reqnesied to 
lay before this House copies of any other paper or document in the posses- 
sion of the Executive, connected with this subject, not above specially enu- 
merated. 

On the question. Shall said resolution be reported to the House for its 
adoption? it passed in the affirmative by the following vote: 

In the affirmative — Messrs, Burke, Rathbun, McClernand, and Preston. 

In the negative — None. 

On motion of Mr. Burke, 

Resolved, That when this committee adjourn, it adjourn to meet again 
on notice by the chairman. 

The committee then adjourned. 

WEDNESDAY, March 27, 1844. 

The committee met on notice by the chairman. Present: Messrs. Burke^ 
Rathbun, and McClernand. 

Mr. Burke submitted for the consideration of the committee the three 
following resolutions, viz: 

Rf^solvtd, That the committee will proceed with all reasonable despatch, 
first, to inquire into the fact of the adoption of the people's consiitulion (so 
called) by the people of Rhode Island ; and, secondly, to inquire into the 
fact of the interference by the President of the United States, or by any 
officer of the Government of the United States, in the internal affairs of 
the people of Rhode Island, during the pendency of the late difficulties in 
that State, growing out of the adoption and final suppression of the people's 
constitution. 

Resolved, Tliat any person or agent who may be appointed by the me- 
morialists to superintend their interests before this committee may have 
leave to attend the sessions of this committee ; and th;»t the two members 
of the House of Representatives from the State of Rhode Island, or any 
person acting under the authority and in behalf of said State, have leave 
to attend the sessions of this committee; and that the chairman give notice 
to the memorialists, and to said members from the State of Rhode Island, of 
the adoption of this resolution. 

Resolved, That the chairman notify John S. Harris and Burrington 
Anthony, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, and Welcome B, 
Sayles, of Cambridge, in the State of Blassachusetts, to appear before the 
committee, for the purpose of examination relating to the matter referred to 
the committee. '* 



Eep. No. 546. 89 

"Which resolutions were adopted by the followino; vote, viz: 
In the affirmative — Mr. Bnrke, Mr. Rathbun, and Mr. McClernand. 
]!i tlie negative — None. 

On motion of Mr. Rathbun, the committee adjourned to Saturday next, 
at 9 o'clock, a. m. 

SATURDAY, March 30, 1844. 

The committee met. Present: Messrs. Burke and Rathbun. 
No quorum being present, the committee adjourned, to meet on Monday, 
April 1st, at 9 o'clock, a. m. 

MONDAY, April 1, 1844. 

The committee met. Present : Messrs. Burke. Rathbun, and McClernand. 

Mr. Burke moved the followino- resolutions : 

Resolaed, That the chairman of this committee communicate to the Gov- 
ernor of the State of Rhode Island a copy of the resolution adopted by this 
committee on the 27th day of March last, authorizing any agent of the me- 
morialists, and the members of the House of Representatives from the 
Slate of Rhode Island, or any person duly authorized by the Executive of 
the State of Rhode Ishmd, to appear before this committee, to superintend 
the interests of the respective parties. 

Ri'solved, That the chairman of this committee request the Hon. Henry 
Y. Cranston, of the House of Representatives, to communicate to this com- 
mittee the names of the persons by whom the fact stated by him in his 
speech in the House ©f Representatives, during the present session, upon the 
resolution reported by this committee for power to send for persons and 
papers, that the suffrage party of Rhode Island, and their confederates in or 
out of that State, had, during the late dithculties m that State, formed a plot 
to rob the banks, and violate the women, of the city of Providence, can be 
proved. 

Rt'solved, That the chairman be directed to summon Aaron White, jr., 
of Thompson, in the State of Connecticut, to appear forthwith before this 
committee, and testify what he knows in relation to the matter contained in 
the memorial referred to this committee. 

Resolved. That commissions, signed by the chairman of this committee, 
be directed to Walter S. Burgess, esq., of Providence, George Turner, esq., 
of Newport, and .Tesse S. Tourtellot, esq., of Glocester, all in the State of 
Rhode Island ; and to Benjamin F. Hallett, esq., of Boston, in the State of 
Massachusetts ; requiring said commissioners to take the testimony of wit- 
nesses wlio may be examined in relation to the matters contained in the 
memorial referred to this committee ; and that said commissioners shall 
state the subject matters to be inquired of, and the names of the witnesses to 
be examined ; and, also, that said commissioners be directed to give notice 
to the hlxecutive of the State of Rhode Island, and to Olney Ballon, one of 
the signers of the memorial, of the times and places when and where said 
testimony will be taken, and that an agent or attorney of each party be per- 
mitted to attend the taking of said testimony. 

On the question. Shall said resolutions be adopted? it was decided in the 
affirmative, by the following vote: 

In the affirmative— Messrs. Burke, •Rathbun, and McClernand. 



90 Rep. No. 546. 

In the negative — None. 

So said resolutions were adopted. 

John S. Harris and Welcome B. Sayles having been previously sum- 
moned to attend before the committee as witnesses, were present; and sun- 
dry interrogatories were put by the committee to each of said witnesses. 

On motion of Mr. Burke, the committee adjourned to meet on Thursday 
next, at 9 o'clock, a. m. 

THURSDAY, April 4, 1844. 

The committee met. Present : Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, Causin, and 
McClernand. 

Welcome B. Sayles and John S. Harris appeared before the committee, 
for examination. 

The committee then, on motion of Mr. Burke, adjourned to Monday, 
April 8, at 9 o'clock, a. m. 

MONDAY, April 8, 1844. 

The committee met. Present: Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, and McCler- 
nand. 

Mr. Burke offered the following resolution, viz: 

Resolved, That, at the next meeting of this committee at the room of the 
Committee on Public Lands, the committee will proceed to open and ex- 
amine the votes given by the people of Rhode Island on the question of the 
adoption of the people's constitution, (so called;) and that the chairman give 
notice to the members of the House from the State of Rhode Island, of the 
time and place appointed to examine said votes, and that they be requested 
to attend, and make such objections to said votes as they may think proper ; 
and if any votes shall be objected to, or challenged, the causes of such 
objections shall be stated in writing, together with the names and places of 
residence of the witnesses relied on to prove them. 

Which resolution was adopted by the following vote: 

In the afiirma-tive — Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, and McClernand. 

In the negative — None. 

On motion of Mr. Burke, the committee adjourned to meet again on 
Wednesday, April 10, at 9 o'clock, a. m. 

WEDNESDAY, April 10, 1844. 

The committee met. Present: Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, Causin, McCler- 
nand, and Preston. 

On motion of Mr. Causin, the following minute was ordered to be en- 
tered on the journal of the committee — no one objectins: : 

"Mr. Causin and Mr. Preston desire it to be noted on the journal, that, had 
they been present when the resolution to examine the votes upon the adop- 
tion of the ' people's constitution' was passed, they would haveofiered a sub- 
stitute confining the examination, under the power conferred by the House, 
to the facts connected with the interference of the President of the United 
States in the Rhode Island movement." 

Mr. Burke moved the following resolution, to be reported to the House 
for its adoption, viz : • 



Rep. No. 546. 91 

Resolved, That the Select Committee on the Rhole Island memorial be 
authorized to issue a commission to Walter S. Burgess of Providence, in the 
State of Rhode Island, empowering him to take such testimony as the com- 
mittee may direct, in relation to the subject-matter of said memorial. 

On the question of the adoption of said resoUition, it passed in the affirma- 
tive by the following vote : 

In the affirmative — Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, and McClernand. 

In the negative — iVIessrs. Causin and Preston. 

Mr. Burke then moved the following resolution, viz: 

Resolved, That a sub committee of two be appointed by this committee, 
to count and examine the votes given on the question of the adoption of the 
people's constitution, and that they report the result of such examination 
to tliis committee; which resolution was adopted by the following vote : 

In the affirmative — Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, Causin, McClernand, and 
Preston. 

iMessrs. Burke and Causin were then appointed said sub committee. 

The committee then adjourned to meet on Saturday, April 13, at 9 o'clock 
in the morning. 

SATURDAY, April 13, 1844. 

The committee did not meet. 

THURSDAY, April 25, 1844. 

The committee met. Present: Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, and McCler- 
nand. 

Mr. Burke moved the following resolution, viz: 

Res'o/ved, That the ch urman be directed to issue a summons to Colonel 
•lames Bankhead, and to Captain John R. Vinton, of the United States army, 
to appear and testify before this committee. 

The examination of Messrs. Harris and Wiiite was completed. 

The chairman laid before the committee the memorial of Henry J. Duff, 
and others, naturalized citizens of Rhode Island, complaining of the injus- 
tice they suffer under the existing constitution of the State of Rhode Island; 
also, the petition of General Samuel Miiroy, and a large number of other 
citizens of the State of Indiana, praying Congress to inqtiire into alleged 
abuses practised by the charter party of the Slate of Rhode Island; both of 
which were referred to the committee by the House of Representatives. 

The committee then adjourned. 

THURSDAY, May 2, 1844. 

The committee met. Present : Messrs. Burke and Rathbun. 
Colonel .lames Bankhead presented himself for examination. 
Adjourned to Friday morning. 

FRIDAY, May 3, 1844. 

The committee met, pursuant to adjournment. The examination of 
Colonel Bankhead was resumed and concluded. — Adjourned. 

SATURDAY, May 11, 1844. 

The committee met. Present: Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, and Causin, 
Capiam J. K.Vniton was present, and examined as a witness; which exam- 
ination being completed, the committee 'adjourned. 



92 Rep. No. 546. 

THURSDAY, May 23, 1844. 

The committee met. Present : Messrs. Burke, Caiisin, and McClernand. 

Mr. Burke submitted a report, expressing the views of the committee, 
which he proceeded to read, but before the same was concluded, the com- 
mittee adjourned to meet on Friday, May 24. 

FRIDAY, May 24, 1844. 

The committee met, agreeably to adjournment. Present: Messrs. Burke, 
Rathbun, Causin, and McClernand. 

Mr. Burke continued the reading of the report submitted by him at the 
preceding meeting ; but, before concluding the same, the committee ad- 
journed to Saturday, May 25, 

SATURDAY, May 25, 1844. 

The committee met, agreeably to adjournment. Present: Messrs, Binke, 
Rathbun, and Causin. 

Mr, Burke continued the reading of the report submitted by him at a 
previous lufeting; but, before concluding, the conaniltee adjourned, to meet 
on Monday, May 27, 

MONDAY, May 27, 1841. 

The committee did not meet. 

TUESDAY, May 28, 1844. 

The committee met. PresetJt: Messrs. Burke, Rathbun, and Causin. 

Mr. Burke continued the reading of the report submitted by him at a 
former meeting; and, before the same was concluded, the committee ad- 
journed, to meet on Wednesday, May 29, 1844, 

WEDNESDAY, May 29, 1844, 

The committee met, pursuant to adjournment. Present: Messrs, Burke, 
Rathbun, and Causin, 

Mr. Burke concluded the readins^ of his report; whereupon, the commit- 
tee adjourned to Monday, June 3, 1844. 

MONDAY, June 3, 1844, 

The committee met, pursuant to adjournment. Present: Messrs. Burke, 
Rathbun, and McClernand. 

Mr. Burke read certain resolutions appended to the report submitted by 
him at a former meeting, 

Mr, Burke then submitted the folio wins; resolution : 

Resolved, That the report and resolutions submitted by Mr. Burke to the 
committee be adopted, and the same reported to the House by the chair- 
man, together with the journal of the committee. 

Which was adopted ; all the members of the committee present voting 
for the same. 

On motion of Mr. Burke, 

The committee adjourned sine die. 



Rep. No. 546, 93 



SCHEDULE OF PAPERS 

FORMING THE 

APPENDIX TO THE REPORT. 



No. 1. Testimony of John S. Harris. 

Papers annexed to the testimony of Mr. Harris. 

No. 2. Report of the committee on the action of the General Assembly^ 
on the subject of the constitution, and "Algerine act," marked I. 

No. 3. Landholders' constitution, marked F. 

No. 4. Address to the people on the subject of the formation of a consti- 
tution in 1834, marked E. 

No. 5. People's constitution adopted in December, 1841, marked A. 

No. 6. Report of the committee of the people's convention, appointed to 
count the votes given on the question of the adoption of the people's con- 
stitution, marked B. 

No. 7. Proclamation of the convention, announcing the adoption of the 
people's constitution, marked B B. 

No. 8. Opinion of John Pitman, now district judge of Rhode Island, in 
favor of the extension of the right of suffrage, in 181 1, marked C. 

No. 9. Copy of a constitution proposed by the convention assembled at 
Newport, R. I., June 21, 1824, marked D. 

No. 10. Constitution of Rhode Island now in force, marked G. 

No. 11, Ratification of the constitution of the United States by the con- 
vention of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

No. 12. ProceeditJgs of the Democratic State Convention of Rhode Island, 
recommending the people to register their names and vote under the exist- 
ing constitution of the State, held December 20, 1842. 

No. 13. Testimony of Welcome B. Sayles. 

Papers annexed to the testimony of Mr. Sayles. 

No. 14. Proceedings of the mass convention at Newport, R. I., May 5thj 
1841, marked A. 

No. 15. Resolutions of the mass convention held at Providence, R. I., 
July 5, 1841, marked B. 

No. 16. Address of the State suffrage committee, setting forth the prin- 
ciples of the suffrage movement, marked C. 

No. 17. Address of the State suffrage committee, calling upon the people 
to elect delegates to a convention for the purpose of forming a constitution, 
marked D. 

No. 18. Extracts from the oration of George R. Burrell, delivered in 
Providence in 1797, in favor of a republican constitution, marked E. 

No. 19. Extracts from the " Manufacturer's and Freeman's Journal," un- 
der dates of November 27th, December 11th, and 18th, 1820, and January 
11th, 1821, marked F. 

No. 20. Testimony of Aaron White, jr. 

No. 21. Testimony of Colonel .Tames Bankhead, United States army. 
No. 22. Testimony of Captain John R. Vinton, United States army. 
No. 22 a. Caption and return of commission to Benjamin F. Hallett, esq. 
No. 22 6. Commission to Benjamin F. Hallett, esq. 



94 Rep. No. 546. 

DEPOSITIONS TAKEN BY BENJAMIN F. HALLETT, Esq. 

I. Relating to transactions at Paiotucket, the oulraf^es of the charter 

troops, and the homicide of Alexander Kilby. 

No. 23. Deposition of Draper Carpenter. 

No. 24. Deposition of Samuel W. Miller. 

No. 25. Deposition of Freeman Crosby. 

No. 26. Deposition of Joseph Fletcher. 

No. 27. Deposition of Thomas V. Medbury. 

No. 28. Deposition of William R. Silloway. 

No. 29. Deposition of Asa E. Carpenter. 

No. 30. Deposition of David F. Cutting. 

No. 31. Deposition of Robert Abell. 

No. 32. Deposition of Larned Scott. 

No. 33. Deposition of Amos Ide. 

No. 34. Deposition of John S. Despean. 

No. 35. Deposition of Sarah Kilby. 

No. 36. Deposition of Elias B. Pitcher. 

II. Relating to interference with the suffrage press, atid detention of order 

to disba?id the suffrage troops. 

No. 37. Deposition of Walter S. Bnrgess, and copy of Gov. Dorrs letter 
to him. 

No. 38. Deposition of Samuel Low, and order of Gov. Dorr to disband 
the suffrage troops. 

No. 39. Deposition of William J. Miller. 

No. 40. Deposition of Walter R. Danforth. 

No. 41. Deposition of Aaron Simons. 

III. Relating to arrests, searches, and acts of alleged violence. 

No. 42. Deposition of Leonard Wakefield. 

No. 43. Deposition of Eliab Whipple. 

No. 44. Deposition of Henry Lord. 

No. 45. Deposition of Mehitable Howard. 

No. 46. Deposition of Nathaniel Knisfht. 

No. 47. Deposition of Ann Maria Buffington. 

No. 48. Deposition of Filizabeth Nutter. 

No. 49. Deposition of Otis Holmes. 

No. 50. Deposition of Martin Luther, (not taken under commission.) 

No. 5L Deposition of Stafford Healy, (not taken under commission.) 

IV. Relating to the taking^ of Acnte's Hill, Chepatchet — Orders to the mili- 
tary — Interference of United States officers ; and use of custom-house, at 
Providence, for military stores. 

No. 52. Deposition of Joseph Holbrook. 
No. 53. Deposition of Ariel Ballon. 
No. 54. Deposition of William Mitchell. 
No. 55. Deposition of Harvey Chaffee. 



Rep. No. 546. 95 

No. 56. Deposition of William C. Thayer, 
No. 57. Deposition of George S. Keed. 
No. 58. Deposition of Thomas Reid. 
No. 59. Deposition of Peter Norton. 
No. 60. Deposition of Albion N. Olney. 
No. 61. Deposition of Simeon Sherman, jr. 
No. 62. Deposition of Abel Oaks. 
No. 63. Deposition of William Coleman. 
No. 64. Deposition of Stephen G. Coleman. 
No. 65. Deposition of John L. Johnson. 
No. 66. Deposition of William Hasvvell. 
No. 67. Deposition of Thomas Greene. 
No. 68. Deposition of Isaiah Barney. 
No. 69. Deposition of Lyman A. Taft. 

No. 70. Deposition of Jedediah Sprague. 

No. 71. Deposition of Clavis H. Bowen. 

No. 72. Deposition of Asa Hawkins. 

No. 73. Votes for the people's constitution, as counted by the select co"n> 
mittee on the memorial. 

No. 74. Copy of suffrage vote. 

No. 75. Copies of the votes of ex Senator Sprague and others, for the 
people's constitution, now violent persecutors o( the suffrage party. 

No. 76. Statement of taxes paid by non-voters in the city of Providence, 
persons serving in the militia, (fee, (fee, by Wm. H. Smith, esq. 

Papers filed In the case of Martin Luther vs. Luther M. Borden et aL, 
pendins^ in the Supreme Court of the United States. 

No. 77. Bill of exceptions. 

No. 78. Proceedings of a convention of delegates of the freemen of the 
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, met for the purpose of 
ratifying the constitution of the United States, May 29, 1790, marked A. 

No. 79. Report of Benjamin Hazard on the extension of suffrage, in 1829, 
marked B. 

No. 80. Resolutions passed by the General Assembly, January session, 
1841, on a memorial of the town of Smithfield to enlarge the representa- 
tion of that town to the General Assembly, marked C a. 

No. 81. Petition of Elisha Dillingham and others to the General Assem- 
bly of Rhode Island, praying the abrogation of the charter, and the estab- 
lishment of a constitution, marked D. 

No. 82. A declaration of principles of the Rhode Island suffrage asso- 
ciation, made February 7th, 1841, and April 13th, 1841, marked E. 

No. 83. Resolutions adopted at a mass meeting of the friends of suffrage, 
held at Newport, on the 5th day of May, 1841, setting forth the principles 
of the suffrage movement, marked F. 

No. 84. Resolutions adopted at a mass meeting of the friends of suffrage, 
held at Providence, July 5th, 1841, marked G. 

No. 85. Resolutions of the General Assembly, passed at the May session, 
1841, in amendment of resolutions passed at the January session, same 
year, marked H a. 

No. 86. A call to the people of Rhode Island to assemble in convention; 
marked J a. 



96 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 87. Address of the State committee appointed by the suffrage con- 
vention at Newport, May 5, 1841, for the purpose of calling a convention 
to form a constitution for the State, marked J b. 

No. 88. Constitution as finally adopted by the people's convention, which 
assembled at Providence on the 18th day of November, 1841, marked K. 

No. 89. Resolutions of the people's convention, declaring the adoption 
of the people's constitution, marked L c. 

No. 90, An act calling a convention of the people to frame a written 
constitution for the State of Rhode Island, as proposed by Mr. Atwell, and 
rejected by the General Assembly, marked H b. 

No. 91. Copy of the records of the House, under date of May 7, 1841, 
showing the proceedings on the bill proposed by Mr. Atwell to call a con- 
vention of the people to frame a written constitution, marked I a and I b. 

No. 92. Proceedings of the General Assembly, showing the refusal of 
that body to consider the proceedings of the people's convention, and the 
vote on the adoption of the people's constitution, marked L a. 

No, 93. Proposed act to change the day of the annual election, dissolve 
the constitutional convention, and adjourn sine die — in other words, to 
recognise the people's constitution. Indefinitely postponed by the General 
Assembly, marked L 6. 

No. 94. Copy of an act passed by the General Assembly at the June 
session, 1842, to provide for calling a convention to frame a new (the ex- 
isting) constitution, marked Q, a. 

No. 95. Copy of an act to amend the act calling a convention to frame a 
new constitution, passed at the June session, 1842, marked Q,a. 

No. 96. Proceedings of the charter assembly, rejecting Mr. Atwell's bill 
proposing the people's constitution for adoption or rejection, marked R. 

No. 97. Organization of the governiTjent under the people's constitution, 
marked N a: 

No, 98. Journal of the Senate under the people's constitution. 

No. 99. Journal of the House of Representatives under the people's con- 
stitution. 

No. 100, Acts and resolves of the Legislature under the people's consti- 
tution, marked N e. * 

No. 101. Table of population, marked O. 

No. 102. State of votes for general officers in the elections, commencing 
with 1832 to 1841, inclusive, marked P. 

No. 103. Copy of the act declaring martial law, passed by the General 
Assembly on the 25th day of June, 1842, marked Q. 

No. 104. Proclamation of the people'.s convention, declaring the people's 
constitution to be the supreme fundamental law of Rhode Is] -'d, marked X. 

No. 105. Agreement of parties to the action. 

Registers of the names of those persons who voted on the question of the 
adoption of the people's constitution. 

No. 106. Register of the city of Providence. 

No. 107. Register of Smithfield, 

No. 108. Register of Cumberland. 

No. 109. Register of Burrillville. 

No. 110. Register of Glocester. 

No. HI. Register of Foster. ' 



Rep. No. 5i6. 97 



No. 112. Register of Scitiiate. 

No. 113. Register of Johnston. 

No. 114. Register of North Providence. 

No. 115. Register of Cranston. 

No. 116. Register of Warwick. 

No. 117. Register of Coventry. 

No. lis. Register of East Greenwich. 

No. 119. Register of West Greenwich. 

No. 120. Register of North Kingstown. 

No. 121. Register of South Kingstown. 

No. 122. Register of Exeter. 

No. 123. Register of Richmond. 

No. 124. Register of Charlestovvu. 

No. 125. Register of Hopkinton. 

No. 120. Register of Westerly. 

No, 127. Register of Newport, 

No. 128. Register of Middletown. 

No. 129. Register of PorfsmoiUh, 

No. 130. Register of Jamestown, 

No. 131. Register of New Shoreham. 

No, 132. Flegisier of Tiverton. 

No. 133. Register of Little Compton, 

No. 134. Register of Bristol, 

No. 135. Register of Warren. 

No, 13G. Register of Barrincjion. 



- Cliartcrs and legislative documents. 

No. 137. The charter of 1643, granted by Parliament. 

No. 138. Cromwell's letter to Rhode Island. 

No. 139. The charter of 1663, granted by King Charles II. 

No. 140. Declaration by the General Assembly, relating to sufFrage. in 
the year 1664. 

No. 141. Declaration in relation to the qualification of voters by the Gen- 
eral Assembly, in 1665. 

No. 142. Order of the General Assembly respecting persons voting who 
are not freemen, in 1667. 

No. 143. Act of General Assembly regulating elections, and prescribing 
the proxy mode of voting in 1663. 

No, 144. ;' ;t of 1666, regulating the admission of freemen. 

No, 145. Act fixing the freehold qualification of voters, passed in 1723, 

No. 146. Act relating to same subject, passed in 1729. 

No. 147. Act relating to same subject, passed in 1742. 

No, 148. Act relating to same subject, passed in 1746. 

No. 149. Legislation in reference to suffrage; and acts of 1793 and 1822, 
relating to same. 

No. 150. Act of 1824, calling a convention to frame a written constitu- 
tion. 

No. 151. Act of 1834, calling a convention to frame a constitation. 

No. 152. Resolution of January, 1841, for SAme purpose. 

No. 153. Resolution of June, 1841, relating to same subject. 
7 



98 Rep. No. 546, 

No. 154. Resolution of January, 1842, relating to Piame subject. 

No. 155. Act in amendment of the act regulaimg the admission of free- 
men. 

No. 156. Resolutions of the General Assembly relating to the people's 
constitution. 

No. 157. Act of June, 1842, calling a convention to frame a constitution, 
(published in the case of Martin Luther — see No. 94.) 

No. 158. Resolution of the convention, asking for a declaratory act. 

No. 159. Act of October, 1842, declaratory of the act of June, 1842, and 
providing that a majority of those voting shall adopt the constitution. 

No. 160. Account of the organization of the government of Rhode Island 
under the constitution of 1842. 

No. 160 a. Report of the committee appointed to count the votes given 
on the adoption of the existing constitution of Rhode Island. 

Extracts from dorjrmeni No. 225, Ho. of Reps., 28th Congress, 1st sessioriy 
relating to the interfertrice of the President in the affairs of Rhode 
Island. 

No. 161. Message of the President, in answer to the resolution of tlie 
House relative to his interference in the affairs of the people of Rhode 
Island. 

No. 162. Affidavit of Samuel Curry as to proceedings and arming of 
suffrage-men, February 5, 1842. 

No. 163. Two letters from Samuel W. King, Governor of Rhode Island, 
to the President of the United States, calling for the aid of the United States 
to suppress the suffrage movement, dated April 4, 1842. 

No. 164. Letter from the President, in reply to the foregoing letters of 
Governor King, dated April 11, 1842. 

No. 165. LeUer of Henry L. Bowen, Secretary ofState of Rhode Island, to 
the President, April 7, 1842, with affidavits of Martin Stoddard, Hamilton 
Hoppin, Samuel Curry, Jacob Friese, Christopher Robinson, and Edward 
S. Wilkinson. 

No. 166. Letter of John Whipple, craving audience with the President, 
m behalf of the Rhode Island committee, April 9, 1842. 

No. 167. Statement of facts submitted to the President by John Whipple^ 
John Brown Francis, and Elisha R. Potter, committee appointed by Gov- 
ernor King to confer with the President, April 10, 1842. 

No. 168. Letter of Governor King to the President, dated May 4, 1842, 
transmitting resolutions of the General Assembly, declaring the State of 
Rhode Island in a state of insurrection, and calling for the military inter- 
ference of the Uuited States. 

No. 169. The President's letter to Governor King, dated May 7, 1842, 
in reply to his letter of May 4, 1842. 

No. 170. Letter of Thomas W. Dorr, Governor of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations, to the President of the United States, enclosing the 
resolutions of the General Assembly under the people's constitution ; in- 
formmg the President of the organization of the government under the 
said constitution. 

No. 171. Confidential letter of the President to Governor King, May 9, 
1842. 



Rep. No. 546. 99 

No. 172. Letter of Governor King to the President, dated May 12, 1842, 
acknowledging the receipt of the President's letter of May 9. 

No. ITS.'^Letter of EHsha R. Potter to the President, IN'lay 15, 1842. 

No. 174. Private letter of the President to Mr. Potter, May 20, 1842. 

No. 175. Letter of Thomas A. Jenckes, private secretary to Governor 
King, dated May 16, 1842, enclosing the proclamation of T. W. Dorr to the 
people of Rhode Island. 

No. 176. Letter from Governor King to the President, dated May 25, 
1842, stating that Mr. Dorr is organizing troops in other States, and calling 
for military aid. 

No. 177. The President's reply to same, May 28, 1842, promising th 
aid required. 

No. 178. Letter of the Secretary of War to Colonel Bankhead, May 28, 
1842. 

No. 179. Letterof J. C.Spencer to General Eustis, Boston, May 29, 1842. 

No. 180. Instructions of the President to the Secretary of War, Mav 28, 
1842. 

No. 181. Letter of the President to the Secretary of War, June 29, 1842. 

No. 182. Proclamation by the President of the United States to the 
people of Rhode Island, 

No. 183. lietter of Daniel Webster, Secretary of Slate, to the President, 
June 3, 1842; enclosing anonymous letter of the same date. 

No. 184. Letter of Colonel Bankhead to the Secretary of War, June 22, 
1842. 

No. 185. Letter of E. J. Mallett to the Postmaster General, June 26, 1842. 

No. 186. Letter of Thos. M. Burgess, mayor of Providence, to the Presi- 
dent, June 23, 1842. 

No. 187. Letter of Governor King to the President, June 23, 1842. 

No. 188. Letter of the President in reply, June 25, 1842. 

No. 189. Depositions' of Samuel W. Peckham, Charles F. Harris, Charles 
J. Shelley, and John C. Keep. 

No. 190. Letterof Lieutenant E. D. Townsend to the Secretary of War, 
June 23, 1842. 

No. 191. Letterof Colonel James Bankhead to the Secretary of War, 
June 23, 1842. 

No. 192. Letter of Colonel James Bankhead to the Adjutant General of 
the United States, June 23, 1842. 

No. 193. Letter from same to same, Juno 27, 1842. 

No. 194. Communication signed by James F. Simmons, William Sprague. 
and Joseph L. Tillinghast, addressed to the President, June 27, 1842, urging 
him to comply with Governor King's requisition. 

No. 195. Communication of the President to the Secretary of War, June 
29, 1842, instructing him to proceed to Rhode Island. 

No. 196. Depositions of Charles T. Martin, John F. Pond, and William 
S. Slater. 

Military orders. 

No. 197. Statement showing the number of United States troops station- 
ed at Fort Adams, during the months of April, May, June, and July, 1842. 
No. 198. Assistant Adjutant General to Major M. M. Payne, April 11. 

1842. 



100 Kep, No. 546. 

No, 199. Assistant Adjutant General to Colonel A. C. VV. Fanning, Apr?! 
25, 1842. 

No. 200. Same to Major M. M. Payne, April 25, 1842. 

No. 201. Same to same, April 26, 1842. 

No. 202. Same to Colonel J. Bankhead, April 26, 1842. 

No. 203. Adjutant General to lYJajor M. M. Payne, April 29, 1842, 

No. 204. Same to Colonel Bankhead, May 5, 1842. 

No. 205. Same to same, May 28, 1842. 

No. 206. Same to same, June 1, 1842. 

No. 207. Same to General John E. Wool, June 2, 1842. 

No. 208. Extract from General Orders No. 33, June 2, 1842, 

No. 209. Adjutant General to Colonel James Bankhead, June 6, 1842. 

No. 210. Same to same, July 9, 1842. 

No. 211. Assistant Adjutant General to Colonel Bankhead, June 11, 
1842. (Extract.) 

No. 212. Charge of Chief Justice Durfee to the grand jury, at the March 
term of the supreme judicial court at Bristol, Rhode Island, A. D. 1842, 
remarkable for its anti-republican doctrines. 

No. 213. Organization of the government under the people's constitutiouj 
and message of Governor Dorr. 

No. 214. Governor Dorr's address to the people of Rhode Island, August, 
1843. 

No. 215. Proclamations of Governor King, suspending martial law. 

No. 216. Correspondence between John Brown Francis and Henry Clay, 
relative to the affairs of Rhode Island, March, 1844; and extract from the 
speech of Henry Clay, at Lexington, Kentucky, in the autumn of 1842. 

Indictments of suffroge-mcn for political offences against the charier 

government. 

No. 217. Indictment vs. William H. Smith, and certificate of commit- 
ment. 

No. 218. Indictment vs. Burrington Anthony. 

No, 218 a. indictment v^. Hezekiah Willnrd. 

No. 219. Indictment vs. William P. Dean, and certificate of imprison- 
ment. 

No. 220. Indictment vs. Benjimin Arnold. 

No. 221. Indictment vs. Charles H. Campbell and Andrew Thompson, 

No. 222. Indictment vs. Joseph Gavit. 

No. 223. Indictment vs. Sylvester Himes. 

No. 224. Indictment vs. David Parmenter. 

No. 225. Indictment vs. George S. Nichols. 

No. 226. Indictment vs. Martin Luther, and report of trial. 

No. 227. Indictment vs. B. M. Bosvvorth, and report of trial. 

No. 228. Indictment vs. Wilmarth Heath, and report of trial. 

No. 229. Certificate of the clerk of the court in Providence countyj 
Rhode Island, showing the number of persons indicted in that county, and 
certificate of the jailer of the commitment of Otis Holmes. 

No. 230. (y'ertificate of the keeper of the jail in Bristol comity, Rhode 



Rep. No. 546. 101 

Island, showing the number of persons committed, who were connected 
with the suffrage movements. 

No. 231. Statement of Wilham J. Miller, showing the direction of Chief 
Justice Durfee to the jailer of Bristol county not to furnish certificates of 
commitment. 

No. 232. An act in addition to, and in amendment of, an act entitled 
" An act in relation to the sovereign power of the State," passed by the 
General Assembly, January session, 1843. 

No. 232 a. Act amending the riot act, passed by the General Assembly, 
April session, 1842. 

Acts of the legislature dlsbcutdiiig tn'dilary companies supposed to favor 
the suffrage cause, and incorporating other conipaides. 

No. 233. Laws relating to the military, passed by the General Assembly, 
IVlay session, 1842. 

No. 234. Same, passed by the General Assembly, June session, 1842. 

No. 235. Same, do. do. October session, 1842. 

No. 236. Same, do. do. January session, 1843. 

No. 237. First twenty-four sections of " An act to regulate the militia," 
June session, 1843. 

No. 238. An act to regulate the election of civil ofRcers, and for other 
purposes, January session, 1843. 

No. 239. Speech of Thomas W. Dorr, on the right of the people of 
Rhode Island to form a constitution ; delivered in the people's convention, 
Nov. 18, 1841. 

No. 240. Ixeport of the trial of Thomas W. Dorr, Governor of the State 
of Rhode Island under the people's constitution, on the charge of treason. 

No. 241. Proceedings of the United States Senate, on the resolution of 
Mr. Allen, in relation to the difficulties in Rhode Island ; 27th Congress, 
2d session. 

ADDENDA. 

No. 242, Arrests of women—Statement of Mrs. Abby H. Lord. 
No. 243. Copy of an indictment against Mrs. Abby H. Lord, 



102 Rep, No. 546. 



APPENDIX. 



No. 1. 
Testimony of John S. Harris. 



1. Question by the committee. Are you a resident and citizen of Riiode 
Island, and liow loiio; have you been such ? 

Answer. I am a resident and citizen of Rhode Island; and from my birth 
to the present time, I have considered my residence to be in that State. 

2. Gtuestion by the committee. Were you secretary of the convention 
which sat in Providence on the first Monday in October, 1841, which framed 
the people's constitution, so called? 

Answer. 1 was one of the secretaries of the convention referred to in 
your question. That convention sat in Providence in October and Novem- 
ber, 1841, and in January, 1842. The convention was called to meet in 
Providence on the first Monday of October, 1841, and did meetat that time, 
and framed a constitution, and published it for the consideration of the peo- 
ple, and adjourned to meet again at Providence on the 16th day of Novem- 
ber then next following. And on the 16ih day of November, said conven- 
tion again assembled at Providence, and made some slight amendments to 
the constitution, as before published ; and on the 18th day of November, the 
constitution herewith submitted (marked A) was framed, and agreed to by 
the convention, and ordered to be published and submitted to the people, 
agreeably to the requirements contained in the first, second, third, and fourth 
sections of the 14th article thereof The said convention then adjourned un- 
til the 12th day of January, 1842, then to meet again in said Providence, 
for the purpose of counting and declaring the vote given in by the people 
upon the question of the adoption of said constitution. On the said 12th 
day of January, the convention again met; and the ballots given in by the 
people, upon the question of adoption the convention appointed a large and 
respectable committee to examine, count, and report the result ; which com- 
mittee, after a careful and very thorough examination of the registers kept 
by the officers who officiated at the meetings of the people of the different 
towns, and of the ballots or votes themselves, on the 13th day of said Jan- 
nary made report of the result to the convention, which report was accept- 
ed and adopted, and published, as is annexed, (marked B.) Annexed, also, 
(marked B B.) is a copy of the {jroclaniation made and published in com- 
pliance with a resolution of the convention. This proclamation was pub- 
lished in most, if not in all, the newspapers printed in the State. The con- 
vention, after declaring the constitution to have been adopted by the people, 
passed a vote authorizing the secretaries to furnish any persons with copies 
of the registers of the votes given in any of the towns, by being paid therefor. 
This was complied with for several days, until copies of nearly half the 
towns in the State had been furnished; but, upon representations made to 



Rep. No. 546. 103 

us, we were soon led to believe that the opponents of this constitution were 
usinu- these lists to intimidate and proscribe those wlio had voted in good 
faith f )r that constitution. Indeed, 1 was in Mr. Dorr's office one evening, 
when George B. Holmes came in and called Mr. Dorr out to speak with him; 
when Mr. Dorr returned, he informed me that Mr. Holmes advised that no 
more copies of the lists ought to be furnished; as those who obtained them 
were using them to proscribe and intimidate the voters, Mr. Holmes em- 
ployed a large number of men at the time, and was friendly to our cause, 
but subsequently became one of our opponetits. 

3. (Question by the committee. Have you the original files and journal 
of tlie proceedings of said convention? and, if so, please communicate them 
to the committee. 

Answer. I have now in my possession, and herewith show them to the 
committee, the original credentials of the delegates to that convention, and 
the report of the committee of said convention, to whom the credentials and 
qualifications of its members were referred. 'J'he report is as follows, viz : 

" The committee to whom was referred the subject of the members elect- 
ed to the convention, the towns represented, and the credentials presented, 
respectfully report : That they have examined the subject conunitted to 
them, and find that every lown in the State, and the six wards in the city of 
Providence, are duly represented in nearly the proportion recommended by 
the cull for said convention. 

" That the town of Portsmouth was not, by the terms of said call, entitled 
to but one representative ; but that, in consideration of the large fraction 
over 1,000 in its population, the convention received two delegates from 
said town. 

" Tliat but one delegate has appeared from the town of Glocester, said 
town being entitled to two. 

"They would further report, that all of said delegates presented certifi- 
cates of their election, certined by the chairman and secretaries of the 
meetings in the several towns and wards, which are now on the files of the 
convention. 

"Respectfully submitted for the committee: 

" PEliEZ SIMMONS, CAmVmari." 

I have also the original journal of that convention ; also, the original roll of 
members; and, I believe, every other paper. The document before sub- 
mitted (marked A) is the constitution formed by said convention, and is 
tiie one voted for, and, as 1 verily believe, was adopted by a large majority 
of the white male adult citizens of said Slate. Of the truth of this, I have 
no more doubt than 1 have that there is such a place as London. In fur- 
ther proof of this, 1 annex the vote given upon the question of the adoption 
of what is familiarly called X\\e landholders'' constitution. This vote was 
taken on the 21st, 22d, and 23d days of March, 1S42, and was considered 
by very many as a test or alternative expression of opmion between that and 
the people's constitution. The foilowiuiT vote passed at a mass meeting of 
the friends of that instrument, hoiden at Providence oti the 7ih of March, 
1842: 

'• Amonost the resolutions offered by Charles Potter, esq., and adopted 
unanimously, was this : 

^^Resnlvtd, That, in the opinion of this meeting, should this constitution 
be rejected, the State could not fall quietly back upon the old charter ; but 



104 Rep. No. 546. 

that she would inevitably be exposed to all the evils of anarchy, or s'm'k^ 
with tarnished honor, and with dejected hopes, under a dominion established 
'without law and against law.'" 

The different requirements to become an elector, contained in the two 
constitutions, was such as to diminish the suffrage vote, in my opinion, some 
two thousand or more. The people's constitution, upon the question of its 
adoption, required the voter, at the time of voting, to have his permanent 
home in Rhode Island, and to vote thereafier in all general elections; to 
have resided in the State o»e year, and in the town or city where he voted, 
six months ; and regarded naturalized citizens the same as any others. The 
landholders' constitution, on all questions, required two years' residence in 
the State for native citizens, and a freehold qualification of ^134 to enable 
naturalized citizens to vote. 

In connexion, I would state to the committee that I have in my posses- 
sion, as one of the secretaries of the people's convention, every original bal- 
lot or vote given in by the citizens of that State upon the question of its 
adoption ; also, the registers of the names of the voters taken and certified 
to by the clerks of the meetings at which the vote was taken : all of which 
are herewith submitted to tlie examination of tlie committee. 

I acted as moderator in the sixth ward of the city of Providence at the 
time the vote was taken on the adoption of the people's constitution ; and, 
as such, endeavored to have the voting conducted with as much f(\irness, 
and with as great a desire to prevent fraudulent or illegal voting, as ever 
was done in any other similar ward meeting. Great care was taken by me^ 
as the presiding officer of that meeting, that no one should vote but such 
as had the right by the provisions in said constitution. Votes were reject- 
ed by me on that occasion ; and I do not now know of a single vole remain- 
ing on the register, or among the ballots, which is not a good vote, if there 
are any fraudulent voles or ballots now shown to the committee from that 
ward, they are unknown to me. 

I am aware that charges of fraudulent voting, on the question of the 
adoption of the people's constitution, have been made by the charter party* 
but I never have seen anything but general and vague assertions, except 
with regard to the town of Newport. That party made charges of that 
ciiaracter against that town, and published a list of those who, they say,, 
jjad no right to vote. I, at the time, sought information from our friends 
with regard to the fact ; and it is but just to say that there were votes re- 
ceived in that town, as 1 have been informed, which ought not to have 
been ; but the reason given at the time for receiving them was, that they 
were included in the census, and, if not taken, our side would be counted 
as against us by our opponents. The list published as bad voters by the 
charter party, I know, is not true ; but how many of those that I have 
spoken of there were, I cannot say. My informant estimated them at less 
than 200. 

The following is the official report of the votes given for and against the 
[landholders'] constitution, as submitted to the General Assembly by the 
committee appointed to count them. The majority against the constim- 
tion is 676. 



Rep. No. 546. 105 

VOTE OF PROVIDENCE. 



Against the constitution. 


For the constitution 


312 


130 


lb3 


324 


330 


282 


310 


262 


451 


2i'9 


543 


199 


- 2,129 


1,406 



1st ward 
2d ward 
3d ward 
4lh ward 
5tli ward 
6th ward 

Total 



Providence county. 

Providence - - - 2,129 1,406 

North Providence - - - 430 150 

Smithfield - - - - 997 334 

Cumberland - - - 638 210 

Johnston - - - - 231 148 

Cranston - - - - • 283 . 156 

Scitnate - - - - 371 280 

Foster .... 133 251 

Burrillville - - - - 326 52 

Glocesier - - - - 387 59 



Total - 


Kent 


601 


Warwick - 
Coventry - 
East Greenwich 
West Greenwich 


comity. 

595 

279 

97 

44 


Total - 


1,015 



Total ... - 5.925 3,046 



Newport county. 

Newport - - - - 361 730 

Middletown ... 6 152 

Portsmouth ... 97 204 

Tiverton .... 86 371 

Little Compton ... 6 202 

Jamestown - - - - 11 46 

New Shoreham - - - 34 94 



1,799 



382 
266 
146 
179 

973 



106 






Rep. 


No. 546. 










Bristol 


county 












A-gainst the constitution. 


For the constitution. 


Bristol 




- 


. 


- 


149 


358 


Warren 




- 


- 


- 


65 


263 


Biirrington - 




- 


Was hi 


ngt 


24 


62 


Total - 


238 


683 




oil county. 




North Kingstown 


. 


. 


. 


265 


210 


South Kingstown 


. 


- 


- 


188 


450 


Exeter 




- 


. 


- 


32 


258 


Hopkinton - 




- 


- 


- 


163 


159 


Riclimond - 




- 


- 


- 


69 


167 


Westerly 




- 


- 


- 


153 


182 


Charlestown 




- 


Recapit 


40 


86 


Total - 


910 


1,512 




ulalion. 




Providence county 


. 


_ 


_ 


5,925 


3.046 


Newport 




- 


- 


- 


601 


1,799 


Kent 




. 


- 


- 


1,015 


973 


Bristol 




- 


. 


. 


238 


683 


Washington, 










910 


1,512 


Total - 


8,689 


8,013 




against 


. 


. 


8,013 


_ 






Majority 


676 





4. Question by the committee. Were you clerk of the assembly, under 
the people's constitution, which convened in the city of Providence on the 
first Tuesday of May, 1842? And have you the original files and journal 
of the proceedings of said assembly? and, if so, please produce them to 
this committee. 

Answer. I was one of the clerks of the House of Representatives of said 
assembly; and 1 have the original files of the same, and the journal of said 
house, and every original act, resolution, or vote of the same; and I here- 
with produce them for the inspection of the conimittee. I have also the 
journal of the Senate, kept by William H, Smiih, esq., the secretary of 
state under that constitution. The handwriting in that journal I know to 
be his handwriting; and I believe it contains a true journal of the proceed- 
ings of that body. 

[Copies of these journals and acts, resolutions, &.C., will be found in the 
copy of the Martin Luther case, appended to this testimony.] 
* 5. Question by the committee. How long have you been a resident of 
the city of Providence ? 



Rep. No. 546. 107 

Answer. I have been a resident of the city of Providence since the year 
lSt)9, with the exception of about three years; and tlien 1 resided in the 
adjoining town of Johnston, at the dwelHng- of our family — that being my 
native town, and distant only three miles from Providence line. 

6. Question by the committee. Have you a family? and, if so, please 
name the members; and how many are males, and how many are females. 

Answer. 1 have a family, consisting of myself and six children — three 
males and three females. My two eldest children are males — one 23, and 
the other 16 years of age, and one other 7 years of age. The females are 
14, 10, and 5 years of age. At the time of the greatest excitement in 
Rhode Island, (in .Tune, 1842,) there were but three of my children at my 
own house, althouirh five were in the city of Providence. 

7. Question by the committee. Are yon now, and were you during the 
continuance of the attempts of the people of Rhode Island to establish a 
free constitution, an owner of houses and other real estate, bank stock 
and other personal property, in the city of Providence? 

Answer. I am now, and was during all the time the people of Rhode 
Island were attempting to establish a free constitution, (1 mean in 1840,- 
'4l,-'42, and since, and for years before,) the owner of dwelling houses and 
other real estate in the city of Providence. I was then, and I am now, the 
owner of stock in several of the banks in the city of Providence; and had 
then (in .lune, July, &,c., in 1842,) other personal property in bank in the 
city of Providence. 

8. Question by the committee. Were your houses insured at the time 
referred lo in the last question ? 

Answer. They were not insured; nor were they incumbered in any way. 

9. Question by the committee. Do you know of any plot or design 
formed at any time, by the fi lends of the people's constitution, in or 
out of the State of Rhode Island, to plunder the banks and other property 
in the city of Providence, and to subject the women of that city to brutal 
violence ? 

Answer. I do not know of any such design, either entertained, expressed, 
or thought of, by any friend of the people's constitution, in or out of the 
State ; nor do I believe that any such design or desire was ever entertained 
by any of the friends of said cause, either in or out of the State. And 
although the friends of that cause have been, as I believe, falsely and ma- 
liciously charged, both in Rhode Island and on the floor of the House of 
Representatives of the United States, with such a design, yet there never 
has been, to my knowledi^e, nor do I believe there ever can be, a particle 
of proof adduced to found such a charge upon. 

The people of that State, in their desire to reform their government, by 
the adoption of a written constitution, never entertained a design or wish 
to destroy or to change property, either by force or by legislation. They 
were neither plunderers nor agrarians. They demanded, through the 
ballot-box^ their just political rights — the extension of suffrage, and the 
equalization of representation in their legislature, and nothing more: and 
whoever will read the constitution — called the people's constitution — will 
see at once ihat, by its provisions, not only are personal and political rights 
extended and secured to the people, but that private property is also abun- 
dantly guarded and protected. In this respect, I am confident that no con- 
stitution in the whole twenty six States of this Union excels it. It is true that, 
by the provisions of that constitution, corporations are not sufiered to remain 



108 Rep. No. 546. 

in that omnipotent position that they had heretofore occupied in that State; 
and this is one great reason why the American doctrine of popular sover- 
eignty was so repudiated and condemned in that State by the charter party. 

10. Question by the committee. Do you know of such a plot or design 
being entertained by any person, or number of per.-~ons, at any time, in or 
out of the State of Rliode Island ? And were you in a situation which 
would have enabled you to obtain the knowledge of such a plot or design, 
if any had been formed ? 

Answer. I do not know, nor do I believe, from anything I heard said, or 
from any act then done by any person or persons belonging to, or friendly 
to the people's cause, either in or out of the State of Rliode Island, that such 
a plot or design, or any other plot or design which would destroy private 
property, and commit brutal violence upon females, was ever entertained 
by any one or more persons friendly to that cause. 1 never heard such a 
matter proposed, talked of, or even intimated, by any one. And I do verily 
believe that, if such a design had been entertained anywhere, I must 
have heard of it; for I think I may say that I was personally known to as 
many of the friends of tiiat cause, and was consulted by as many of then), 
and as often, in 1842, in regard to the proceedings had or designed, as any 
other man in Khode Island. Indeed, I do verily believe that, from the Gover- 
nor to the humblest individual engaged in that cause in that State, I had as 
good, and perhaps a better opportunity to know what was going on in our 
party, than any other person in the State; and I am confident as I can be, on 
any question which consequently requires a negative answer, to say that no 
such design or plot was ever intended or manifested. 

11. Question by the committee. What were the preliminary measures 
taken by the people of Rhode Island to bring about reform of the political 
evils complained of? 

Answer. In the year 1840, some gentlemen in the city of Providence, 
without regard to the party considerations of the day, met togetlier to con- 
sult what could be done to reform the political evils then existing in the 
State. This soon produced the formation of " the Rhode Island Suffrage 
Association," and the establishment of a newspaper called the "New Age;" 
the object was to promote a reform, and to spread such information among 
the people as would lead to the establishment of a written republican con- 
stitution, which should extend the right of suffrage, and equalize represen- 
tation in the General Assembly. Soon after the formation of this associa- 
tion, they published a declaration of its principles as follows : 

"A declaralion of prlnchles of the Rhode Island Suffrage Association. 

" Believing that all men are created free and equal, and that the possession 
of property should create no political advantages for its holder; and believ- 
ing that all bodies politic should have for their foundation a bill of rights 
and a written constitution, wherein the rights of the people should be de- 
fined, and the duties of the people's servants strictly pointed out and limited ; 
and believing that the State of Rhode Island is possessed of neither of those 
instruments, and that the charter under which she has her political exist- 
ence is not only aristocratic in its tendency, but that it lost all its authority 
when the independence of the United States was declared; and further- 
more, believing that every State in the federal compact is entitled, by the 
terms of that compact, to a republican form of government, and that any 



Rep. No. 546. 109 

form. of a^overnment is anti-republican and aristocratic which precludes a 
majorityof the people from participating in its affairs, and that by every 
right, human and divine, the majority in the State should govern; and fur- 
thermore, and finally beheving that the time has gone by when we are called 
upon to sub;nit to the most unjust outrages upon our political and social 
rights : Therefore, 

'■'■Resolved, That the power of the State should be vested in the hands of 
the people; and that the people have a right, from time to time, to assemble 
tofjether, either by themselves or their representatives, for -the establish- 
ment of a republican form of government. 

'^Resolved, That whenever a majority of the citizens of this State, wlio 
are recognised as citizens of the United States, shall, by their delegates in 
convention assembled, draught a constitution, and the same shall be accepted 
by their constituents, it will then be, to all intents and purposes, the law of 
tlie State." 

Similar associations were very soon established in nearly every town in 
the State, and lectures and public discussions soon made the question of 
constitutional reform one of all-absorbing interest at that period. 

I have examined the answer of Mr. Sayles, given to a similar question 
propounded by the committee ; and, so far as my knowledge extends, his 
answer details correctly tlie proceedings of the people in their numerous 
mass conventions and primary meetings, prior to the meeting of the con- 
vention on the first Monday in October, 1841. Indeed, from the knowl- 
edge I have of what took place at that time, I believe the people of that 
State thoroughly understood the political evils that existed in the State, and 
had coolly determined in their judgment to make reform, by adopting a 
written republican constitution. 

12. Question by the committee. Did this reform commence in Rhode 
Island at the instigation of either of the great political parties whicli divide 
the people of that State and the country, so far as your knowledge extends? 
and when did this question assume a party character, and from what 
cause ? 

Answer. So far as my knowledge extends, its commencement had no 
party cast whatever. Men of both political parties united for reform; but 
as the whig party was then in power in that State, its organ very naturally 
exhibited signs of extreme jealousy, fjr fear the party would lose its as- 
cendency ; though, until the adoption of the people's constitution, the organ 
nt tliat party admitted communications favoring the people's cause, from its 
friends. At the first nominating convention held after the adoption of the 
people's constitution, the Executive was publicly tendered to a whig, in 
the person of the Hon. Wager Weeden of South Kingstown, one of the 
electors of that State who voted for General Harrison in 1840 ; but the 
charter assembly having subsequently passed an act entitled " An act to 
punish offences against the sovereign power of the State," commonly called 
the " Algerine act," Judge Weeden declined the nomination ; being a gen- 
tleman somewhat venerable in years, he was not inclined to undergo the tur- 
moil which would be likely to follow such a position. Afterwards, the 
State committee, who were empowered by the nominating Convention, 
nominated Thomas W. Dorr for governor ; and he was elected, and entered 
upon the duties of the Executive of the State, for which position he is now 
immured in prison, awaiting trial for treason. 

After it became known how heavy the vote was for the adoption of the 



110 Rep. No. 546. 

people's constitution, by the official count and declaration of the convention 
sittino^ in Providence, at the same time the charter legislature was in ses- 
sion also at Providen,ce, and when the constitution and the proceedings of 
the convention were submitted to the legislature throuc^h the Governor, 
then the government of the State (which was whig) denied the American 
doctrine of the inherent uUimate right of the people of a Stale to alter- or 
reform their government, without the consent of a majority of those whom 
a minority of the people had constituted their legislative servants; and as 
this question became extended through the Union, the two great parties 
became interested for the one or the other side, according to the estimation 
in which they respectively regarded the right of the people, and the primitive 
principles of the foundation of this government— one party contending that 
sovereignty, or the ultimate power of the people to "alter, reform, or amend" 
their government at any time, without the assent of any legislative pro- 
ceedings or authority, is the true foundation of republ'can democracy, and 
was the basis upon which the people of this country created their existence 
as a nation. One party contends that the legislature and its exercised au- 
thority is but the organ, or the agent of the government, havino^ no power 
10 institute it, nor to make any forms for its institution; but that the people, 
and they alone^ for their own safety and happiness, have the sole right to 
institute and form governments. The other party contended then, and 
still contend, not that the sovereignty or ultimate power now resides in the 
King and Parliament, but that it resides in the political organization of 
the State — in the executive, legislative, and judicial organs of government; 
and that these government organs have become possessed of sovereignty, 
probably as the heirs at-laio of the King and Pariiament of Great Britain, 
who, all agree, died in 1776. 

This is the English doctrine — essentially the doctrine of the divine right 
of kings ; and it is only varied in this country by circnmstances, names, and 
titles, so as to become the tenant of American instead of English minds. 
When this question became a national question, by the interference of the 
Executive arm of the United States, then the development of these an- 
tagonist principles of the two political parties of the country became mani- 
fest in their public sympathies frequently expressed on the Rhode Island 
difficulties. This answer necessarily embraces matters of history and 
opinion. 

13. Question by the committee. Was there any design, to your knowl- 
edge, in Rhode Island, by the friends of the people's constitution, to con- 
nect their cause with the abolition of slavery? 

Answer. So far as my knowledge extends, 1 know of no such design or 
purpose ; nor do I believe there ever was any such purpose intended by the 
movers of the reform, or by any body of men respectable in point of num- 
bers. 1 have never attended an abolition convention, meeting, or lecture ; 
therefore, my answer to this question will be given from the doings of the 
convention, and from proceedings as they are found in newspapers, &.c. 

In the convention, which consisted of about one hundred members elect- 
ed, a proposition was made to strike out the word " w/«7e" from the second 
article, (on the right of suffrage,) which had been reported by the commit- 
tee. After some debate this was voted down, only eighteen voting in the 
affirmative, on a call of the convention, as the roll now in my possession 
will show. 

After the committee had reported the second article, " of elector's and the 



Rep. No. 546. Ill 

rio^ht of siiffrage^^'' with the word ^'•ivhile'^ as one of the qualifications for 
an elector, and before the vote above referred to on said article was had in 
convention, a committee of the blacks sent a remonstrance to the conven- 
tion, in the following words, viz: 

" To the Free Suffrage Convention. 

'•Gentlemen: The remonstrance of the undersigned colored citizens 
of Rhode Island, respectfully represent, that, in the constitution that is pro- 
posed to he sent forth by your respected body for adoption, there is one 
measure inserted, upon which we. as an interested party, beg leave, with de- 
ference, to make known our views, and give an expression of oursentiujents. 
We have reference to that proposed article which, in inserting the word 
''white," denies all persons of color the use and exercise of the elective 
franchise. 

" Against the sacrifice of an ill-used and unoffending people, we desire to 
enter our most solemn and earnest protest. We are unwilling that this sore, 
grievous, and unwarrantable infliction should be made upon our already 
bruised hearts, without lifting up our voice in clear, strong, and decided 
remonstrance. 

"The article to which we refer, disfranchises that portion of the commu- 
nity generally entitled ''colored." The reason of this proscription is seen 
in the terms employed — it is the existence of the fact color. We regard 
the proscription as unwarrantable, anti-republican, and in tendency de- 
structive; and, as such, we protest against it. 

" We protest against it as vnwarraiitahle. We affirm that there is nought 
in the character or condition of the colored people of this State, as a class, 
which can justify this procedure. We are mostly native born citizens. 
We have lent our best strength in the cultivation of the soil, have aided in 
the development of its resources, and have contributed our part to its wealth 
and importance. 

" We have long, and with but little aid, been working our way up to 
respectability and competence. It is evident to open eyes, that, repulsed and 
disfranchised as we liave been, we have, nevertheless, been enabled to pos- 
sess ourselves of the means and advantaijes of religion, intelligence, and 
property. Debarred as we have been of the advantages of learning, and 
denied participation in civil prerogatives, we unhesitatingly assert that we 
will not suffer by a comparison with our more privileged fellow-citizens of 
the same rank, in either religion, virtue, or industry. 

"Is a justification of our disfranchisement sought in our want of christian 
character? We point to our churches as our reputation. In our want of intel- 
ligence? We refer not merely to the schools supported by the State, for our 
advantage ; but to the private schools, well filled and sustained, and taught 
by competent teachers of our own people. Is our industry questioned? 
This day, were there no complexional hindrance, we could present a more 
than proportionate number of our people, who might immediately, according 
to the freeholders' qualification, become voters. 

" But all these considerations may not be sufficient, and the justice of our 
being proscribed may be found in the insuperable objection of our color. 
Against this, then, we enter our earnest remonstrance. We protest against 
it ZB anti-republican. We know of no authoritative standard, where the right 
of man to participate in the privileges of government' is predicated of their per- 



112 Rep. No. 546. 

sonal appearance or bodily peculiarities. We know of no system of political 
ethics in which rights are based upon the complexion of the skni. We 
can find no nation that has the temerity to insult the common sense of man- 
kind by promnlgatiijg such a sentiment as a part of its political creed. We 
are confident that no such explanation of American republicanisn was ever 
made by the "father of his country," or by those able minds who are justly 
regarded as the best explainers of the nature and purposes of the Govern- 
ment — the writers of the " Federalist." 

" Nay, we appeal to thatgreat written charter of American liberty — the dec- 
laration of independence — in support of our protestation. We believe that 
'all men are created free and equal;' and we affirm, that no tinge of the 
skin can possibly invalidate that cardinal doctrine of onr country's liberty, 
or make nugatory or partial the political privileges which, as deductions, 
may proceed from it. 

" \Ve claim, then, that to deprive the colored people of this State of the 
immunities of citizenship, on account of the color of the skin, (a matter 
over which they have no control,) is anti-republican ; and against such a 
procedure we enter our solemn protest. As a harm and injury, as destruc- 
tive in tendency, do we regard this measure; and do therefore remonstrate 
against it. 

"If the nature o{ man opens the way for, and reqiiires civil government 
and its various functions, as a means of good and blessing to him, and as 
an aid in the full development of his powers, liow can it be otherwise than 
that the powers capacitated to civil duty, being diverted from their natural 
channel, should turn upon himself in hurtful inactivity, or active evil? 
And surely the State is to blame, and not the people, when invidious dis- 
franchisement causes moral and civil degradation; and when the sympathies 
and sentiments capacitated to political duty are perverted and smothered. 
And herein lies the destructive tendency of this measure. For what can be 
expected of a people when they are told — when their children are taught 
that they are regarded as so far beyond the pale of common human nature, 
that they need not expect the rights which are readily granted to others? — 
and this, for the commission of no crime, but on account of an arrangement 
of the Divine mind. Can active intellects, and healthful hearts, and souls 
aspiring after goodness, truth, and honesty, be reasonably looked for? De- 
prive a man of the use of any of his powers, and his whole system suffers ; 
he suffers in all his relations; injury is done him in all the. departments of 
activity. 

" The possession of the elective franchise is ever a stimulant to enter- 
prise, a means of influence, and a source of respect. And will you help 
deprive us of this benefit? The want of it is the cause of carelessness, 
intellectual inertness, and indolence. And will you aid in thus injuring us? 
Is it not destructive of humanity to frame such laws, whose tendency is 
to quench honorable ambition, to beget a sense of inferiority, to lessen the 
consciousness of individual worth and manly character? Surely, it must 
sicken the soul, and eat out the heart of any people. 

" We have thus briefly expressed our sentiments in opposition to the 
proposition that would give the name and influence of this convention, and 
that portion of the citizens of the State whom your body represents, to dis- 
franchise the colored people. 

" We have heard with surprise the expression of sentiments upon this 
matter, foreign to American soil and republican principles and institutions — 



Rep. No. 546 113 

sentiments which, if carried out, would affect not only our rights, but the 
ri^hls of all. For it is no declamatory query that we put, when we ask 
you, gentlemen, what safeguard have you lor your liberties, and the liber- 
ties of your children, if you are willing to pollute the pure and eternal 
principles of human liberty by a base admixture of the adventitious cir- 
cumstance of human complexion? What security have you against some 
unexpected distinction which may at some future time arise, and, taking 
precedent in our proscription, sweep away your dearest rights, and most 
highly cherislied prerogatives, as unconcernedly as you would ours? And 
it IS the warrant of history when we say, that thus striking off from us the 
dearest boon — the precious birthright of freemen — that yet, in the course 
of God's providence, the poisoned chalice may be returned to the lips of 
those who departed from their principles, and retributive justice place them 
under severe restrictions and endurable chauis. 

" Whether this may be so or not, political experience, the annals of na- 
tions, clearly teach that there is always danger in departing from clearly 
delined aiid universal truths, and resorting to unjustifiable and invidious 
partialities. We trust that your respected body, in the influence you can 
exert, will not do this. By all humane feeling, by all regard for principle, 
we entreat, do not this great wrong: to us. 

" We have thus protested against this article, and given our reason for 
so doing; and if, in making known our views, we may appear unusually 
earnest, we trust to the candor and enlightenment of your respected body 
in presentmg earnestness of feeling as an extenuation of strength of senti- 
ment and expression. 

"ICHABOD NORTHUP, ] 
" SAMUEL RODMAN, | « Committee in 
"JAMES HAZARD, }behalf of the 

" GEORGE J. SMITH, | people of color:' 
"RANSOM PARKER, J 

When the convention met by adjournment to complete the constitution 
in November, the following conmiunication was made to them, in behalf of 
the " Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society," viz: 

"Providence, November 16, 1841. 

" To the Suffrage Convention : 

"At a late meeting of the Rhode Island Anti Slavery Society, the follow- 
ing resolution was passed, viz: 

'•'■Resolved. That a committee be appointed to go before the suffrage con- 
vention to convene in this city next week, and protest, in the name of the 
abolitionists of this State, against the insertion of the word ' white' in their 
new constitution. 

" We therefore petition your body that we may, either personally or by 
counsel, be heard in the premises. 

"On behalf of the committee: 

"ABRM. WILKINSON." 

This communication was laid on the table by the convention. Subse- 
quently, the convention voted to hear any citizen of the State address them 
on the propriety of striking out the word "white." This was done, but no 
change was wrought in tlie convention. 
S 



114 Hep. No. 546. 

Dnrinof the canvass before the people of the State, on the qnesiion of the 
adoption of this constitution, nearly the whole of the lectures and speeches 
made in opposition to its adoption were made by the abolition society, or 
its members and lecturers — at least it was so published at the time in the 
public papers, and has never, to my knowledge, been denied. 1 will here 
subjoin, from an abolition paper printed at the'time in Providence, some ex- 
tracts, to show where that party stood: 

"ANiNUAL MEETING. 

" The sixth annual meeting of the Rhode Island Anti Slavery Society was 
held in this city, in the Franklin Hall, on the Uih, 12th, and 13th of No- 
vember. It far surpassed in interest, spirit, and numbers, all of its prede- 
cessors. Never before did this State witness such a gathering of free, inde- 
pendent, and self sacrificing spirits. The farmer and the mechanic, the 
merchant and the broker, the manufacturer and the operative, the clerk and 
the teaclier, the lawyer and the printer, the priest and the politician, the old 
and the young, the rich and the poor, male and female, white and colored, 
bond and freed, of all sects and all parties : all these came up h'om the ex- 
treme parts of the State, and co-operated ' i// glorious unity' ioK the ad- 
vancement of our noble enterprise. It was good to be there. The truth 
elicited, and impression made, can never be effaced, 

" The recent base, cowardly, and hypocritical attempt of the suffrage par- 
ty to graduate the rights of man by the complexion of the skin, called out, 
previous to the meeting, a spirited and stirring appeal from the executive 
committee to the abolitionists of the State, to send up large delegations to 
devise ways and means, and mature plans, to meet the approaching crisis. 
That appeal was nobly responded to. It was a glorious opportunity for 
the abolitionists to demonstrate the sincerity of their professions. This 
prompt movement of theirs, if followed up, will cause the Iriends ot the 
slave in this State to be respected. The spirit of Roger Williams was with 
them. Had the old reformer himself been present, he would not have been 
ashamed of his descendants. 

"The unity of sentiments which prevailed, and the deep and strong feel- 
ings which existed during the sessions of this meeting, called to mind those 
delightful gatherings of former days, when the opposition witliout, and the 
burning love of freedom within, caused the hearts of all, 

' Like kiadred drops, lo mingle into one.' 

"Rogers, Foster, and Pillsbury, of New Hampshire, were present. Gar- 
rison, Abby Kelly, Jackson, Collins, Foster, Cole, and Sanderson of Mas- 
sachusetts, were there also. And last, but not least, Frederick Douglass, a 
fugitive from American oppression, was among the number of strangers 
from abroad. All these added not a little to the great interest of the meet- 
ings, 

"After the various committees had been appointed, George L. Clarke, cor- 
responding secretary, read a short but clear and forcible report. A most 
spirited and eloquent discussion was elicited, when a motion was made lo 
adopt this report. Our ecclesiastical relations with the murderous system 
of slavery was fully brought to light, and the influence of the northern 
church in upholding American slavery was. we are confident, made appa- 
rent to every one present. 

" The first evening the hall was crowded to a press, and almost the entire 



Rep. No. 546. Il5 

evening occupied by five colored speakers. We regret that some one was 
not present to report tfieir speeches, which would have done credit both to 
the head and heart of the same number of white speakers. We wish the 
hull had been ten times as large, and all our ' negro haters' could have 
heard them. They would have learned, if they did not know it before, 
that 'the colored man,' as Douglass beautifully expressed it, 'had a head 
to think, a heart to feel, and a soul to aspire to, like other men.' Many left 
the hall that night aslijuiied of their treatment towards tliis oppressed class. 

" The second day the question of suffrage came up; and as the abolitionists 
go for free discussion, all persons friendly or unfriendly to our cause were, 
at the commencement of the first session, invited to participate in the dis- 
cussions. Dr. Brown, and others favorable to the constitution as it now is, 
attempted to justify their selfish policy. This was a golden opportunity to 
show up the wickedness of the course pursued by the suffrage party. Gar- 
rison, Rogers, and others, improved it, and so cut up and mangled the argu- 
ments of Dr. Brown and his colleagues, that from our souls we pitied them. 
They attempted to mend the matter by explanations and apologies, but 
these only called out more terrible rejoinders from their herculean op- 
ponents. 

'• Resolutions condemning the new constitution were unanimously adopted, 
and the executive committee were recommended to call a series of conven- 
tions, and to take the most prompt and efficient measures to defeat the 
adoption of this instrument, and pledged to sustain the committee in carry- 
ing this resolution into effect. 

'' We can spare room for only one more extract from that paper, at this 
time, as follows : 

'• In relation to our opposition to the people's constitution with the word 
'white' out, we will insert a resolution unanimously passed by tlie great 
anti-slavery convention, held in this city the I2th of last month, and is the 
sentiment of abolitionists of Rhode Island: 

'• Resolved, That whenever the people of this State shall be presented 
with a constitution which shall be really based on the truth, ' that all men 
are created iree and equal,' t!ie princi/tles loliich ve profess give the surest 
guaranty that abolitionists will not oppose, but hail it with delight. 

"After this expose, we hope to hear no more about the connexion between 
the suffrage party and abolition." 

1 will here add the proceedings of a meeting held in a village in the 
town of Scituate, during that canvass, as published at the time in the New 
Age, the organ of the suffrage party : 

"Mr. Editor : You are probably aware that a convention was called by 
the anti-slavery meeting in this village on the 7th and 8th instant. The 
lime came, the sun rose, and the sound of the spindle was heard as usual ; 
but the disorganizers were until afternoon minus of a place to hold their 
meeting. Finally, by agreeing that nothing should be discussed but the 
subject of slavery, they were permitted to assemble in the Baptist meeting- 
house. 

^^ Afternoon session — Present : F. Douglass, a colored man, Abby Kelly, 
S. S. Foster, Abel Tanner, and some other speakers, and a few hear- 
ers. Nothing of importance orcurred during the session, which adjourned 
to meet in the same place in the evening. 

" Evening session. — Mr. Foster offered the follovving resolution : 



116 Pep. No. 546. 

^'■Resolved, That the while suffrage constitution, now offered to the people 
of this State for their adoption, is more odious and liateful to the true prin- 
ciples of hberty than the old charter, and cannot receive the support of any 
true republican or christian. 

"Mr. Foster advocated the adoption of the resolution. He said that every 
man who voted for the eonstilution denied that man has natural rights. 

" He said that the rights of the people were safer as they now are, in the 
hands of the minority, thau they would be in the hands of those admitted 
under the constitution ; and that every man who voted for the constitution 
naturally said to the slaveholder, 'Go on and enslave, and murder the soul 
and body of the negro, and we will stand up in your defence ' 

" He referred to the New Age, and said that in (hat sheet they were taunted 
as interlopers from other States. 

"He said that Congress would never sanction the constitution, because it 
was not a republican constitution, and never could be, so long as it did not 
include the whole human family. 

" He said that, under the landholders' constitution, the blacks could obtain 
the right of voting, if industrious, &c., (fcc, (See, of a like nature. 

" F. Douglass, a runaway slave, next took tiie stand. He is a man of some 
natural talent, and I could wish that he was in better company. He evi- 
dently hibored hard to say what his instructors had told him. He followed 
nearly in the same train of argument as those who had preceded him, and 
declared that he was bound by the laws of God to oppose any constitution 
that would be in accordance with the constitution, if I understood him. 

" On his taking his seat, a stranger arose and replied to their reasonings in 
an able manner. He also referred to the principles advocated by the same 
gentlemen in Providence. He was followed by Mr. Allen, of tins village, 
who said that he had been libelled by the speakers, and that he would not 
sit quietly for persons from other States to judge of his and his associates' 
motives. 

"At this stage of the discussion, one of ihe committee of the house stated 
that the house was not engaged for such discussion ; but Mr. Foster again 
got the floor, and declared that he had the floor — he would stand, in or out of 
order, unless the convention decided that they would not hear him. 

"He commenced speaking ; but the house was becoming in confusion, so 
that no one could be heard, and one of the committee who had charge of 
the house declared that the meeting was dissolved, and that no further dis- 
cussion would be held in that house. The fascinating Abby Kelly entered 
the pulpit, and begged that they might have leave to adjourn in order; but 
the committee were determined, and would not even let her have a hearing. 
Thus has ended the convention which was intended to enlighten the people 
of Scituate. 

"A suffrage meeting was immediately called at the hall of the Temperance 
Hotel, which was crowded to overflowing, and addressed by several gentle- 
men with much spirit and propriety, until near 11 o'clock, when tlie meeting 
was dismissed with three cheers for the success thus far of the people's 

RIGHTS." 

I will also refer to the ballots given against the adoption of that constitu- 
tion in the towns of Little Compton, South Kingstown, and other towns. 
The ballots used in those towns are expressive upon this matter. 

Hence I am confident that there was no ground to charge the friends of 
the people's constitution with any purpose or design to aid abolition, nor that 



Rep. No 546. 117 

the reform souo"ht for in adopting a consiitiuion was '• a/< abolition move- 

mcntP 

The people engaged in the cause of political reform in that State under- 
stood, and continue to understand, something about the different races of 
mankind. They then well understood, and they now understand, what is 
the political mea/iing in civil g over itmeiit in this country of Iheuwrd i^eo- 
PLK. They have never contended, aud they never will contend, that it 
means or signifies aliens, Indians, or slaves. 

14. Question by the comniiitee. Have you any other documents or papers 
in your possession, not referred to in your answers, that you deem ol im- 
portance to the investigation of this matter? If you have, please annex 
them to your testimony. 

Answer. 1 have many documents and papers that may be important in 
investigating tliis matter. 

Annexed (marked C) is the' copy of a petition to the General Assembly of 
Riiode Island, and of an act that passed the Senate in February, 1811, to 
extend suffrage. The same ge'Utleman that was the Governor of Rhode 
Island then, is now the Governor. The Governor then was, and now is, 
the presiding officer of the Senate. 

Annexed (marked D) is the copy of a constitution proposed to the /ree- 
Jiolders oi ihixi State in 1824, and rej -cted. This constitution did not e.'^- 
tend suffrage, nor did it eqiiahze representation. 

Also, (marked E,) is an address to the people of Rhode Island from the 
constitutional convention of 1S34. It gives, 1 believe, a true history of the 
legislation of that State upon suffrage under the cliarter. 

Also, (marked F.) is a copy of what is called the landholders' constitution, 
which was rejected in March, 1842. The convention which framed this 
constitution was aidhorizedh^ the General Assembly, upon the petition of 
the town (or of the citizens of the town) of Smithfield, asking for an increase 
of rv present a lion in that town. The petition did not, I believe, ask for any 
extension of the right of suffrage. The resolutions of the Assembly, calling 
the convention, authorized thee invention to frame a constitution, eiXher in 
whole or in. part ^ to be submitted to the freemen. And although, at the 
same session, one or more petitions were presented to extend suffrage, yet 
no allusions were made to them by the committee; and the design of the 
'Charter government evidently was to ioxKnpart of a constitution, and in it 
to make the representation more equal ; for the town of Smithfield was the 
second town in the State in point of population, and it was important un- 
doubted Iv to the riding party in the State not to offend the party sensibili- 
ties of Its inhabitants. 

Also, (marked G,) is a copy of the constitution which the de facto gov- 
ernment ot the State claims now to act under. It is remarkable for nothing 
€xce|)t for the liability, if not for the certainly, of being misunderstood and 
misconsirutid ; especially in the second article^ on the qualification of elec- 
tors. I also refer to article fourth, on the legislative poiver, and par- 
ticularly to the first, tenth, and eighteenth sections of said article. 

To make the oppressions of the charter government more intolerable to 
the people, and to reii^n in perfect dominion, they, in 1842, construed the 
charter to grant power to the General Assembly to declare martial law, or, as 
the charter says, ^'tlie laio martial.'''' This is clearly a mistaken stretch of 
power; for wlien the charter speaks of the law martial, it evidently means 
to confer the power upon the officers in tlie field, or in command, in a state 



lis Rep. No. 546. 

of war ; not legislative bodies nor persons — for the terms '• Ko.nmanders, gov- 
ernors^ and niiliiar y officers'' (ippointed, <5^'c., indicate that that power is to 
be used for the special defence and safety o^ the InhnbitanLs ; and I hey, 
and not the Legislature, are authorized to " uae and exercise the Unv mar- 
tial,^'' (fcc. 

It would seem, then, and it is beheved that the tenth section expressly 
meant to give to the General Assembly the power to put the State under 
martial law whenever they choose, although \he fourth section seems to put 
the military under the civil authority. 

Again : the first act of the General iissembly authorizing this convention^, 
required that a majority of all those qualified to vote under said constitu- 
tion to be framed, should be necessanj for its adoption ; but subsequently, 
after the convention had had one session, and adjourned to meet again, the 
General Assembly, under a pretext of const ruiiiij the first act, passed a 
second one, only requiring that a majority o\ those who voted upon the 
question of its adoption should be necessary to adopt it. This is another 
strong evidence that the charter parly then knew, or was well satisfied, that 
a majority of the people were not with them. This indicates, also, (rather 
strongly too,) that then, at least, they believed and relied very much in the 
power and efficacy of ninjorities in establishing and changing govern- 
ments. 

Also, (marked H,) is a copy of the proceedinos of the convention of the 
State of Rhode Island, holden at Nevv|)ort in May, 1790, which ratified the 
constitution of the United States. Tins, \ apprehend, is an authentic act 
of the legal people of the State. 

tCS^ I would here call the attention of the committee to an act, or bill,. 
which I believe passed one or the other House of Congress just prior to that 
time, by which Rhode Island was to be treated as ?l foreign State. 

Also, (marked I.) is a copy of the report of a committee of the charter 
Legislature, after the defeat of the landholders' constitution. The commit- 
tee consisted entirely of the charter party, and therefore does not give the 
tvhole cause which defeated that instrument. They have only put so much 
into the report as would serve as an apology before the world for the law 
passed at that session, called "An act in relation to offences against tlie 
sovereign power of the State."' 

Marked K are certain resolutions, declaring the object the democratic 
party had in taking part in the election of IS43, under the present constitu- 
tion. The people, in 1843, protested against the present constitution of the- 
State, upon the ground that it was a usurpation ; that it was proposed simul- 
taneously with martial law, and that the delegates to the convention were 
elected under martial law ; and, in fine, that it was established, and ihe 
government under it, by intimidation, proscription, tyranny, and cruelty. 
With these views, amid the grinding powers of a moneyed aristocracy, the 
people (most of them) consented, under their solemn protest, to register their 
names, in hopes, by their exertions, to yet estuhlish that goverumeiit, in a 
peaceable manner, that had been, as they believed, prostrated by the strong 
arm of the executive power of the United Slates. 



Rep. No 546. 



119 



The following table is the vote cast in that State, at difteretit times, up )ii 
this cotisiitutioii-inaking question : 



Towns. 



Providence (city) 
North Providence 
Smithfield 
Cumberland 
Johnston 
Cranston 
Scituate - 
Foster 
Burrillville 
Glocester 
Newport - 
Portsmouth 
New Shore ham • 
Jamestown 
Middletown 
Tiverton 

Little Compton - 
Westerly- 
North Kingstown 
South Kingstown 
Charlestown 
Exeter 
Richmond 
Hopkinton 
Warwick 
East Greenwich - 
West Greenwich 
Coventry 
Bristol 
Warren - 
Barrington 






t- O O) 
o o > 

fa 



1,606 
187 
374 
226 
156 
101 
251 
265 

96 

83 
694 
192 

48 

25 
100 
214 

85 
124 
179 
237 

56 
131 

75 
106 
285 
144 

53 
255 
341 
281 

51 



7,024 






1,406 
150 
334 
210 
148 
156 
280 
251 

52 

59 
730 
204 

94. 

46 
152 
371 
202 
182 
210 
450 

86 
258 
167 
159 
382 
146 
179 
266 
358 
263 

62 



8,013 



a: f/j ^^ 
■^ O o 

< 



2,129 
430 
997 
638 
231 
283 
371 
133 
326 
387 
361 
97 
34 
11 
6 
86 
6 
153 
265 
188 
40 
32 
69 
163 
595 
97 
44 
279 
149 
65 
24 



8,689 



•=Q 



3,556 
683 
1,338 
892 
347 
404 
524 
238 
•283 
402 
1.202 
126 
132 
31 
30 
274 
43 
251 
253 
275 
100 
134 
132 
162 
900 
135 
62 
406 
366 
210 
52 



13,944 



Votes against the Algerine constitution, 51. 

The following table of population, freemen, estimate, &c., was prepared 
by me from the "sarnie source of information as the one prepared by me at 
the request of the Hon. Elisha R. Poller, for the use of the landholders' 

convention. 



120 



Rep. No. 546. 



The copy of the one prepared for that convention, is contained in tlie 
documents in the case of Martin Luther vs. Luther M. Borden and others. 

The remariis appended to this estimate are mine, and are beheved now 
to be true. 

Table of population, freeholders, <^'C. 





o 

00 


^ 

d 


i^ 


If 


Towns. 


c 


s . 

-^ o 


13 !_~ 

ID 


Oj o 
o t 




"3 


0) 


1° 


s^ 




o 
Cu 


ti 


>^ 


^.i 


Providence (city) 


23,172 


5,579 


1,440 


1,610 


North Providence 


4,207 


938 


212 


270 


Smithfield 


9,534 


2,049 


578 


660 


Cumberland 


5,224 


1,195 


364 


405 


Scituate . - - - 


4,090 


966 


368 


395 


Cranston 


2,902 


647 


255 


265 


Johnston 


2,477 


609 


201 


225 


Glocester 


2,308 


591 


272 


295 


Foster . - - - 


2,181 


554 


272 


290 


Burrillville 


1,982 


533 


253 


280 




58,077 


13,761 


4,215 


4,695 


Newport - - - - 


8,333 


1,970 


560 


630 


Portsmouth 


1,706 


447 


176 


185 


Middletown 


891 


220 


80 


95 


Tiverton 


3,183 


787 


255 


290 


Little Compton - 


1,327 


315 


139 


150 


New Shoreham - 


1,069 


244 


103 


135 


Jamestown 


365 


99 


37 


58 




16,874 
3,718 


4,082 


1,350 


1,535 


South Kingstown 


800 


394 


415 


Westerly 


1,912 


423 


173 


195 


North Kingstown 


2,909 


686 


244 


265 


Exeter . - - - 


1,776 


426 


156 


210 


Charlestown 


923 


197 


108 


135 


Hopkinton 


1,726 


376 


193 


205 


Richmond 


1,361 


298 


135 


155 




14,325 


3,206 


1,403 


1,580 



Rep. No. 546. 

TABLE— Continued. 



121 



Towns. 


o 
a 

o 


Free white males 
over 21. 


Zoc 
o — 

■■s| 

394 
357 
156 
134 


u 

C (D 


Warwick 
Coventry- 
East Greenwich - 
West Greenwich 


6,726 
3,433 
1,509 
1,416 

13,08.4 


1,387 
795 
373 
362 


430 
370 
165 
165 




2,917 


1,041 


1,130 


Bristol - - - - 
Warren - - - - 
Barrington 


3,490 

2,438 
549 


794 
800 
124 


306 

235 

71 


320 
250 

80 




6,477 


1,708 


612 


650 




108,837 


25,674 


8,622 


9,590 



We believe the above table, exhibiting the population of the State, the 
number of male adults over 21 years old, the vote cast on the election 
of President Harrison, and the estimate of the freemen of each town and 
city, is as near correct as can be made without a thorouiih investigation. 
We are so sure of its general correctness, that we challenge tlie "Journal" to 
point out — not by assertion, but by facts — any errors. Some towns may be 
over-estimated, and some may be under in the estimate ; but one thing is cer- 
tain — that is, that there never w<>re more (hnii 9,600 qualified votes in the 
State. Great pains have been taken to collect correct information in this 
respect : and we feel satisfied that, if we err any way, it is in over-esti- 
mating the number. On the presidential election in 1840, there was a 
great vote cast, viz: 8,622. This was, by hundreds, the greatest vote ever 
cast in the State, either before or since; and when we know the exertions 
which were made by the successful party to be the banner State — how they 
supplicated their opponents not to be strenuous in investigating the qualifi- 
cations of those who voted on that accoimt — and especially when it was 
well known by the democratic party that no efforts of theirs could be suc- 
cessful in the State — it is not too much to assert, that we believe there were 
nearly as many votes then given in, as thee were honest qualified freemen 
in the State. 

Those who are unacquainted with our State may wonder that some 
towns should have a larger per rentage of its population freemen than 
others. This fact is well understood here. In the populous or maiiufac- 
turing towns, their qualified freettieii are less in proportion to population 
than m those towns or sections where the agricultural interest predomi- 
nates. P'or instance: in Providence, with a population of 23.172, its num- 



122 Rep. No. 546. 

ber of freemen is bin about 1,600, or about 7 per cent. ; wbile in the agri- 
culiural towns it is 10 per cent. 

If the city of Providence contiiins a fair proportion of freemen accordino- 
to its popnhition with the whole State, there would be but about 8,000 in 
the Stale; but this is not so. In the manufacturing: towns, but 7 or 8 per 
cent, of this population have a right to vote ; whereas, in the agricuhural 
towns, 10 percent, enjoy that right. 

In the State tliere are 2.5,674 white male adult citizens over 21 years 
of age; from this number must be deducted, as aUfns, non-compos, insane, 
under ijuardinnship, and criujinals, as many as 3,000, which will leave 
22,674; a majority of which is 11,33S. The people's constitution received 
13,944— leavmg, of the 22.674, 8,730 to be counted as against it. 

I refer the committee to the several laws and resolutions passed and 
enacted by the charier and existing government of lihode Island, from 
January, 1841, to the present time. They, I think, will show a govern- 
ment predisposed to a military despotism — an overbearing aristocracy — a 
fixed purpose to curtail personttl independence and the free exercise of the 
elective franchise. 

At the request of the committee, I annex an irregular copy of the case 
Martin Luther vs. Luther M. Borden and others, now pending in the Su- 
preme Court of the United States. It is not arranged in the form that it 
came up from the court below, but it is believed to be all here — except, per- 
haps, a copy of the rules of the people's House of Representatives. 'J'here 
may also be some derangement in the order in which it is presented here, 
and especially in the defendants' pleas; but the whole material parts of the 
case are in this copy. The oiieriiigs and exhibits are coa)plete, which is 
most material to show the judicial iiistory of this question. 

The exhibits in tliis case are all lettered. I shall only refer to such ones 
as are not more particularly set forth before in my answers. 

B — Report made to the House of Representatives of Rhode Island upon 
the right of suftVage, in June, 1829. The attention of the committee is 
particularly called to this document. 

F — Contains the resolutions passed at a mass meeting of the people held 
at Newport, May 5th, 1841. 

G — Contains the resolutions and proceedings of a mass meeting of the 
people held at Providence on Monday, July 5th, 1841. 

J a, — Is a copy of the call made by the State conniiittee upon the people 
to elect delegates to meet in convention at Providence in October, 1841, to 
form a written constitution. 

J b — Is an address of the State committee to the people upon the object 
of the convention, and upon the necessity of reform. 

O — Is a table of population, representation, estimates, number of votes 
and voters, (fcc., used by the landholders' convention. 

P — Is a cof)y of a document of the Secretary of State of Rhode Island, 
certifying the number of votes polled in said State at the general election 
for ten years, beginning with the year LS32. 

H a, II b,l a, I b, L a, L b — Are exhibits of the proceedings of the Legis- 
lature and House of Representatives of that State upon the subject of con- 
stilutioiis and suffrage since 1841. They are copies from the certified 
copies now on file in this cause in the clerk's office of the Supreme Court 
in Washington. 



Rep xNo 546. 123 

Ps' a — Is ii copy of tlie journal of the Senate under the people's constitu- 
tion, kept by Williaui H. Smith, Secretary of Slate. 

IS (j Is a copy of the journal of the House of Represetitatives inider 

tlie people's constitution. 

i\ c — Are copies of all the acts and resolutions passed by the Legislature 
under the same constitution. 

Also, an agreenietit of the parties in said cause, made by their respective 
counsel, as to what should be done and what should be used on the trial 
thereof. 

I have one or two facts to a^d, th(;y having- been omitted in my answers 
to the questions to which they properly apply. 

In January, 1842, after tlie pt-ople's constitution had rect ived a majority 
of the male adult vo;es of the State, Mr. Atwell, a member of the House 
of Representatives of that State, who was also a member of both conven 
tions, (the people's and the landholders'.) offered a resolution in the House of 
Representatives, that the then government had been changed by the adop- 
tion of the people's constitution, and that said new government onoht to 
go into operation at the time specified in the constitution. This was so 
violently opposed by the charter party, that subsequently Mr. Atwell moved 
a resolution, or motion, that a committee of the House should be appointed 
to investigate the fact whether a majority of the people had voted for the 
constitution or not. This was debated considerably; and it was iheii not 
denied by the charter party, but generally conceded, thai a majority of the 
male adult citizens of tlie State did vote to adopt that constitution ; hut 
tliey denied that the people had a riglit to do so, unless done by a legislative 
permission or request, 'i'his last proposition was indefinitely postponed. 
This session, which Was held in January, 1842, adjourned until March 
following, when they met to officially proclaim the result of the voting 
upon the question of the adoption of the landholders' constitution. When, 
by the report of a committee, it was found that that constitution had been 
rejected, Mr. Atwell, on his own responsibility, as another measure of peace 
and tranciuillity to the State, pro|)osed that the people's constitution should 
be submitted to the people again for adoption, under legislative sanction, 
and that none others should vote upon the question but such as had voted 
upon the landholder.s' constitution. This proposition was voted down by 
a great majority. 

Again: after the people's constitution had been adopted by the people, 
and afier it had been charged that it had been adopted by fraudulent or 
unfair voting, I made inquiry of the Hon. Elishu R. Potter, for my own 
satisfactioii, whether tl^e vote in the county of Washington, where he 
resided, was a fair one. 

His reply to me was, substantially, this : '-It was about as f lir as elections 
usually are." '-You know," he said, "that more or less bad votes will be 
cast at every election; but 1 think the votes given for this (the people's) con- 
stitution are about as fair as common." Afterwards, Mr. Potter repeated 
substantially the same opinion, to another gentleman in my presence. Hence 
I c.mcluded then, that the votes in the county of Washington, given for the 
people's consiilution, were correct; and 1 know of nothing now to change 
that opinion. 

This testimony (much of it) is necessarily inferential and historical ; 
but it IS nevertheless believed by the undcrHgned to be siiiclly true, and 
that it Will '-bear ihe test and scrutiny of tiiiic and IruthJ^ 



124 Hep. No. 546. 

Questions submitled by Mr. Causin, of the committee. 

1. For what reasons, within your knowledge, did Mr. Hohnes become, as 
alleged, the enemy and persecutor of your cause ? and in what acts were the 
etjmity and disposition of Mr, Holmes to persecute your cause, exhibited? 

2. By whom was it " falsely and maliciously," as you believe, asserted on 
the iioor of the House of Representatives, that '• the friends of the people"s 
constitution, in or out of the State of Rhode l.^land," were to plunder the 
banks and ^ther proiierty in the city oi Providence, and to subject the wo- 
men of that city to brutal violence? 

3. Upon what facts, and in reference to v^iom, do you assert that because 
"corporations were not suffered to remain in that omnipotent position they 
had heretofore occupied in tlie State,'' was one great reason why '-the 
American doctrine of popular sovereignty was so repudiated and condemned 
in that Stale by the charter party ?" 

4. What party, or member of a parly, in Rhode Island, ever asserted 
that the "government organs" liecanie possessed of sovereignty — probably, as 
the heirs at lain of the king^ and parliavieiit of Great Britain, who, all 
agree, died in 177(3?" 

5. What was the extent, in what manner exercised, and what the effect, 
of the asserted interference of the executive arm of the United States? 

6. In prescribing the qualifications of voters for the adoption of the peo- 
ple's constitution, what were the requisites to entitle one to vote ? particularly, 
were blacks permitted, by ihe terms of the proposition, to vote on the adop- 
tion of the constitution ? 

To the first explanatory question propounded by Mr. Causin, I answer: 
That 1 do not know the rea^^ons which induced Mr. Holmes to become the 
opponent ot the cause he had before that lent his aid lo. 

To the second question, I answer: That 1 still believe such charges were 
made; and I ground my beliet from veihal information and from reports of 
speeches made upon this question. 1 do not desire to call any names; for 
it is to be hoped that such charges will, on reflection, be retracted. I also 
refer the committee to the report of the speech of the Hon. Henry Y. Cranston, 
in the National Intelligencer of the 9ih of March last — particularly to the 
debate upon this snbj<^ct-as another foundation for what I believe ; from 
which I extract the followiiig: 

"In alluding to the declaration of martial law at the time of the disturb- 
ances ill that State, he said it was that which had saved them from the 
swarms of ruffians from other States that had hung upon the borders of 
the State, ready at the signal of the nine guns, wl^n they should have got 
possession of Providence, of its wealth, of. twenty-two hanks, and of that 
which constituted the greatest wealth of the city, (which he would not 
name.) to have rushed in upon them. Yes, when these 'patriots' should 
have got possession of the city, these armed ruffians — armed with pikes, of 
which he gave a description- and these vagabonds from out of their State, 
were to have rushed in upon them, and to have seized whatever might 
have been seized over the dead bodies of the citizens, if it could have been 
got in no other way. The Slate had been put under martial law, and that 
had saved them, under the providence of God, from entire desolation ; and 
how many parts of this country besides Rhode Island had thereby been 
saved, wliich otherwise would have remained secure but a little longer, 
God only knew. If, in Rhode Island, selected as it had been to be the 



Rep. No. 546. 125 

great 'hattle-fieM of American liberty, because it was a little State, that 
bloody flag had floated in triumpli there, what would have become of New 
York, where could have been mustered at any moment fifty iliousand tuch 
'patriots,' armed with pikes and oilier weapons? Mr. C. could not trust 
himself to talk upon this subject. He felt too much, and he felt because 
he had been a witness — a witness of the whole scene, which would be 
among the last things which his memory would cease to retain." 

To the third question, I answer: That J believe a united action upon the 
Lewislaiure by the corporations, would carry any question, just or unjust, 
reasonable or unreasonable, opitressive or liberal. But had the people's 
constitution gone into operation, the Sth, 9th, lUth, and llth sections of 
the 9th article would have secured the people in a measure. I'iiere- 
fore, from the fact that all the most powerful of these corporations were, 
and now are, opposed to this reform, and also from the fact that I have 
heard those provisions Irequenily condemned, I infer that this is one cause 
why tlie docirme of popular sovereignty was by them repudiated and con- 
demned. 

To the fourth question, 1 answer: "^Phat I have heard it contended by the 
legislative, judicial, and jntlUical organizations in Rhode Island, that the 
sovereignly rested in the institutions of the Slate, and not in the people; 
and I believe other men, belonging to a distinctive party in this country — 
indeed, the greui body of the party themselves — avow this doctrine. But 
that these institutions or organizations received it from the king and par- 
hament at the declaration of American independence, is my own mference. 

To the fifth question, 1 answer: As to tiie extent and the manner the 
executive arm of the United States interfered in this matter, I refer you to 
the documents transmitted to the House by the Executive, and to such 
names, for testimony, as have been furnisiied the conmiittee, of particular acts 
done by the oliicers of the United States. The efitct of this interlerence 
was to discourage and disliearten the people, and to encourage and sustain 
a minority government, odious in itsulf; and I verily believe that, if the 
Executive of the United States liad not interfered with troops and threats, 
the people's constitution would have gone into operation in peace, and 
to the satisfaction of a great majority of the people of that State, and to the 
quiet of the country. 

To the sixth question, I answer by referring the committee to the four 
first sections of the 14th article of the people's constitution, for the qualifica- 
tions of the voters for the adoption of that constitution. By these provis- 
ions, I do not see that blacks were expressly prohibited ; though 1 do not 
know, of my own personal knowledge, that one voted for it — but there may 
have been. 

J. S. HARRIS. 

Washington City, April 24, 1844. 

Then the abovenamed John S. Harris made solemn oath that the fore- 
going testimony, by him subscribed, is, in his belief, true. Before me, 

EDMUND BURKE, 
Chairman Select Committee on Rhode Islatid Memorial. 
April 25, 1844. 



126 Rep No. 546. 

PAPliRS ANNEXED TO THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN S. HARRIS. 

No. 2.— (I.) 

Statk of Rhode Island and Providp:nce Plantations, 
III General Assemblij, March session.., 1842. 

Report of the commiltee on the action of the General Assembly on the sub- 
ject of the constitution. 

The committee to wliom was referred the joint resolution, reqiiirinsr ihem 
to report to this Assembly a stiitement ot all the imftortdtit facts connected 
with the formation and rejection of the consiimtion lately siihmiited lo the 
people of this State for approval or rejection, and also to n^port their opin- 
ion whether any leo;islatioti on said subject is now necessary, and, if any, 
what, — beg leave to report : 

That those wlio have set thems<^lves in opposition to ihe government of 
this State have pretended that it was an aristocrucy. and not republican in 
its form. On the contrary, your committee have no hesitaiion m asserting 
that this State, irom its settlement, has possessed a democratic torm of gov- 
ernment. 

The first charter obtained under the authority of the parlian ent of Eng- 
land in 1043-44, and the last charter obtained in 16(33, from Charles II, 
secured to the people of this Stale the right of self-government. Under 
that form of government, which has descended to us from the patriarchs of 
the colonv, tlie people have enjoyed a degree of civil and reliijious freedom 
which has never been exceeded, and stldom equalled, in any other State. 

This form of government has been fnund sufiicie^nt m peace and in 
war — in times when our people acknowledged allegiance to the crown of 
England, and since the declaration of independence. Under this form of 
government the people of this State became parties to the declaration of 
independence, to the union of the States under the confederatioi]. and to the 
constitution of the United States, under which we have enjoyed so much 
prosperity and happiness. 

The charter ot 16t)3 having fixed the representation of the towns, with- 
out any reference to their subsequent population, the altered circumstances 
of the State have produced an inequality of representation from the towns 
in the House of Representatives, which has created some dissatisfaction in 
that portion of the State which has most increased in population. Within 
the last eighteen years three attempts have been made to form a constUution 
of government for this State, under the sanction of acts of this General 
Assembly. 

These attempts have failed in two instances by the vote of the people — 
in 1824 and in 1842; and by the failure of the convention in 1834 to form 
a constitution. 

This General Assembly has thus manifested a disposition to afford every 
facility to the people of this State, which was necessary to enable them to 
repeal or reform, or remodel, at their pleasure, their fundamental laws. The 
unequal representation of the towns has not therefore influenced this Gene- 
ral Assembly, so as to prevent the action of the freemen at large on this sub- 
ject. And as a further instance of the liberality of this General Assembly, 
in the last attempt that was made to form a cotistitution, the basis of repre- 
sentation in the convention was altered, by an act of the Assembly, so as to 



i 



Rep. No. 546. 127 

render the people more eqiinlly represented in that body which was to form 
the coiistitutioti. 

In the attempts to form a constitution in 1824 and 1834, but very few 
were desirous of chatio-ina^ the freehold qualification for the right of suffrage. 
In the convention of 1824, Mr. Pearce made a motion to extend (he right of 
suffrfige to persons who did not possess a freehold ; which was almost unan- 
imously rejected, three only voting in its favor. In IS:]4 a similar motion 
was made by Mr. Dorr, and but seven voted in its favor. 

At the January session of the General Assembly, 1841, a memorial from 
the town of Smiihfield was referred to a select committee of the House of 
Representatives, of which the Hon. Asher Robbins was chairman, who, in 
behiilf of said coiimittee, reported as follows: 

'•Tiie select committee to whom was referred the memorial of the town 
of Smithfield, praying this General Assembly to 'take the subject of the ex- 
treme iiiequ lity of the present n^piesentation from the several towns under 
consideration, and, in such- manner as seems most practicable and just, to 
correct the evil complained of,' have had the same mider consideration ; 
and the committee, believing that the regular and rightful way of obtain- 
ing the object prayed for, is by a convention of the freemen of the State, 
acting III their sovereign capacity on the suliject. report the following reso- 
lution for adoption : 

'' Resolved by tlu General Asscmb/i/, (tiie Senate concurring with the 
House of Representatives therein,) That it be recommended to the freemen of 
the State, at the several town meetings in April, to instruct their represent- 
atives as to their wishes for a State convention to frame a new constitution 
for this State, in whole or in part, with full power for that purpose." 

Alter some remarks from several members, on motion of Mr. Robbins, on 
the 5t)i of February, 1841, this resolution was recommitted, to report in 
the morning, and tlie report was made the order at the day lor the morrow. 
Un the next day the memorial of the town of Smithfield was tak'en up, and 
the resolution as amended by the committee; and after considerable de- 
bate on the question, whether the freemen should be called upon first to in- 
struct their representatives on the subject ot calling a convention, or 
whether the General Assembly should pass a bill, as heretofore, immediiitely 
for calling a convention, the latter course was adopted. Resolutions were 
then passed by this General Assembly, requesting the freemen to choose, in 
August, delegates to attend a convention to be holden at Providence on the 
first Monday of November, A. 1). 1841, to frame a new constitution for 
this State, either in whole or in part, with full power for this purpose; and 
if only for a constitution in part, that said convention have under their 
especial consideration the expediency of equalizing the representation of 
the towns in the House of Representatives. 

At this January session, printed petitions were presented, signed by about 
six hundred persons in all, as follows : 

To the Hon. the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island : ' 

The undersigned, inhabitants and citizens of the State of Rhode Island, 
would respectfully represent to your honorable body, that they conceive 
that the digtnty of the Slate would be advanced, and the liberties of the 
citizen better secured, by the abrogation of the charter granted unto this 
State by King Charles the Second of Hngland, and by the establishment of 
a constitution which should more effectually define the authority of the 



128 Rep. No. 546. 

executive and legislative branches, and more strongly recognise ihe ri^lits 
of the citizens. Your petitioners would not take the liberty of suggestinic 
to your honorable body any course which should be pursued, but would 
leave the whole affair in your hands, trusting to the good sense and dis- 
cretion of the General Assembly. 

Your petitioners would further represent to the General Assembly, that 
they conceive that an extension of suffrage to a greater portion of the white 
male residents of the State would be more in accordance with the spirit of 
our institutions than the present system of the State; and for such an exten- 
sion they ask. 

Your petitioners would not suggest any system of suffrage, but would 
leave the matter to the wisdom of the Gerieral Assembly. 

Upon both the prayers of your petitioners they would ask the immediate 
and efficient action of the General Assembly; and, as in duty bound, will 
ever pray. 

[Signed by Elisha Dillingham, and about 5S0 others.] 

The prayer of these petitions was answered by the action of the Assembly 
on the Smithfieid memorial. Any extension of the right ot suffrage was 
most proper for the people acting by their delegates in convention. Such 
a convention the General Assembly had every reason to believe would be 
formed under the resolutions which tliey had adi^pted. 

At the last May session of this General Assembly, Mr. Mowry, of Smith- 
field, submitted a resolution, that the resolution for a convention to form a 
constitution for the State be amended, so as to elect the members in pro 
portion to the number of delegates the towns would severally be entitled 
to according to the last census, not exceeding six to one town. 

Mr. Atwell then said (If he has been reported correctly) that, In connexion 
with the resolution, he would call for the petition of Khslia Dillingham and 
others, for extending suffrage, presented at the last session ; as he thought, 
when settling as to how n;any delegates should be elected, we should 
inquire as to who should elect those delegates. 

Mr. Ames advocated the passage of Mr. Mowry's resolution. 

The resolution of Mr. Mowry was adopted by the House, by a vote of 
48 to 20. 

The next day Mr. Atwell presented a bill which he had been requested 
to offer, as meeting the views of a large portion of our citizens. It provided 
for a new apportionment of representation, and an extension of suffrage m 
choosing delegates for the convention to frame a constitution. 

Mr. Atwell (according to the published report) said he was not then pre- 
pared to say he could go the length the friends of the bill proposed. He 
wished the bill read, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, to re- 
port in June ; and the bill was so disposed of. 

At the last June session, (according to the published account,) Mr. Atwell 
made a minority report from the Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was 
referred the act sent to the House as aforesaid. The substance of the report 
was, that every white male citizen of the United States, over 21 years of 
age, who has resided in this State two years, and In the town or city where 
he is to vote for six months next preceding the town meeting, and who has 
paid a tax on real estate or personal property for one year previous to the 
time of voting, shall be allowed to vote for the choice of delegates to the 
convention appointed by the General Assembly to meet in November next, 



Rep. No. 546. 129 

for the purpose of fonnins: .1 consiitution, excepi p-ersons insane, under 
guardianj-liip, and convicts. 

There was much debate in the House, arrowing out of this report; some 
denying the power of the House to pass such an act; others admitting 
the power of the House, but denying its propriety. The report was de- 
fended as to the power of the Assembly, and the propriety of such an act. 
On the question, fifty two voted against the act proposed by Mr. Atwell, and 
ten in its favor. 

Mr. Spencer, who voted against the act, said that the proper course for 
those who wished for an extension of suffrage is to go to tfie convention 
appointed for the purpose of considering that subject with others ; and if 
they found no redress there, then the proper course would be to come here. 

This course, so plain and proper, was not adopted ; on the contrary, 
measures were taken to extend suffrnge by the act of those who, by law, 
were not eniiiled to suffrage, by a movement revolutionary in its character, 
and without any such necessity or oppression as must exist to justify revo- 
lution. 

The refusal of the General Assembly to extend the right of electing dele- 
ofates to the convention, to persons who were not quahfied electors by the 
fundamental laws of the State, has been alleged as a justification for the 
convention which formed what they have been pleased to term the people's 
constitution. 

xMeasures, however, were taken before the June session, by the friends of 
the sutTrage movement, to organize a convention by their own authority. 

In May last, at a large meeting in Newport, under the auspices of the 
suffrage association, measures were taken for calling a convention of the 
people, without any regard to the fundamental laws of this State, which, 
f<)r nearly two hundred years, have required the possession of a freehold to 
entitle a person lo be admitted to the exercise of political power, and to be 
a member of the body p(thtic and corporate. A portion of the people re- 
sponded to the call of this unauthorized body, and met in the several towns 
to choose delegates to a convention to form a constitution for this State, to 
be holden at Providence October 9, 1S41. 

This was in anticipation of the lawful convention, which was to meet on 
the first Monday of November last. 

Tlie unauthorized convention assembled in Providence nt the time ap- 
pointed. They were the delegates of a minority of the people, in whatever 
sense the word "people" may be understood. A small portion of the free- 
holders joined in this irregular election ; and, although all persons were ad- 
mitted to vote who chose, not more than about seven thousand two hundred 
votes gave any appearance of sanction to this convention. The number of 
white male citizens of the United States resident in this State, over 21 years 
of age, exceeds 22,000. 

Such was the authority upon which this convention assembled and pro- 
ceeded to act. It has been generally supposed that this convention pro- 
ceeded simply without law, and not against law ; but as they assumed the 
authority which, under the laws of this State, was to be exercised by an- 
other convention, chosen by the freemen for that purpose, they acted in op- 
position to the law under which the lawful convention was called, in vio- 
lation of the right which belonged to the legally qualified electors, to make 
a constitution for this State ; and their doings were not only without law, 
but against laio. 
9 



130 Rep. No. 546. 

This unlawful convention, elected by a minority of the people, proceeded 
to the solemn work of forming a constitution to be proposed to the people of 
this Stiite, and also exercised one of the most important powers of sove- 
reignty ; of tlieir own authority, they decid('d what portion of the people 
should, and what portion should not, vote upon the adoption or rejection of 
the constitution. At meetings liolden under their authority, their constitu- 
tion was submitted to those whom they pleased to recognise as the people. 
It was voted for, during three days, in open meetings ; and three days by 
votes collected from all quarters, by any person or persons, and brouo;ht to 
the pretended moderator, and with no opportunity for detection of frauds. 
Votes thus collected and counted, by their own mode of computation, they 
have declared to have been given by a majority of the people; and, by the 
same usurped authority, have proclaimed their constitution to be the supreme 
law of this State. 

The lawful convention met at the time appointed, on the first Monday of 
November last. On the question of suffrage, they decided to admit persons 
to vote who did not possess a freehold qualification. They decided not to 
admit, in future, the eldest sons of freeholders as qualified voters. On the 
question, what personal property qualification would be required? there 
were three propositions : one proposing five hundred, another three hun- 
dred, and anotlier two hundred dollars. Tlie vote beiiiij taK'en on the 
largest sum first, it was decided in favor of this. On further reflection, it 
was ascertained that rejectmg the eldest sons, and requiring a personal 
property qualification of the value of five hundred dollars, would not be an 
extension, but a diminution of the number entitled to vote. At this period 
of their deliberations the convention adjourned, to meet again on the 14th 
of February, to ascertain the sentiments of their constituents on this funda- 
mental question. Before this time, however, the suffrage convention com- 
pleted their work, and declared their constitution the supreme law. At the 
session of this General Assembly, in January last, they communicated their 
constitution and their declaration to the General Assembly. At the com- 
mencement of the January session, Mr. Atwell, who had been a member of 
the suffrage convention, introduced an act reciting the fact of the adoption 
of the suffrage constitution by a majority of the people, and its having be- 
come the supreme law, and requiring tliis General Assembly to yield up its 
authority to the new government which was to be formed under it. 

This step being found too bold to meet with any countenance in this As- 
sembly, he afterwards made a motion to inquire how many of the legally 
qualified voters in the State had voted for this constitution. This motion 
did not prevail. The Legislature was not disposed to sanction, in any 
manner, the doings of this convention, or the voting under their authority. 
The following resolutions were then passed by the General Assembly, with 
much unanimity — but seven voting against them : 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

In Getieral Assembly, Jammry sess^ion, A. D. 1842. 
Whereas a portion of the people of this State, without the forms of law, 
have undertaken to form and establish a constitution of government for the 
people of this State, and have declared such constitution to be the supreme 
law, and have communicated such constitution unto this General Assembly: 
and whereas many of the good people of this State are in danafer of beino 
misled by these informal proceedings: therefore, 



Rep. No. 546. 131 

it is hereby resoloed hy this General Assembly, That all acts done by 
the persons aforesaid, for the purpose of imposing upon this State a consti- 
tution, are an assumption of the powers of government, in violation of the 
rights of the existing government, and of the rights of the people at laro-e. 

Resolved, Tiiat the convention called and organized in pursuance of an 
act of this General Assembly, for the purpose of firming a constitution to be 
submitted to the people of this State, is the only body which we can recog- 
nise as authorized to form such a constitution; and to this constitution the 
whole people have a right to look, and we are assured they will not look in 
vain, for such a form of government as will promote their peace, security, 
and happiness. 

Resolved, That this General Assembly will maintain ils own proper 
authority, and protect and defend the legal and constitutional rights of the 
people. 

True copy: — Witness, 

HENRY BO WEN, Secretary. 

This General Assembly, though they considered this pretended constitu- 
tion as a nullity, yet were disposed to consider the number of persons who 
had voted for it as expressive of an opinion in the community that the 
right of suffrage should be very liberally extended. A bill was introduced 
into the Legislature, providinof for such an extension of suffrage as was af- 
terwards adopted by the legal convention. It was, however, deemed im- 
proper, by many, that this should be done by the General Assembly, and 
especially as the freemen had already sent delegates to a convention to de- 
cide upon this matter. As a substitute for this lull, and with a view to con- 
ciliation, the following act was passed : 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

In General Assembly, January session, A. D. 1842. 

AN ACT in amendment of an act entitled "An act revising the act entitled 'An act regulating 
the (TiRnner of admitting freemen, and directing the method of electing officers in this 

Slate.' " 

Whereas the good people of this State having elected delegates to a con- 
vention to form a constitution ; which constitution, if ratified by the people, 
will be the supreme law of tlie State: therefore. 

Be H enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 

All persons now qualified lo vote, and those who may be qualified to vote 
under the existing laws previous to the time of such their voting, and all 
persons who shall be qualified to vote under the provisions of such con- 
stitution, shall be qualified to vote upon the question of the adoption of said 
constitution. 

True copy : Witness, 

HENRY BOWEN, Secretary. 

The legally authorized convention met at the time to which they had 
adjourned, (the 14th of February,) finished their work, and submitted their 
constitution to the people, to be voted upon on the 2Ist, 22d, and 23d of 
March, 1842. The provisions of this constitution extended the riaht of 
suffrage to every while male native citizen of the United States, of the ao-e 
of 21 years, who has resided in this State two years, and in the town or city 
where he offers to vote six months next preceding his voting, exceptino- 



132 Rep. No 546. 

lunatics, paupers, &c.; and to such naturalized citizens as possessed such 
freehold qualification as has been heretofore required for all citizens, on a 
residence o( three years in this State after their naturalization, and six 
months in the town or city in which they offer to vote, next preceding the 
time of voting. 

This extension was as liberal to all native-horn American citizens, as that 
granted by the (so called) " people's constitution," except that two years' resi- 
dence was required instead of one. It was a further extension than was 
contemplated by the bill already mentioned, introduced by Mr. Atwell. at 
the June session. 

In relation lo those who were born in foreign countries, it was not 
deemed prudent that they sliould 1 e admitted to the right of suffrage as 
freely as the native-born citizen, and not until, by a longer residence, and 
a freehold qualification, there was such "evidence of permanent common 
interest with, and attachment to, the community," as would render it safe 
to extend to them this most important right. 

It was to have been expected that the native-born citizens of the United 
States, resident among us, who have been so desirous of an extension of suf- 
fra<7e, would have accepted this constituiion in the same spirit of conciliation 
and compromise witii which it was offered them. Many have done so; 
and many more would have done so, if pains had not been taken by their 
interested leaders to pledge them to vote against this constitution before it 
was ever formed. And many have said that they would not vote for it, if it 
had been word for word like their own. 

Such a spirit is beyond the reach of conciliation or compromise. Nothing 
can satisfy such men but a triumph over the law, and a prostration of the 
government to their unhallowed purposes. 

By a small majority (076) the constitution has been rejected. We have 
no doubt many voted against it from their attachment to ihe freehold quali- 
fication. Some voted against it, because the colored people were not placed ' 
on the sameplaiform wiih white men ; others, because ihey considered the 
representation in the Legislature unequal ; and we have reason lo believe 
that many voted against it. bemg deceived by the grossest misre|)resenta- 
tions, and having been told they would lose, if this constitution was adopted, 
certain rights and privileges to which they were well known to be much 
attached. 

We have seen, on the part of a portion of the free suffrage men, a zeal in 
opposition to this constitution, which offered to them more than they origin- 
ally asked, that cannot be accounted for upon the principles of interest and 
prudence which govern men in ordinary times. With them, the contest has j 
ceased to be for principle ; it has become a contest for power ; — not for power 
under ordinary circumstances, for the honors or emoluments of office under 
the same laws and the same government, but a contest for power, in violation 
of every righteous principle, to the destruction of all law, and all legitimate 
government. 

"We cannot for a moment doubt on which side all good citizens will array 
themselves, when such a contest is brought m that issue, which is threaten- 
ed by those resolutions these deluded men have already passed, •' That they 
will support their constitution ' by all necessary n:eans, and repel force by 
force.' " 

The duty of the government is most plain. We are required to protect 
the citizen by legislation when the laws are defective, to warn the deluded 



Rep. No. 546. 133 

hew they act in violation of the hiws, and to exert tlie means put into our 
hands to vindicate the ri^fus of the govermnent, and to guard the peace 
and happiness of the State. 

Wiih this view, your committee recommend the passage of a bill here- 
with presented, which, in their opinion, is necessary to meet the exigency 
of til^^ tunes. Your committee also recommend the passage of the following 
resolutions: 

Rrsdlver/j That his excellency the Governor be requested to issue his 
proclamation to the good peofile of tliis Slate, exhorting them to give no 
aid or countenance to those who, in violation of the law, may attempt to 
set up a government in opposition to the existing government of this State, 
and calling upon them to support the constituted authorities for the preserva- 
tion of tlie piiMic peace, and in the execntioii of those laws on which the 
security of all depends. 

Resolved, That his excellency the Governor be, and he is hereby, 
authorized to adopt such measures as, in his opinion, may be necessary, in 
the recess of this Lej^islature, to execute the, laws and preserve the State 
from domestic violence; and that he be, and is hereby, authorized to drav/ 
on the general treasurer for such sums as may be required for these pur- 
poses. 

fit-solved, That this report, and tlie act accompanying, entitled "An act 
in relation to offences against the sovereign power of the State," be pub- 
lish;-:d in all the newspapers in this State; that ten thousand copies be 
primed in pamphlet form ; and that the Secretary of State cause the same 
to be forthwith distributed in the several towns of this State and the city of 
Providence; and that five copies of the same be sent to the Governor of 
each State, and a copy each to. the President, Vice President, members of 
the Cabinet,, Senators, and members of the House of Representatives of [he^ 
United States, 



AN ACT in relation to offences against the sovereign power of the State. 

Whereas, in a t>ee government,' it is especially necessary that the duties 
of the citizen to the cons'ituted authorities sliould be plainly defined, so that 
none may confound our regulated American liberty with unbridled license : 
and whereas certain designing persons have, for some time past, been busy 
with false pretences amongst tlie good people of this State, and have framed, 
and are now endeavoring to carry through, a phm for the subversion of our 
govermnent, under assumed forms of law, but in plain violation of the first 
princi})les of constitutional right, and many have been deceived thereby: 
and whi reas this General Assembly, at the same time that it is desirous to 
awaken the hoiK'st and well meaning to a sense of their duty, is resolved, 
by ail necessary means, to guard the safety and honor of the State, and, 
overlookniij what is past, to punish such evil doers in future, in a manner 
due to their offences : 

Be it ai'icied by the General Assenildi/ (is/olUnrs . 

Section 1. All town, ward, or other meetiuirs of the freemen, inhabit 
ants, or residents of tliis State, or of any portion of the same, for the elec- 
tion of any town, citv, ward, county, or State officer or officers, called or 



134 Rep. No 546. 

held in any town of this State, or in the ciiy of Providence, except rn the 
manner, for the purposes, at the times, and by the freemen, by lixw prescri- 
bed, are illegal and void ; and any person or persons who shall act as mode- 
rator or moderators, warden or vvardens, clerk or clerks, in such pretended 
town, ward, or other meetings hereafter to fe held, or in any name or man- 
ner receivfe, record, or certify votes for the election of any pretended town, 
city, ward, county, or state officers, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemean- 
or, and be punished by indictment, wiih a fuie not exceeding one thousand, 
nor less than five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned for the term of six 
months: Provided, hoivever, That this act is not intended to apply to cases 
in which, by accident, or mistake, some prescribed form or forms of calling 
town or ward meetings of the freemen of the several towns of this State 
and of the city of Providence, shall be omitted or overlooked. 

Sfx. 2. Any person or persons who shall, in any manuer, signify that 
he or they will accept any executive, legislative, judicial, or ministerial of- 
fice or offices, by virtue of any such pretended elections in any such pre- 
tended town, ward, or other meeting or meetings, or shall knowingly suffer 
or permit his or their name or names to be used as a candidate or candi- 
dates therefor, shall be adjudged guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor, 
and be punished by indictment in a fine of two thousand dollars, and be 
imprisoned for the term of one year. 

Skc. 3. If any person or persons, except such as are duly elected thereto 
according to the laws of this State, shall, under any pretended constitution 
of government for this State, or otherwise, assume to exercise any of the 
legislative, executive, or ministerial functions of the offices of Governor, 
Lieutenant Governor, Senators, members of the House of Representatives, 
Secretary of State, Attorney General, or General Treasurer of this Slate, or 
within the territorial limits of the same, as the same are now jjctnally held 
and enjoyed, either sepiuately or collectively, or shall assemble for the pur- 
pose of exercising any of said functions, all and every such exercise of, or 
meeting for the purpose of exercising all, any, or either of said functions, 
shall be deemed and taken to be a usurpatmn of the sovereign power of this 
State, and is hereby declared to be treason against the State, and shall be 
punished by imprisonment during life, as is now by law prescribed. 

Sec. 4. All offences under this act shall be triable before the supreme 
judicial court only. Any person or persons arrested under the same, and' 
also for treason against the State, may be imfirisoned or held in custody for 
trial in the jail of such county of the State as the judge or justice issuing 
the warrant may order or direct; and the sheriff, or other officer charged 
with the service of such warrant, shall, without regard to his precinct, 
have full power and authority to take such person or persons, and him or 
them to commit to any county jail in this State which maybe designated by 
such judge or justice ; and it shall be the duty of all sheriffs, deputy slieriifs, 
town sergeants, constables, and jailers to govern themselves accordingly. , All 
indictments under this act, and also all indictments for treason against this 
State, may be preferred and found in any county of this State, without re- 
gard to the county in whicli the offence was committed ; and the supreme 
judicial court shall have full power, for good cause, from time to time to re- 
move for trial any indictment which may be found under this act, or or 
treason against the State, to such county of the State as they shall deem 
best, for the purpose of ensuring a fair trial of the same; and shall, upon 
the conviction of any such oirender or ofienders, have full power to order, 



Hep. No. 546. 135 

t-und from time to time to alter, the .place of imprisonment of stich offender 
or offenders, to such county jail within this State, or lo the State's prison, 
as to them shall seem best for the safe custody of such offender or offenders 5 
any act, law, or usage to the contrary, notwithstanding. 



Secretary's Office, April i, 1842. 
I'he foregoing is a true copy of the report of the committee, with the 
resolutions and act passed by the General Assembly thereon. 

Witness: HHNRY BOW EN, Secretary. 



No. 3.— (P.) 

Confttiiution of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, as 
adopted by the convention assembled at Providence^ November, 1841. 

We, the people of the State of Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations, 
do ordum and establish this constitution for the government thereof. 

ARTICLE I. 

Declaration of certain constitutional rights and principles. 

In order effectually to secure the religious and political freedom estab- 
lished here by our venerated ancestors, and to preserve the same for their 
posterity, wd» do declare that the inherent, essential, and unquestionable 
rii^hts and principles hereinafter mentioned, among others, shall be estab- 
lished, maintained, and preserved, and shall be of paramount obligation in 
all legislative, judicial, and executive proceedings. 

Section I. Every person within this State ought to find a certain reme- 
dy, by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which he may 
receive in his person, property, or character. He ought to obtain right and 
justice freely and without being obliged to purchase it, completely and with- 
out denial, promptly and without delay, conformably to the laws. 

Sec. 2. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, papers, and 
possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be viola- 
ted ; and no warrant shall issue, but on complaint in writing, upon probable 
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and describing, as nearly as may 
be, the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

Sec, 3. No person shall be holden to answer for a capital or other in- 
famous crime, unless on presentment or indictment by a grand jury, except 
in cases of impeachment, or such offences as are usually cognizable by a 
justice of the peace ; or, in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in 
the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger. No 
person shall be tried after an acquittal, for the same offence. 

Si'X'. 4. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel punishments inflicted ; and all punishments ought to be propor- 
tioned to the offence. 

Si:c. 5. All persons imprisoned ou'.jht to be bailable by sufficient sureties, 
unless for capita! offences, when the proof is evident, or the presumption 



136 Rep. No. 546. 

great. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be saspended, 
unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety shall re- 
quire it; nor ever, without the authority of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 6. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the privilege 
of a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury; to be informed of the 
nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses 
against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining them in his favor; 
and to have the assistance of counsel in his defence, and be at liberty to 
speak for himself; nor shall he be deprived of life, liherjy, or properly, un- 
less by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land. 

Sec. 7. The" person of a debtor, where there is not strong presumption 
of fraud, ought not to be continued in prison after be shall have delivered 
up his property for the benefit of his creditors, in such manner as shall be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 8. ^o ex post f ado law, or law impairing the obligation of con- 
tracts, shall be made. 

Sec. 9. No man, in a court of comtnon law. shall be compelled to give 
evidence criminating himself. 

Sec. 10. Every man being presumed innocent until pronounced guilty 
bv the law, all acts of severity that are not necessary to secure an accused 
person shall be repressed. 

Sec. 11. The right of trial by jury sliall remain inviolate. 

Sec. 12. Private property shall noi be taken for public uses, without just 
compensation. 

Sec. 13. The citizens shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise the 
rights of fishery, and all other rights to whicli they have been heretofore 
entitled under the charter of this State, except as is herein otherwise pro- 
vided. # 

Sec. 14. The military shall always be held in strict subordination to the 
civil authority. 

Sec. 15. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, 
without the consent of the owner ; nor in time of war, but in manner to be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 16. The liberty of the press beinii essential to the security of free- 
dom in a State, any person may publish his sentiments on any subject, 
being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and in all trials for libel, 
both civil and criminal, the truth, unless publii-hed from malicious motives, 
shall be a sufficient defence to the person charged. 

Sec. 17. The citizens have a right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble 
for their common good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of 
government for reciress of grievances, or other purposes, by petition, address, 
or remonstrance. 

Sec. 18. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be in- 
Iringed. 

Sec. 19. Slavery shall not be tolerated in this State. , 

Sec. 20. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free, and all 
attempts to influence it, by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil 
incapacitations, tend to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness : and 
whereas a principal object of our venerable ancestors, in their migrations 
to this country, and their settlement of this State, was, as they exfiressed it, 
to hold forth a lively experiment, that a flourishing civil state may stand, 
and be best maintained, with full liberty iu religious coiicernuients : we. 



Rep. No. 546. 137 

therefore, declare that no man f^luill be compelled to frequent or support 
any religions worship, place, or ministry whatever ; nor entorced, re- 
strained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor disqualified from 
holduiCT any office, nor otherwise suffer, on account of his rehiiious belief; 
and that all men shall be free to profess, and by aroument to maintain, their 
opinion in matters of religion ; and that the same shall in nowise diminish, 
enlarge, or affect their civil capacities. 

Skc. 21. The enumeration of the foregoing riglitsshall not be construed 
to imi'air or deny others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE II. 
Of the right oj suffrage. 

Skction. I. Every person who is now a freeman, and qualified votc-r, 
shall continue to be so, so long as he retains the qualifications upon which 
he was admitted. 

*Sec. 2. Hereafter, every white male native citizen of the United States, 
or any territory thereof, of the full age of twenty one years, who shall have 
had his actual permanent residence and home in this State for the period 
of one year, and in the town or city in which he may cbiim a right to vote 
six months next preceding the time of voting, and shall be seized in his 
own right of a freehold real estate in sucli town or city, of the value at 
least of fine hundred and thirty-four dollars over and above all incum- 
brances, shall, therefrom, have a right to vote in the election of all civil 
officers, and on all questions in all legal town or ward meetinos. 

Skc 3. Every white male native citizen of the United Siatps, or any 
territory tht^of, of tiie full age of twenty one years, who shall have had 
his actual permanent res^idence and home in this State for the period of two 
years, and in the town or city in which he may claim a right to vote six 
months next preceding the time of voting, shall have a right to vote in ifie 
election of all civil officers, and on all questions in all legal town or ward 
meetings: Provided, hoivever, That no person who is not now a freeman 
shall be allowed to vote upon any motion to impose a tax, or incur expen- 
ditures in any town or city, unless he possess the freehold qualification re- 
quired by this article, or shall have been taxed on property valued at least 
at one hundred and fit^ty dollars, within one year from the time lie may 
offer to vote, and shall have paid such tax in said town or city. 

Si-:c. 4. Any white male, native of any foreign country, of the full age 
of twenty one years, naturalized in the United Slates according to law, 
who shall have had his actual permanent residence and home in this State 
for the period of three years alter his naturalization, and in the town or 
city in which he may claim a right to vote six months next preceding the 
time of voting, and shall be seized in his own right of a freehold real 
estate, in such town or city, of the value at least of one hundred and 
thirty fi>ur dollars over and above all incumbrances, shall, therefrom, have 
a riiiht tovote in the election of all civil officers, and in all questions in all 
town or ward in,eetings. R it no person in the military, naval, marine, or 
any oilier service of the United States, shall be considered as having the 
required residence by re;*son of being employed m any garrison, biirrack, 
or military or naval siation in this State. And no pauper, lunatic, or per- 
son lion cot/ipos mentis^ or under gnurdianship, shall be permitted to vote; 



138 Rep. No. 546. 

nor shall any person convicted of any crime deemed infamous at common 
law, be permitted to exercise that privilege until he be restored thereto by 
the General Assembly. Persons residing-"on land ceded by this State to the 
United States shall not be entitled U) exercise the privilege of electors during 
such residence. 

Sec. 5. The General Assembly shall, as soon as may be after the adop- 
tion of this constitution, provide for the registration of voters; and shall also 
iiave full power generally to enact all laws necessary to carry this article 
into eflect, and to prevent abuse and fraud in voting. 

Sec. 6. All persons entitled to vote shall be protected from arrest in civil 
case^^, on the days of election, and on the day preceding and the day fol- 
lowing an election. 

Sec. 7. In the city of Providence, and all otlier cities, no person shall 
be eligible to the office of mayor, alderman, or common councilman, who 
is not qualified to vote upon a motion to impose a tax or incur expenditures 
as herein provided. 

Sec. 8. The General Assembly shall have power to provide, by special 
or general laws, for the admission of any native male citizen of the United 
States, or any Territory, who shall have had his permanent residence and 
home in this State for two years, but wlio is not otherwise qualified under 
this article, to vote on such conditions as they may deem proiier, except for 
taxes and expenditures. 

ARTICLE III. 

OJ the distribution of powers. 

The powers of the government shall be distributed into l^iree distinct 
branches — the legislative, executive, and judicial. 

ARTICLE IV. 
Of the legislative pfAoer. 

Skction 1. This constitution shall be the supreme law of the State ; and 
ail laws inconsistent therewith shall be void. The (ieneral Assembly shall 
pass all sucli laws as are necessary to carry this constitution into effect. 

Sec. 2. The legislative power, under this constitution, shall be vested in 
two distinct houses, or branches, each of which shall have a negative on 
the other: the one to be styled the Senate, the other the House of Repre- 
sentatives; and botfi together, the General Assembly. The style of their 
laws shall be : It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows. 

Sec. 3. There shall be one session of the General Assembly holden 
annually at iNewport, on the first Tuesday of May ; and one other annual 
session, to be holden on the last Monday of October, once in two years, at 
South Kingstown ; and the intermediate years, alternately at Bristol and 
East Greenwich ; and the adjviurnment from the October session shall be 
holden at Providence. 

Sec. 4. No member of the General Assembly shall take any fees, or be 
of counsel in any case pending before either branch of the General Assem- 
bly, under penalty of forfeiting his seat, upon due proof thereof to the 
satis.fiiction of tlie branch of which he is a member. 



Rep. No. 546. 139 

Sp:c. 5. The person and estate of every member of the General Assembly 
shall be free and exempt from all process in any civil action dnring tlie 
session of the General Assembly, and for two days before the commence- 
ment and after the termination thereof. And all process served contrary 
hereto shall be void. And lor any speech in debate, m either House, no 
member shall be questioned in any other place. 

Sec. 6. Eacli House shall be the judi:e of the elections and qualifications 
of its members ; and a majority shall conslituie a quorum to do business ; 
but a smaller numl)er may adjourn Irom day to day. and may compnl the 
attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, 
as each House may prescribe. 

Sec. 7. Each House may determine the rules of proceed in tr, punish con- 
tempts, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concur- 
rence ot two thirds, expel a member; but not a second time for the same 
cause. 

Sec. 8. Each House shall keep a journal of its j)roceedings. The yeas 
and nays of the members of eiiher House shall, at the desire of one fifth of 
those present, be entered on the journal. 

Sec. 9. Neither House shall, durinof a session, witliout the consent of the 
otlier, adjourn for more tb.an two days, nor to any other place than that in 
which they may be sitting. 

Sec. H). The General Assembly shall continue to exercise the judicial 
power, the power of visiting corporations, and all other powers they have 
heretofore exercised, not inconsistent with this constitution. 

Sec. 11. The General Assembly shall regulate the compensation of tlie 
Governor and other oflicers elected by general ticket, or by the General 
Assembly, and of the members of the General Assembly, subject to the 
limitations contained in iliis constitution. 

Sec. 12. All lotteries shall hereafter be prohibited in this State, except 
those already authorized by the General Assembly. 

Skc. 13. The General A.ssembly shall have no power, hereafter, to incur 
State debts to an amount exceeding fifty thousand dollars, except in time 
of war, or in case of invasion, witliout the express consent of the people; 
nor ill any case, without such consent to plediije the faith of the Slate for 
the payment of the obligations of others. 'This section shall not be con- 
s r led to refer to any money that may be deposited with this Stale by the 
Governinent ol the United States. 

Sec. 14. The assent of two-ihirds of the members elected to each branch 
of the General Assembly sfiall be required to every bill af)propriating the 
public moneys, or property, for local or private purposes. 

Sec. 15. The General Assembly shall, from time to time, provide for 
making new valuations of property, for the assessment of taxes, in such 
manner as they may deem best. No direct State tax shall be assessed on 
ttie rat:ible property of the Stale, before a new estimate of sucli property 
shall be taken. 

Sec. 16. Whenever a direct tax is laid by the State, one sixih part thereof 
shall be assessed on the polls of the qualified electors: provided that the 
tax on a poll shall never, in any one tax, exceed the sum of fifty cents. 

Sec. 17. The General Assembly may provide by law for (he continuance 
in ollice of any officers of annual appoiiitment, uiili! other persons are 
qualified to take their places. 



140 Rep No. 546. 

ARTICLE V. 
Of I he House (if Rqirtseii.tativts. 

Section 1. The House of Representatives shall consist of members 
elected by the electors of" the several towns and cities in the respective town 
and ward meetings, Each town or city huviny; four thousand inliabitants, 
and under six thousand five hundred, siiall be eniiiled to elect three Repre- 
sentatives ; each town or city having- six thousand five hundred inhaliitants, 
and under ten thousand, shall be entitled to elect four Representatives ; 
each town or city havmtr ton thousand inhabitants, and under fourteen 
thousand, shall be entitled to elect five Representatives ; each town or city 
havinjr fourteen thousand inhabitants, and under eighteen tliousand, shall 
be entitled to elect six Representatives ; each town or city having eighteen 
thousand inhabitants, and under twenty two thousand, shall be entitled to 
eleet seven Rej)re.senta ives ; each town or city having over twenty two 
thousand inhabitants, shall be entitled to elect eight Repre-eniatives. But 
no town or city shall be entitled to elect more than eight Representatives, 
and every town or city shall be entitled to elect two. Tiie representation 
of the several towns and cities in this State shall be apportioned agreeable 
to the last census of the people of the United States [)receding the election. 

Skc. 2. The House of Representatives shall have authority to elect its 
Speaker, clerks, and other officers. The oath of office shall be administered 
by the Secretary of Stale, or, in Ids absence, by tlie Attorney General. The 
clerks shall be engaged by the Speaker. 

Sec. 3. Whenever the seat of a member of the House of Representatives 
shall be vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, tlie vacducy may be 
filled by a new election. 

Sec 4. The senior member from the town of Newport, present, shall 
preside in the organization of the House. 

Al^TICLE VI. 

Of the Senate. 

Skction 1. The Senate shall consist of nineteen members, to be chosen 
annually by the majority of electors, by districts. The Slate shall be divided 
into sixteen districts, as follows : 

First. The town of Newport shall constitute the first senatorial district, 
and shall be entitled to elect two Senators. 

Second. The towns of Portsinoutli, Middletown, Tiverton, Little Conjpton, 
New Shqreliam, and .laniesiown, shall constitute the second senatoiial dis- 
trict, and shall be entitled to elect two Senators. 

Third. The city of Providence shall constitute the third senatorial dis- 
trict, and siiall be entitled to elect two Senators. 

Fourth. The town of Smithfield shall constitute the fuirth senatorial 
district, and shall be (Uititled to elect one Senator. 

Fifik The towns of Cumberland and North Providence sh.iU coiistiiule 
the fifth senatorial district, and shall be entitled to elect one SenatMr. 

Si.vth. The towns of Scituate. Cranston, and .lohnsion. shall constitute 
the sixth senatorial district, and shall be entiih'd to elect one Senator. 

Seventh. 'I'he towns of Glocester, Poster, and Bnrrillville, sh.ill consti- 
ttitetlic seventh senatorial district, and shall be entitled to elect one .'feuator. 



Hep. No. 546. 141 

El^hilt. The town of South Kingstown siiall cnnstitiite the eighth sena- 
toriiii district, and shall be entiilcd to elect one Senator. 

Niiitli. The towns of Westerly and (yharlestovvn .shall constitute the 
ninth senatorial district, and shall he eniiiled to elect one .Senator. 

TtiUli. "^riie towns of Hopkniton iUid Ki< hnsond shall con^utnie the tenth 
senatorial district, and shall be entitled to elect one Senator. 

Lllfventh. The towns of North Kingstown and Exeter sliuU constiinte 
the eleventh senatorial district, and stiall be entitled to elect one Senator. 

I'welflh. The town of Bristol shall cotjstitnte the twelftii senatorial dis- 
trict, and shall be entitled to elect one Senator. 

Thirttintli. The towns of Warren and Barrington shall constitute the 
thirteenth senatorial district, and shall be entuled to elect one Seuiitor. 

F(iiuteeiil.li. The towns of East Greenwich and West Greenwich shall 
constitute the fourteenth senatorial tlislrict, and shall be entitled to elect oiie 
Senator. 

Fifteeiitli. The town of Coventry siiall constitute the fifteenth senatorial 
district, and shall be entitled to elect one Si nator. 

Sixtiietitk. The town of Warwick shall constitute the sixteenth senatorial 
district, and shall he entitled to elect one Senator. 

And no more than one Senator shall be elected from any town for the 
same term, in the second sen itorial district. 

Sec. 2. ^he Lieutenant Governor shall ex officio be a member of the 
Senate. 

The Secretary of State shall be, by virtue of his oflice, Secretary of the 
Senate, unless otherwise piovided by law; and ttie Senate may elect such 
other officers as they may deem necessary. 

Skc. 3. It, by reason of death, resignation, or absence, there be no Gov- 
ernor or Lieutenant Governor present, to preside in the Senate, the Senate 
shall elect one of their own number to preside, until the Governor or Lieu- 
tenant Governor returns, or until one of said offices is filled according to 
this constitution; and, until such election is made by the Senate, tiie Secre- 
tary of State shall preside. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Of impeacJi'inevts. 

Section. 1. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of 
impeachment. 

Sec. 2. All' impeachments shall be tried by the Senate; and when sit- 
ting for that purpose, they shall be under oath or affirmation. No person 
shall be convicted, except by vote of two thirds of the members elected. 
When the Governor is impeached, the chief or presiding justice of the su- 
preme judical court for the time being, shall preside, with a casting vote in 
all preliminary questions. 

Sec. 3. The governor, and all other executive and judicial officers, shall 
he liable to impeachment ; but judgment in such cases shall not extend fur- 
ther than to removal from office. The party convicted shall, nevertheless, 
be liable to indictment, trial, and punishment, according to law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Of the executive poiver. 

Section L The chief executive power of this State shall be vested in a 
Governor. 



142 Rep. Xo. 546. 

Skc. 2. The Governor shall take care that the laws be fiiithfnlly exe- 
ciitrd. 

Skc. 3. He sholl be captain general and commander-in chief of the mili- 
tary and naval forces ot this State, except when they shall be called into 
the service of the United States. 

Sec. 4. He shall have power to orrant reprieves, after conviction, in all 
rases, except those of inipeachnient, nntil the end of the next session of the 
General Assembly, and no longer. 

Sec. 5. The person filling the office of Governor shall preside in the 
Senate, and in grand commiitee; and shall have a right, in case of equal 
division, to vote ; not otherwise. 

Sec. 6. He may fill vacancies in office not other^vise provided for by this 
constitution, or by law, uniil the same shall be filled by the General Assem- 
bly, or the people. 

Sec. 7. In case of disagreement between the two Hotises of the General 
Assembly, res[)ecting tlie time or place of adjourn merit, certified t(^ him by 
either, he may adjourn them to such time and place as he shall think 
proper ; provided that the time of adjournment shall not be extended be- 
yond the day of the next stated session. 

Sec. 8. He may, on special emergencies, conve'ue the- General Assembly 
at any town in this State, at any time not provided for by law; and in case 
of danger from the prevalence of epidemic or c iniagious diseases in either 
of the places in which the General Assembly may by law meet, or to which 
they may have been adjourned, or from other circumstances, he may. by 
proclamation, convene said Assembly at any other place within this State. 

Sec. 9. All commissions shall be in ihe name and by authority of the 
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, shall be sealed with the 
Stale seal, signed by the Governor, and attested by the Secretary. 

Sec. It). In case of the death, resignation, refusal or inability to serve, or 
removal from office of the Governor, or of his impeachment or absence from 
the State, the Lieutenant Governor shall exercise the powers and autliority 
appertaining to the office of Governor, until another be chosen at the next 
annual election for Governor, and be duly qualified, or until the Governor, 
impeached or absent, shall be acquitted or return. 

Sec. 11. If the offices ofGovernor and Lieutenant Governor be both va- 
cant by reason of death, resignation, absence, or otherwise, the person enti- 
tled to preside over the Senate for the time being, shall, in like manner, ad- 
minister the government until he be superseded by a Governor or liieuten- 
ant Governor. 

Sec. 12. The compensation of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor 
shall be established by law, and shall not be diminished during the term 
for which they were elected. 

Sec. 13. The duties and powers of the Secretary, Attorney General, and 
General Treasurer, shall be the same under this constitution as are now 
established, or from time to time may be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IX. 

Of elections. 

Section 1. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Senators, Representa- 
tives, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and General Treasurer, shall 



Rep. No. 546. 143 

be elected at the town, city, or wtircl meetings, to be holden on the third 
Wednesday of April, annnally; and shall severally hold their offices for 
one year, from the first Tuesday in May next succeeding their election, and 
until others are legally chosen and duly qualified to fill their places. 

Skc. 2. The voting for all officers cliosen by the people, except town or 
city officers, shall be by ballot, in manner to be regulated by law. Town 
or city officers shall be chosen by ballot, on demand of any two persons en- 
titled to vote for the same. 

Sec. 3. The names of the persons voted for as Governor, Lieutenant 
Governor, Secretary of State, General Treasurer, and Attorney General, 
shall be put upon one ticket, and the tickets shall be deposited by the mod- 
erator or warden m a box by themselves. 'I'he names of the persons voted 
for as Senators, and as Representatives, sliall be put upon separate tickets, 
and the tickets shall be deposited by the moderator or warden in separate 
boxes. The polls for ail the officers named in this section shall be opened 
at the same time. 

Sec. 4. All the votes given for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secre- 
tary of Slate, General Treasurer, and Attorney General, and also for Sen- 
ators, shall remain in the ballot-boxes till the polls are closed. These votes 
shall then, m open town and ward meetings, be taken out and sealed in 
separate etivelopes by the moderators and town clerks, and by the wardens 
and ward clerks, who shall certify the same, and forthwith deliver or send 
them to the Secretary of State ; whose duty it shall be securely to keep the 
same, and to deliver the votes for general officers to the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, after the House shall be organized, at the May 
session of the General Assembly. The votes last named shall without de- 
lay be opened, counted, and declared, in such manner as the House of Rep- 
resentatives shall direct. The votes for Senators shall be counted by the 
Governor and Secret£iry of State, within seven days from tlie day of elec- 
tion, and the Governor shall give certificates to the Senators who are 
elected. 

Sec. 5. The votes for Representatives in the several towns, after the 
polls are declared to be closed for the same, shall be counted by the mode- 
rators and clerks, who shall announce the result, and give certificates to the 
persons elected. If there be no election, or not an election of the whole 
number of Representatives to which the town is entitled, the |)olls for Rep- 
resentatives may be reopened, and the like proceedings shall be had until 
an election shall take place: provided, however, thaf an adjournment or 
adjournments of the election may be made to a time not exceeding seven 
days from the first meeting. 

Sec. 6. In the city of Providence and other cities, the polls for Repre- 
sentatives shall be kept open during the whole time of voting for the day, 
and the votes in the several wards shall be sealed up at the close of the 
meeting by the wardens and ward clerks in open ward meeting, and deliv- 
ered til the city clerk. The mayor and aldermen of said city or cities shall 
proceed to count said votes within two days from the day of election; and 
if no election, or an election of only a portion of the Representatives, shall 
have taken place, the mayor and aldermen shall order a new election to be 
held, not more than ten days from the day of the first election, and so on 
till the election of Representatives shall be completed. Certificates of elec- 
tion shall be furnished l)y the city clerks to the persons chosen. 

Sec. 7. If no person shall have a majority of votes for the office of Gov- 



144 Rep. No. 546. 

ernor or Lieutenant Governor, the Senate and House of Represenfalivcs, in 
Sirand committee, may choose one by ballot from the two persons havmg 
the highest number of votes. 

Skc. 8. In case an election of the Secretary of Stale, Attorney General, 
or General" Treasurer, should fail to be made by the electors at tlieir annual 
election, the vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by the General Assembly 
in grand conunittee, Irom the two candidates for such office havujg the 
greatest number of the votes of the electors. Or, in case of a vacancy in 
either of said offices from other causes, between the sessions of the General 
Assembly, the Governor shall appoint some person to fill the same until a 
successor elected by the General Assembly is qualified to act; and in such 
case, and also in all other cases ot vacancies not otherwise provided for, the 
General Assembly may fill the same in any manner they may deem proper. 

Sec. 9. If there be no choice of a Senator or Senators at the anmial 
election, or if a vacancy in the Senate occur from any other cause, the 
Governor shall issue his warrant to the town and ward clerks of tlie several 
towns and cities in the senatorial district or districts that may have (ailed to 
elect, or where such vacancy may have occurred, requiring them to open 
town or ward meetings for another election, on a day to be by him ap- 
])ointed, not more than fifteen days from the time of issuing such warrant: 
and, in such election, a plurality of votes shall elect. 

Sec. 10. All general officers shall take ilie following engasement before 

they act in their respective offices, lo wit: You, , being by tiie l>ee 

vote of tlie freemen of this State of Rhode island and Providence Planta- 
tions, elected unto the place of , do solemnly swear (or affirm) to be 

true and faithful unto tliis State, and to support the constitution of this 
State and of the United States; that you will faithfully and impartially 
discharge all the duties of your aforesaid office, to the best of your abilities, 
according to law : so help you God. Or, this afiirmation you make and 
give upon the peril of the penalty of perjury. And the members of the 
General Assembly shall take an eiiijageuient to the same effect. 

Sec. II. In all elections held by the people under tliis constitution, a 
majority of all the electors voting shall be necessary to the choice of the 
persons voted for, except as is lierein otherwise provided. 

Sec. 12. The officers now elected in grand committee, except justices of 
the peace, sliall continue to be so elected until otherwise prescribed bylaw. 

Sec. 13. The oath or affirmation shall be administered to the Governor, 
Lieutenant Governor, and Senators, by the Speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, in presence of the House, or elsewhere, by a justice of the su- 
preme judicial court. The Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Gen- 
eral Treasurer, shall be engaged by the person exercising the office of 
Governor. 

ARTICLE X. 

Of quaUjicalioiis for office. 

Section 1. No person shall be qualified to hold the office of Governor, 
Lieutenant Governor, Senator, or Representative in the General Assepibly, 
unless he be a duly qualified elector. No person shall be elected a Repre- 
sentative to the General Assembly, or to any town or city office, unless he be 
a qualified elector, and an inhabitant of the town or city which elects him. 



Rep. No. 546. ' 145 

Sr;c. 2, Every person shall be disqiiilified from holdino- any office to 
whicli he may have been elected, if he be convicted of having offered, or 
procured any other person to offer, any bribe to secure his election, or the 
election of any other [)erson. 

Sec. 3. The jndires of all the courts, and all other officers, both civil and 
military, shall be botmd by oath or affirmation to support this constitution, 
and the constitution of the United States. 

Sicc. 4. No |ierson who holds any office under the Government of the 
United States, or any other State or foreign country, shall be capable of act- 
ing as a general officer, or shall take a seal in the General Assembly, unless, 
at tlie time of taking his engagement, he shall have resigned his office under 
such other oovernment. And if any general officer, senator, representa- 
tive, or judge shall, after his election, accept or hold any office under any 
other government, fie shall not be capable thereafter of acting as a gene- 
ral officer, senator, representative, or jtidge, but the office shall be thereby 
vacated. 

ARTICLE Xr. 
Of the judicial pmve?: 

Skction 1; The judicial power of this State shall be vested in one su- 
preme judicial court, and in such inferior courts as the General Assetnbly 
may, from time to time, ordain and establish ; and the jurisdiction of the 
supreme and.of all other courts may, from time to time, be regulated by the 
General Assenjbly. 

Sec. 2. Chancery powers may be conferred by the General Assembly on 
the supreme judicial court ; but no other court exercising chancery powers 
shall be established in tliis State, except as is now provided by law. 

Skc. 3. The justices of the supreme judicial court shall be elected in 
grand committee of the two Houses, lo liold their offices until their places 
be declared vacant by a resolution of the General Assembly to that effect ; 
which shall be voted for by a majority of all the members elected to the 
House in which it may originate, and be concurred in by the same majority 
of the other House. Such resolution shall not be entertained at any other 
than the arinual session for the election of public officers; and, in default 
of the passage thereof at said session, the judge, or judges, shall hold his 
or their places, as is herein provided. But a judge of this, or of any other 
court inferior to the same, shall be removable from office, if', upon impeach- 
ment, he shall be found guilty of any official misdemeanor. 

Sec. 4. In case of vacancy by the death, resignation, refusal, or inability 
to serve, or absence from the State, of a judge of this court, his place may 
be filled by the grand committee until the next annual election ; when the 
judge elected shall hold his office as before provided. 

Sec. 5. The judges of the supreme judicial court shall receive a suitable 
compensation for their services, which shall not be diminished during their 
continuance in office. 

Sec. 6. The judges of the supreme judicial court shall, in all trials, in- 
struct the jury in the law. 

Sec. 7. There shall be annually elected by each town, and by the seve- 
ral wards in the city of Providence, a sufficient number of justices of the 
peace, or wardens, resident therein, with such jurisdiction as the General 
10 



146 Rep. No. 546. 

Assembly inay prescribe ; and said justices, or wardens, except in the 
towns of New Shoreham and Jamestown, shall be commissioned by the 
Governor. 

Sec. 8. The courts of probate in this State, excepiino: the supreme judi- 
cial court, shall remain as at present established by law, until the General 
Assembly shall otherwise prescribe. 

ARTICLE XII. 

OJ education. 

Section 1. The diffusion of knowledge as well as of virtue among the 
people being essential for the preservation of their righis and liberties, it 
shall be the duty ot the General Assembly to promote public schools, and to 
adopt all other means to secure to the people the advantages and opportuni- 
ties of education, which they may deem necessary and proper. 

Sec. 2, The money which now is, or which may hereafter be, appro- 
priated by law for the formation of a permanent fund for tlie support oi 
public schools, shall be securely invested, and remain a perpetual fund for 
that purpose. 

Sec. 3. All donations for the support of public schools, or for other pur- 
poses of education, which shall be received by the General Assembly, shall 
be applied according to the terms prescribed by the donors. 

Sec. 4. 'I'he General Assembly shall make all necessary provisions by 
law for carrying this article into effect. They are prohibited from divert- 
ing said moneys, or fund, from the aforesaid uses ; and from borrowing, ap- 
propriating, or using the same, or any part thereof, for any other purposcj 
under any pretence whatsoever. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Of amendments. 

The General Assembly may propose amendments to this constitution by 
the votes of a majority of all the members elected to each House. Such 
propositions shall be published in the newspapers, and printed copies of 
said propositions shall be sent by the Secretary of State, with the names of 
all the members who shall have voted thereon, with the yeas and nays, to 
all the town and city clerks in the State ; and the said propositions shall 
be by said clerks inserted in the warrants or notices by them issued, for 
warning the next annual town and ward meetings in April ; and the clerks 
shall read said propositions to the electors when thus assembled, with the 
names of all the Representatives and Senators who shall have voted there- 
on, with the yeas and nays, before the election of Representatives and Sen- 
ators shall be had. If a majority of all the members elected to each House, 
at said annual meeting, shall approve any proposition thus made, the same 
shall be published and sent to the electors in the mode provided in the act 
of approval ; and, if then approved by three-fifths of the electors of the 
State present, and voting thereon in town and ward meetings, it shall be- 
come a part of the constitution of the State. 



Rep. No 546. 147 

ARTICLE XIV. 
Of the adoption of this constitution. 

Section 1. This constitution, if adopted, shall go into operation on the 
first Tuesday in May, in the year one thousand eiffht hundred and forty- 
two. 'I'he first election ot Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of 
State, Attorney General, and General Treasurer, and of Representatives 
and Senators, under s;tid constitution, shall be had on the third Wednesday 
of April next preceding. And the town and ward meetings therefor shall 
be warned and conducted as is now provided by law. All civil, judicial, 
and military officers now elected, or who shall liereafter be elected, by the 
General Assembly, or other competent authority, before the said first Tues- 
day ot May, shall hold their offices, and may exercise their powers, until 
that time, or until their successors are qualified to act. All statutes, public 
and private, not repugnant to this constitution, shall continue in force until 
they expire by their own limitation, or are repealed by the General Assem- 
bly. All charters, contracts, judgments, actions, and rights of action, shall 
be as valid as if this constitution had not been made. The present gov- 
ernment shall exercise all the powers with which it is now clothed until 
the said first Tuesday of May, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, 
and until their successors, under this constitution, are duly elected and 
qualified. 

Si'-.c. 2. All debts contracted, and engao-ements entered into, before the 
adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the State as if this 
constitution had not been formed. 

Sec. 3. The supreme judicial court, established by this constitution, shall 
have the same jurisdiction as the supreme judicial court at present estab- 
lished ; and shall have jurisdiction of all causes which may be appealed to, 
or pending in the same; and shall be held at the same times and places, 
and in each county, as the present supreme judicial court, until otherwise 
prescribed by the General Assembly. 

Skc. 4. The towns ol Jamestown and New Shoreham shall continue to 
enjoy the exemptions from military duty which they now enj.»y, until other- 
wise prescribed by law. 

Done in convention, February 19, 1842. 

HENRY Y. CRANSTON, 
Presidefit of the Convention. 

Thomas A. Jenckes, Secretary. 

Walter W. Updike, Assistant Secretary. 



State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

Secretarfs Office, February., 1842. 
The foregoing is a true copy of the original roll deposited in the Secre- 
tary's office. 

Witness : HENRY BOWEN, Secretary, 



148 Rep. No. 546. 

State of Rhode Island and Providf.nce Plantations, 

In Convention., February 19, A. D. 1842. 

Resolved^ That the constitution framed by this convention be certified 
by the president and secretaries, and, with the jonrnal and papers of the 
convention, shall be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State ; that 
the Secretary of State cause said constitution, together with this resolution, 
and all the acts and resolutions of the General Assembly relatinjj; to this 
convention, to be printed and distributed accordinsT to law ; and that said 
constitution be submitted to all the people authorized to vote for general 
officers under the same, for their ratification or rejection, at town and ward 
meetings, to be holden in the several towns and in the city of Providence 
on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the twenty first, twenty-second, 
and twenty-third days of March, A. D. 1842. The several town and city 
clerks shall issue the necessary warrants for said meetings. Said meetings 
shall be kept open for the reception of votes from the hour of nine o'clock 
in the forenoon, until seven o'clock in the afternoon; and in the city of 
Providence and town of Newport, until nine o'clock in the evening, on the 
days appointed. At said town and ward meetings every person voting shall 
have his name written on the back of his ballot; and said ballots shall be 
sealed up in open town or ward meetings, and, with lists of the names of 
the voters, shall be returned to the General Assembly at their session to be 
holden on the fourth Monday of March next. 

Read and adopted, February 19, 1842. 

THOMAS A. JENCKES, Secretary. 



True copy of the original resolution deposited in the office of the Secre- 
tary of State. 

Witness: HENRY BOWEN, .S-fcre/ary. 



State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

la General Assembly.^ Janvarij session, A. D. 1841. 

Resolved by the General Assembly.^ (the Senate concurring with the 
House of Representatives therein,) '^I'hat the freemen of the several towns 
in this State, and of the city of Providence, qualified to vote for general 
officers, be, and they are hereby, requested to choose, at their semi-annual 
town or ward meetings in August next, so many delegates, and of like 
qualifications, as they are now respectively entitled to choose Representa- 
tives to the General Assembly, to attend a convention, to be holden at Prov- 
idence on the first Monday of November, 1841, to frame a new constitu- 
tion for this State, either in whole or in part, with full powers for this pur- 
pose; and. if only for a constitution in part, that said convention have under 
their especial consideration the expediency of equalizing the representation 
of the towns in the House of Representatives. 

Resolved., That a majority of the whole number of delegates which all 
the towns are entitled to choose shall constitute a quorum, who may elect 
a president and secretary, judge of the qualifications of the members, and 
establish such rules and proceedings as they may think necessary ; and 
any town or city which may omit to elect its delegates at the said meetings 



Rep. No. 546, 149 

111 An^nst, may t^iect them ai any time previous to ihe meeting of said con- 
vention. 

Resolved, That the constitution or amendments agreed upon by said 
convention shall be submitted to the freemen in open town or ward meet- 
ings, to be holden at such time as may be named by said convention. The 
said constitution or amendments shall be certified by the president and sec- 
retary, and retiirned to the Secretary of State ; who shall forthwith dis- 
tribute to the several town and city clerks, in due proportion, one thousand 
printed copies thereof; and also, fifteen thousand ballots, on one side ol 
which shall be printed " amendments," or, "constitution adopted by the con- 
vention hoideu at Providence on the first Monday of November last ;" and 
on the other side, the word approve on one halt of the said ballots, and the 
word reject on the other half. 

Resolved, That, at the town or ward meetings to be holden as aforesaid, 
every freeman votm^ shall have his iiamt; written on the back of his ballot ; 
and the ballots shall be sealed up in open town or ward meeting by the 
clerks, and, with lists of tlie names of tlie voters, shall be returned to the 
General Assembly, at its next succeeding session ; and said General Assem- 
bly shall cause said ballots to be examined and counted ; and said amend- 
ments, or constitution, being approved of by a majority of the freemen 
votnig, shall go into operation and effect at sucli time as may be appointed 
by said convention. 

Resolved, That a sum not exceeding tliree hundred dollars be appropri- 
ated ior detraying tlie exjienses of said convention, to be paid according to 
the order of said convention, certified by its president. 
True copy : — Witness, 

HENRY BOW EN, Secretary. 



State of Rhode Island and Providknce Plantations, 

l/i General Assembltj, May session, A. D. 1841. 

Rf solved htj this General Assembly, (tlie Senate concurring with the 
House of Representatives therein.) That the delegates from the several 
towns to the State convention to be holden in November next, for the pur- 
pose of framiiio: a State constitution, be elected on the basis of population, 
in the followino^ manner, to wit : Elvery town of not more than 85U inhab- 
itants may elect one delegate; of more than 85t) and not more than 3,000 
inhabitants, two delegates; of more than 8,00(1 and not more than 6,000 
inhabitants, three delegates; of more than 6,(i00 and not more than 10,000 
inhabitants, four deleijates ; of more than 10,000 and not more than 15,000 
inhabitants, five delegates ; of more than 15,000 inhabitants, six delegates. 

Resolved. Tfiat the deleo:ates altendinof said convention be entitled to re- 
ceive froiu the gen sral treasury the same pay as members of the General 
Assembly. 

Resolved, That so much of the resolutions to which these are in amend- 
ment, as is uiconsistent herewith, be repealed. 
True coDv : "Witness, 

HENKY BO WEN, S^icretary. 



150 Rep No. 546. 

State of Rhode Island and Pkovidence Plantations, 

In General Assembly., January session, A. D. 1842. 

Resolved by this General Assembli/, (the Senate concnrriiio- with ihe 
House of Representatives thereni,) That the freemen of the towns in this 
State, in whose delegation to the convention called to frame a consiituiion 
vacancies have occurred since the meeting of that ciinveniion. or may here- 
after occur, be requested to elect delegates to fill those vacimcies .it town 
and ward meetuigs, to be holden before or dnring tlie session of said con- 
vention ; notice of such meetings to be given at least one day previons tO' 
the holding thereof. 

True copy: — Witness^ 

HENRY BO WEN, Sccrelary. 



State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

In General Assembly, January session. A. D. 1842. 

AN ACT in ainendmeni of an aci eniiiled "An act revi-iiig the act entitled 'An act regula- 
ting the manner of admitting freemen, and diiecting the meihod of electing oliicers in ihis 
State.'" 

Whereas the good people of this State liaving elected delejjafes to a con- 
vention to form a ci'iistitiition ; which coiistitndon, if ratified by the j eoplcj. 
will be the supreme law of the State : therefore, 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly, as follows: 

All persons now qualified to vote, and those who may be qualified to vote 
under the existing laws previons to the time of such their voting, and all 
persons who shall bi^ qualified to vote under the provisions of snch consti- 
tution, shall be qnalified to vote upon tlie question of the adoption of said 
constitution. 

True copy : — Witness, 

HENRY BO WEN, Secretary. 



State of Rhode Island and Providinge Plantations, 

In General Assembly, .haiuary session, A. I). 1842. 
Resolved, That so much of the resolution relative to a convention for 
making a constitution, passed at ihe January session, 1841, as requires the 
Secretary of Slate to cause one thousand copies of the constitution, and 
fifteen thousand ballots, to be distributed to the several town and city clerks, 
be amended, so that he shall cause five thousand copies of said constitutRin 
and twenty-five thousand ballots to be distributed, in the sanje manner as 
is required by the aforesaid resolution. 

Resolved, That s:iid convention be authorized to appoint one or more 
days for votinof on the adoption of said constitution. 
True copy : — Witness, 

HENRY BO WEN, Stcntury. 



Rep No. 546, 151 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

hi Genaral Assembly, January session, A. D. 1842. 

Whereas a portion of the people of this State, without the forms of law, 
have undertaken to form and estabhsli a constitution of government for the 
people of this State, and have declared such constitution to be the suprenje 
law, and have communicated such constituiion unto this General Assembly: 
and wliereas many of the good peo()le of this State are in danger of being 
misled by these informal proceedings: therefore. 

It is hereby resolved by this General Assembly, That all acts done by the 
persons aforesaid, for the purpose of imposin;^ upon this Slate a constitution, 
are an assumption of the powers of government, in violation of the rights 
of the existing government, and of the rights of the people at lorge. 

Resolved, That the convention called ar)d organized, in pursuance of an 
act of this General Assembly, for the purpose of forming a constitution to 
be submitted to the people of this State, is the only body which we can rec- 
ognise as authorized to form such a constitution ; and to this constitution 
the whole people have a right to look, and we are assured they will not 
look in vain, for such a form of government as tvMll promote their peace, 
security, and happiness. 

Resolved, That this General Assembly will maintain its own proper au- 
thority, and protect and defend the legal and constitutional rights of the 
people. 



True copy : — Witness, 



HENRY BOWEN, Secretary. 



No. 4.— (E.) 

Address to the people of Rhode Maud, from- the convention assembled at 
Providence on the 22d day of February, and again on the \2th day of 
March, 1834, to promote the establishment of a State constituiion. 

Fellow Citizens : Agreeably to an invitation from the towns of Cum- 
berland and Smithfield, delegates from the following towns in this State, 
namelv, Newport, Providence, Smithfield, Bristol, Warren, Cranston, John- 
ston, North Providence, Burrillville, and Cumberland, assembled in conven- 
tion at Providence, on the 22d of the last month, to consult together upon 
the best course to be pursued for the establishment of a written State con- 
stitution wliirh should properly define and fix the powers of the different 
departments of government, and tlie rights of the citizen. 

'I'he resolutions passed at our first meeting, have already been submitted 
to your consideration. We deemed it a duly to those whom we represent, 
to ourselves, and to the body of the people of the State whose co operation 
we ask, to set forth in those resolutions explicitly, and beyond question or 
misinterpretation, an outline of the proposed political reform ; leaving, where 
it belongs, to those who may be hereafter called to the important duty of 
framing a constitution, the task of maturing its provisions. 

The articles which we have proposed, we are fully convinced, are indis- 
pensable articles in such ah instrument ; without which, it would be insuffi- 
cient, unsatisfactory, and impracticable, defective in the distribution of po- 
litical justice, ill-adipted to the wants and feelings of the people, and without 
the promise of poniianent duration. 



152 Rep. No. 546. 

It was a duty tn onr cotisfiittents and to ourselves, thus freely to utter and 
set forth their and onr views, sentiments, and plans, and to put an end to 
all conjectures about ulterior and concealed intentions, because we have 
nothinoj to disguise nor conceal; propose no ciiange in the order of govern- 
ment which we do not believe to be clearly right, and because we deem it 
unworthy of men who live under institutions at least nominally republican, 
silently to acquiesce in the longer continuance of a system so defective in its 
structure, and unequal in its operation. It was a duty to the iteople of the 
State to announce to them unequivocally the nature and extent of those 
amendments to their present system, whicli we ofter ; especially, to remove 
every pretence of uncertainty from that part of our plan which relates to 
the enlargement of political rights, and to secure to the great principles of a 
constitution the benefits of public attention and mature judgment. And we 
are happy to be assured that the publication of our plan, in its length and 
breadth, and all its dimensions, has already had the effect of overcoming 
the doubts and objections of many who were opposed to us from an imper- 
fect acquaintance with our views, and of enlisting their good will and as- 
sistance on the side of reform. 

Having met again, for the second time, in convention, with the addition 
of delegates imm the towns of Scituate and North Kingstown, we proceed, 
fellow-citizens, to state and to enforce, more at large, tliose reasons and ar- 
guments by whi(?h the subject of our resoluti>>ns is recommended to the 
good sense and justice of the people of Rhode Island, intending to use great 
plainness of speech, and endeavoring, at the same time, to present our opin- 
ions as briefly as the extent and importance of the matters to which they 
relate will in anywise permit. 

There are some preliminary considerations with which we would occupy 
a few moments of your time, before advancing to the principal topics which 
belong to the present examination. 

We desire, then, to disclaim, in the outset, any design or desire of offer- 
ing the slightest disrespect to the memory or to the character of our prede- 
cessors, who first established that scheme of government into which we are 
now anxious to carry the work of reformation. If any pride of ancestry 
maybe indulged in this country, the people of Rhode Island may honorably 
exult in tliose noble forefathers who abandoned their native home, and, 
again, their adopted land, and encountered tlie dangers of a savage wilder- 
ness, for the sake of that great experiment of religious liberty, in the bless- 
ings of which we all participate. Assembled as we now are, almost within 
a stone's cast of the ashes of Roger Williams, that one of us who should 
utter a word of disparaaement of such a man, or his illustrious fellow- 
patriots, would feel himself rebuked by the '-genius of the place." We revere 
the names of those venerable ancestors; we glory in our inheritance; and 
animated, as we trust, (though some of us are but the subjects^ rather than 
the citizens of a republican State.) by a portion of their own love of freedom, 
of their firm purpose, of their zealous ;md determined perseverance ; and re- 
solved to carry out still further into practice the life and purport of those 
principles which they maintained at the foundation of the State, we would 
employ our earnest and unremitted exertions for the correction of defects 
and errors which, in the progress of time and change, are inevitably found 
to exist in the best organized system of government, and which are, at this 
ntoment, so visible and palpable in our own. If we bring to our under- 



Rep. No. 546. 153 

takings any of the ancient sturdy spirit of Rliodo Island patriotism, we shall 
deserve, and in the end obtain, a [»roportionate snccess. 

Nor is the business, fellow citizens, in which we are engaged, a mere 
narrow party affair, got up to promote the sordid views u( personal aggran- 
dizement. The aspect of our assembly, composed, as it is, of men of all 
the political divisions in tfie State, affords f-ufficient evidence lo the contrary. 
We have individually sacrificed no opinions on national affairs; we intend 
to sacrifice none: we have asked no one to make this sacrifice; we do not 
intend so to ask, nor desire to see it made by any who may act with us. 
Li^-avinof the field of national politics to every man's previous preferences 
and attachments, we find, in the present political necessities of our own 
State, a common ground for friendly and harmonious action. We meet 
here as brethren and fellow-laborers, and cast aside all personal feelings 
and prejudices, for the promoiion of an object which is large enough and 
wide enough to comprehend within its limits men of every political com- 
plexion, and all men who have at heart the public honor and welfare. 

There has been too much strife in this State about men^ and for the 
benefit of /y<.e/<; ioo vanch mauxvor^hip. Party after parly has come into 
power, and many of us have lent our aid in effecting these ()arly triumphs. 
But we liave had the mortification of perceiving that very little has been 
done for the improvement of our political condition, from the fear of en- 
dantrering this or that man's office or ex[)ectation of office — from the fear of 
offending, or from a desire to conciliate, this or that prominent politician — 
from an anxiety to stand well with this or that interest in the community. 
The fact, and the causes of it, have been so apparent, that the mere statement 
is the sufficient proof of them. And it has been for a long time a certain 
conviciion in the mind of every accurate observer of political affairs, that 
nothing but a union of men of different parties could ever promise any 
very decisive chanije for the belter in the condition of our insiiiutions. In 
the spirit of concession and compromise upon matters of local politics, we 
have made this union, under ihe standard of a Constitutional Pakty. 

Few who are seriously in favor of the cause we sup[)ort will question 
the expediency, and indispensable necessity, of a party orojamzaMon to 
insure its success. There must be a liead and front to our undertakino:. 
A great political benefit to all parties and classes of men must be brought 
about by political means. The idea tliat they who are opposed to a re- 
formation, or who feel liiile interest in it, will take any measures for its ac- 
complishment, while its friends remain in apathy, or confine themselves to 
complaints, resolutions, and memorials, instead of presenting them.^elves in 
the attitude of political preparation, is too delusive to be encouraged for a 
moment, and is repelled by all past experience. A party on wide and 
liberal grounds, such as we hope has now been formed among us, becomes 
a centre for the accumulation of new forces; it affords a rallying point for 
the doubtful and hesitating ; it collects public opinion, and brings it to bear, 
in the strongest and surest manner, upon the ends to be attained. 

H'hat the present is a favdrable time, and the rii^lit time, f)r the formation 
of such a party, we cannot entertain a doubt. '^I'he all absorbing question 
of a presidential election has been disposed of, for ihe present, by ihe re- 
election of the present incumbent. There is not, at this monient, such a 
doubtful balance of parlies in the State as to give to any attempt at reform 
the appearance of being a measure designed solely for the purpose of 
securing a preponderance to tiiher side. There is also, if we do not 



154 Pvtp. No. 546. 

grraily mistake the signs of fhe times, an increasing disposition in all parts 
(if the. State, and among all classes of our citizens, in favor of the desired 
result, founded on the belief of its necessity and justice. In order, then, lo 
obiaiii tliis result, which has l)een heretofore unattainable by other parties, 
from the nature of their position and from other causes, we ask you, fellow- 
citizens, to approve our design, and to aid us in its execution, if you are 
already convinced that it is meritorious, or if we shall be able to offer you 
any arguments adapted to produce conviction. When you are so con- 
vinced, the surrender l)y you of local feeliui^s to the general good, will, we 
doubt not, be cheerfully and decisively made. 

Should yf^" ask us for a more particular expression of our motives of 
action, we shall make, in reply, no loud profession of good intentions. Such 
professions, from the too frequent contradiction of them in practice, have 
fallen under a just suspicion^ and are received with a very hesitatino; con- 
fidence by the public. Judge us by our works. By them we wish to be 
tried, and are ready to stand or fall. If we deviate from the straight and 
onward course which we have marked out, for the furtherance of secondary 
or sinister ends, we fail, and justly fail, in a cause of which we shall thus 
prove ourselves to be the unworthy advocates. But should we proceed 
with singleness of purpose, with a firm and steady regard to the i^reat ob- 
ject bef )re us, — addressing" ourselves with good temper and moderation to 
the sense and justice of the people, — and if not without reproach, yet abrive 
the fear of it when unjust, we shall not only deserve, l)ut receive the sup- 
port of our fellow citizens, and witness the issue of our labors to the honor 
and advantage of the State. 

It would be consuming your time unnecessarily, to enlar^i^e upon the 
practical evils growing out of the exercise of irresponsible power in general, 
and which are attendant upon all irreijular and fluctuating legislation. To 
attempt to convince yon, by a formal argument, of the truth of this great 
axiom in political science, would argue a disres[)ect for your understanding 
and information, of which we shall not be guilty. 

It is equally apparent, as a general principle, that a discretionary regula- 
tion of the elective right, and of the judicial system, can never be properly 
and safely vested in the legislature. In the language of the learned and 
eminent Chancellor Kent, — "The power of making laws is the supreme 
power in a State ; and the department in wltich it resides will naturally 
have such a preponderance in the political system, and <ict xDith such 
mighty force upon, the public miiKf that tlie line of separation between that 
and the other branches of the government ought to be marked very dis- 
tinctly, and with the most careful precisioti." — (1st vol. Commentaries, page 
207.) It will not do to say that the frequency of elections in this State 
affords a remedy for any evils in the administration of its affjurs. Public 
opinion, it is true, does operate upon, and in a great degree control, the 
action of the Legislature; but let it never be forgotten that there is always 
a strong reaction — much stronger than we are sometimes aware — of the 
Legislature upou the people, in the fcsrmation of this opinion. It is in a 
great measure moulded and shaped by men who hold high stations, with a 
corresponding intiuence ; and it will ever be the aim of those who exercise 
irregular power, so to -guide and direct the opinion of their constituents, 
that it shall interfere the least with their own purposes and interests. 

We believe, then — indeed, we feel positively assured — that the only method 
of accomplishing political reform in this Slate, is the adoption of a new 



Rep. No. 546. 155 

written cotistitiition. The gre;!t, the single object ofonr |niriy, is the adop- 
lion of such a constiintion. This main scheme in which we are enguoed 
necessarily involves in it several important subjects, that require lo be 
treated of in detail. We propose, in the first place, to make known, and 
in as few words as possible, what we mean by a written constnutimi; and 
we will endeavor to designate, at the same time, the legitimtite and proper 
source from which, as we conceive, such an instrument is to be pmcm-ed. 

A constitution is the fuadatnental law of a State. It is someihinor jn. 
tended to prescribe the powers and duties of grovernment, and of ihe sepa- 
rate brandies of the government; and also to establish the qualifications of 
electors, and generally to d(jfine the rights of the ciiizen. It may consist of 
an aggregate of laws and usages, like the consutution of England : or, it 
may be a written instrument, like the constitution of the United Slates. 
Therfe are two classes, at least, of written constitutions. The people of 
Rhode Island require not to be informed that there is one class of written 
constitutions, consisting of such as are granted by monarchs lo their sub- 
jects ; in which class are included tlie criarters derived from the Britisli 
crown, and granted to the several cuionies of North America; and under 
which all the colonies were, for a certam period, governed, and luiiil they 
became independent States. But there is another class of written consiitu- 
tions, with which the people of Rhode Island have been less conversant; 
although it is the class which, upon just principles, can be most successful- 
ly advocated : this class comprises the constitutions which come direcily 
from the fieo and sovereign people, being such as do now exist in every 
State of the Union, with tlie single exception of Rhode I-^land. 

When the yVmeric::n States severed the pohiieal tie which f trmerly bound 
them to Great Britain, all obligation to acknowledge obedience to a British 
charter as a constitution of govi-rnment, was, of course, dissolved ; and 
the peo])!e of each Stale were left free and sovereign. The people of each 
State, upon the happening of that momentous event, b( came equally ten- 
ants in common of the riuht of sovereignty; and all Wt re equally entitled 
to a V ice m directini^ what should be established as the fundamental rules 
of govermnent ; or, in other words, what should be the constitution. The 
sovereii{nty of the King of England pas-ied, theref>re. not to the Governor 
and Company of Rhode Island, but to the people at large, who fought the 
battles of the Revolution, and to their descendant^. These positions are 
neither new nor indefensible. It lias been judicially, and by one of the 
earliest appointed judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, de- 
clared tiiai "the constitution is the work of the people themselves, in their 
oiticiiNAL, sovKREiGN, aud UNLIMITED Capacity."* 

The learned judge to whom we ref r, on the same occasion, described 
what was then tmderstood in this country by a constitution. "A constitu- 
tion," he says, "is the form of government delineated by the mighty hand 
of the people; in which certain first principles or fundamentid laws are es- 
tablished." ' It is," he adds, "certain and fixed;" it contains "the perma- 
nent Will of the people," being "the supreme law of the land," being "para- 
mount to the will of the legislature," and liable only •' to be revoked or al- 
tered by tliose who made it." 



* See I he charge of Judge Patterson to tlie grand jury in ihe case o\' Van Home ry. Dor ranee, 
ia the circuit coiirl of ihe Pennsylvania district, in 1793 ; repnried in "i Dallam's Reps., p. 304. 



156 Rep. No. 546. 

There is one fact which, of itself, is adapted to awaken attention— and iris, 
that such a constitntion as has just heeti described lias been e:>tabhshed in 
every Stale except our own. That ihe people of Rhode Island retain their 
inherent rio^ht to establish (in their original, sovereign capacity) a constitu 
tion, cannot for a moment be doubted ; inasmncli as they never have made 
a surn^nder of it, either dn-ectly or indirectly. Whenever, therefore, tlie 
people shall see fit to organize a government under a conslituiion of their 
own making, every good citizen wdl cheerfully submit to it. 'i'he impor- 
tant question then to be examined is. Has there been, or is there now, less 
occasion for a new written constitution in Rhode Ishmd than in any other 
Slate of the Union ? A moment's consideration makes it appear at least 
probable that some amelioration in the condition of the people of the State 
could be effected by substituting a new constitution in the place of a British 
charter, which was written out more than one hundred and seventyi years 
ago, when the clucks and restraints upon government, in no pari of the 
world, were so well adjusted as they now are to the maintenance of ra- 
tional liberty. In Rhode Island, <(S elsewhere, tfie object of government 
should be understood to be the welfare of the people generally — an object 
not to be arrived at without taking as a guide the everlasting principles of 
liberty and justice. Liberty v^u6 justice are no idle or insignificant words. 
In the whole range of human language there are no two words more preg- 
nant in meaning. 'I'hey comprise, as a part of their definition, restraints 
H|)on rulers, protection against legislative aggression, and a perfect guaranty 
of the rights of the citizen. Are these great objects properly secured by 
the charter of Charles II? We propose, in answer to this question, and in 
the spirit of candor, to consider that instrument with some attention. 

We begin by inquiring whether it be consistent with the spirit of the dec- 
laration of American independence, -md becoming the cliaracter of Rhode 
Island republicans, any long.'r to acknowledge tlie charter of a British king 
as a constitution of civil government? If the trappings of royalty appended 
to this instrument were taken away, would it not be better suited to a peo- 
ple wlio have changed the name of '■'■ mihject.s'^ for that of citizen^, even al- 
lowing it to be, in all other respects, perfect? These royal supplements of 
" esfiecial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion" are the badges of 
our former colonial dependence, and are ns inappropriate to our present 
condition as the habiliments and toys of childhood are to the proportions 
and habits of a more mature age. The declaration of independ.^nce, which 
severed forever the connexion between Great Britain and the colonies, 
should teach ns a lesson on this subject ; and it is this — that, r tainmg all 
which is valuable in the provisions of the old charter, we ought long since 
to have discarded its form. But it will be said, Are we not all republicans? 
and is there anything in the name of royally to affright ns? In the politi- 
cal world, more than anywhere else, names are ih'nurs^ as we all know by 
experience. And if but a single person, in his inquiry after political truth, 
atid the principles of republicanism, sliould he misled or olfciidt'd by the 
senseless formularies of "divine right." in wliich our grant of giwernment 
is wrapped up. then ought we forthwith lo assume both the form and truth 
of the republican system. But admitiing, merely for tlie sake of argument, 
that the form of the royal charter, with all its monarcliical appendages, sub- 
sists as firmly as when the seal was affixed to it. and tliat it was derived 
from a proper source — a far more important inquiry yet remains to be made : 



Rep. No 546. 157 

Are (he powers and duties of the different departments of our government 
properly m.trked out and defined by the charter? 

Wlien we take into view the tiiDe at which, and the objects for which, 
the charter of Kinij- Charles H w;is ^ranted, we freely admit it to be, in 
many respects, a very good instrument. There is, however, but one of the 
provisions contained m it, involving legislative power and popnlar right, 
that was calcniated for all hitnre titues, T\\e provision referred to is, i/iat 
710 person shall be called in question for any ojnnionin matters ofreliaion, 
who does not actually disturb the cwit yearj'. In a constitution for this 
State, this provision of the charter should be scrupulously preserved. It 
cannot be copied too literally, nor retau)pd too tenaciously; the act of the 
General Assembly, exchiding Roman Catholics from the polls, to the con- 
trary notwithstanding. 

The main object in procuring the charter of Charles 11 was not to define 
with exactness the powers of the government it constituted, but it was to 
define territorial boundaries, and to secure a permanent union of all por- 
tions ot territory under one domain. This is not only fairly to be presumed 
from tlie face ol the charter itself, but it still more clearly appears by a recur- 
rence to the circumstances under which that instrument was solicited and ob- 
tained from the government of the mother conntry. It is a matter of some in- 
terest to understand what the circumstances were under which it was solicit- 
ed and obtaiU'd. It appears that originally the town of Providence constituted 
a distinct jurisdiction by itself; and so also did the island of Rhode Island, 
and Warwick likewise. These several territorial divisions became first 
united, and were first brought within one jurisdiction, by the charter of 1643. 
This charier is very short, and is very loose in its terms. It embraces a 
general power to establish such a s^overnment as should be agreed on by 
the "voluntary consent of all." In obtaining this voluntary consent in fa- 
vor of uniting and consolidating different [)ortions of territory under one gov- 
ernment, there was much difficulty ; for it was not tuitil the year 1647 that a 
general government was agreed upon and established. In that year was the 
first General Assembly convened, and the place of convention was the town 
of Portsmouth. The government thus established was dissolved in 1651, by 
another charter obtained by Coddiiiiiton, constituting him governor; and 
this charter severed the islands of Rhode Island and Conanicut from the 
connexion which they before had with Providence and Warwick. Though 
Coddington's charier was soon vacated, a re union of the several towns was 
not immediately thereupon effected; but, on the contrary, representatives 
from Providence and Warwick met at Providence, while another assembly 
met on the Island. When a re-union took place, which, after much difli- 
culty, was effected, it became an object to perpetuate it ; and for this pur- 
pose, principally, was procured, in 1663, the charter of King Charles II, 
which still exists as the nominal constitution of the State. 

That charter is so superabundant in words and oft repeated recitals, that 
no inconsiderable degree of patience is required in extracting from it its ex- 
act meaning and import. The only constitution of government it pre- 
scribes may, in [)lain and more modern language, be embraced within a 
very small compass. After appointing a governor, deputy governor, and 
ten assistants, to continue such until the first Wednesday in May next en- 
suing, it then provides that those officers shall be elected on the first Wed- 
nesday in May, in each year, at Newport, " by the greater part of the said 
company for the time being, who shall be then and there present." The 



158 ■ Rep. No. 546. 

officers just named, with six persons from Newport, four for each of the 
respective towns of Portsmouth. Providence. ;iiid Warwick, and two persons 
for eacli othtT town, to he elected by the m.ijor piiri of the freemen of the 
respective towns, are to a hold a general assembly, twice in every year ; 
nam^^ly, on every first Wednesday in the month of May, and on every 
hist Wednesday in ihe m nlh of ( 'ctober, or oltener if it shall be requisite. 
The members, or the greater part of the niemhers, constituting (his assem- 
bly ("whereof the governor, or deputy irovcrnor, and six of the assistants, 
at least to be seven,") are invested with the following general powers, viz: 
To alter the times and places of holding the general assembly ; to admit free 
such persons as they may think fit ; to create such offices, and elect such 
officers, as they shall deem requisite ; to make and repeal such laws, forms, 
and ceremonies of government as shall be deemed advisable; to establish 
courts and appomt judges ; to regulate the manner of election to offices and 
places of trust ; to prescribe the number and limits of new towns ; and, 
finally, to use the sweeping words of the charter, '■ to direct, rule, order, and 
dispose of all other matters and things as to them shall seem meet." 

It will be perceived, then, that the powers conferred l)y tfie charter for the 
organization and administration of the government, afford so much latitude, 
and are of such indefiniie import, as to leave a great deal too much to the dis- 
cretion of the legislature— more especially as, since the declaration of inde- 
pendence, no appeal can he had, as formerly, by an aggrieved party, to a 
tribunal of the mother country.* further than this, a variety of instances 
can be pointed out, which show that the General Assembly have heretofore 
considered the charter an instrument conferring upon them a dominion en- 
tirely discretionary. 

The charter, as we have already seen, provides that the governor, deputy 
governor, and assistants, are to be ek'cied on every first Wednesday in May, 
at Newport, by a majority of the voters then and there present. 'Phis pro- 
vision the General Assembly have deemed themselves competent to annul. 
By an act passed in October, 16o4, less than a year after the public procia 
mation of the charter, which was made at Newport on the 24th of Novem- 
ber, IG63, it was provided that all freemen who so desired, instead of com- 
ing in person to Newport to vote for general officers on the first Wednesday 
in May, might vote in lawful town meetings, where their proxy votes should 
be received, and thence transmitted to ttie General Assembly. 

In August, 1760, voting at Newport was entirely prohibited, except to 
members of the General Assembly; and the voters were directed to vote in 
their respective towns on the third Wednesday of April. 

We have perceived, too, that the charter provides that the freemen are to 
be admitted by the General Assembly; whereas the General Assembly, 
directly contrary to that provision, enacted in the year 1666 that the free- 
men should be admitted by the freemen of the respective towns, in town 
nipeting. 

The charter also appoints that the governor, deputy governor, and assist- 
ants, with the representatives chosen by the several towns, shall hold a 
general assembly, without any provision for forming two separate houses; 
and yet, by an act of the General Assembly, passed in 1696, the governor, 
deputy governor, and assistants are to sit separately. 



♦The Geir^rnl Assembly, at the June session, 1719, went even so far as lo cut offihe liberty of 
appeal to the king in council, unless the matter in controversy was of the value of three hundred 
pounds. 



Rep No. 546. 159 

The act authorizing a lieutenant o-overnor, or senior senator, to discfiarge 
the duties of governor in case of a vacancy by non election, death, or resig-- 
naiioii, or ot his absence or inability, is another instance ol the exercise of 
a sovereign discretion by the legislature, for the purpose of reii;edying a de- 
fect in the charter. 

We wish to be understood, that \v*> consider neither of the above acts in 
in itself objectionable. We have pointed ihem out merely as henig essential 
deviations from some of the most precise directions set down in the charter. 

But what must be thought of the act of the General yVssembly* excluding 
Roman Ca(/wlics from the polls? The charter, in this instance, was treated 
as a perfectly dead letter; for it expressly provides "that no person within 
the said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be in anyivise molested, pun- 
ished, disquieted, or called in question, for any ditferences of opinion in 
matters of religion, who does not actually disturb the civil peace." Pro- 
fessors ol the Roman- Catholic faith were, by the act of tyranny referred to, 
not only "molested" and "disquieted," but "punished;" and that, too, by 
denying to them the inestimable right ol sufi'rage ! 

To come down to a later period. Soon after the State was, with tiie otiier 
States, acknowledged U-qq and independent, the General Assembly pre- 
sented a singular example of high handed prerogative. The judges o( a 
court, in discharge of their imperative duty, had ventured to decide that an 
act passed by the General Assembly, and deeply affecting the riglits of a 
citizen, was repugnant to the great prmciples of liberty contained in Magna 
Chartit^ and was incompatible with the acknowledged rights of even British 



* Ttie act o( February, 1783, extends to Roman Calhollc citizens all the rigliis and privi- 
leges of the Pioleslant citizens of this Slate, av declaied by the act of the 1st of March, l()G3-'4, 
"any exceptions in the said act to the contrary notwithstanding."— (See the last paragraph of 
this note.) The clause of exclu>ion in this act, '■ Roman Caiholics only excepted," was evi- 
dently added to the act of ifitit, long afierwyrd— some lime between the years 1719 and 1730. It 
is not to be (oinid in the records of the State so far dovn as the year 171ti, when the first (imper- 
fect) edition of the laws wis published. In the second edition of 1730, it appears for the first 
time. The legislature, therefore, when they spoke ol thi.s clause as a part of the act of lti63-'4, 
rau.-^t be understood to have considered it as an addition or amendment. The present charter 
was granted in July,lGG3; and it is altogether incredible that Roger Williamsand hisassociates, 
then melnber^ ot the legislature, should have consented, four months after the reception ol the 
charter, lo an enactment so diiectly contrary both to the letter and spirit ol one of its most 
essential provisons, for the establishment oi' which they had used such strenuous exertions. 
There is extant in a work of Roger Williams, printed in l().5-3, a full recognition of the re- 
ligious rish's of papists. If any doubt remained upon this question, it would be removed by the 
declaraiion of the A.ssembly in May, l(j()5, in answer to the king's commissioners, that equality 
of ctvil and religious riglils had been "a principle set forth and maintained in this colony, 
from the vcnj bcginnivg thereof." 

Wiiaiever, then, may have been the occasion of subsequently inserting this clause of exclu- 
sion in the act of I6t)4, (and it seems probable that it was done to prove the loyally of the colony 
in the contest l:)eiween the Government and the Preiender to the throne of England,) it was 
suffered to remain in three editions of our statute book, as a part of the law of the land, for more 
than fifty years; and, as far as we can learn, unquestioned as such by any one. So flagrant a 
violation of the charier proves, conclusively, that the legislature then, as they did afterward, 
and do at preseiit, considered and treated that instrument as if it were eniirely subject to their 
coDirol; and that they claimed and exercised an undefined power, similar to that of the English 
Parliament. 

It ought lobe added here, that what is called in the act to remove disabilities from Roman 
Catholics, the a(;t of the 1st of March, IGG3, is, in fact, the act of 1st of March, 1GG4. T!;e 
commencement of the civil and legal year, it will be recollected, was anciently on the 25th of 
March; and was not altered to the 1st of January, in ihe British dominions, till the year 1751, 
by act of Parliament. The charter was granted in the ///eciiiA year of Charles II, (1G63.) 
The act of 1GG3, above mentioned, is staled in the marsjin ol ihe printed copy to be of the six- 
teenth year of Charles II, which of course was 1G()4. All laws passed before the '2.5ihof March 
would be dated as of the year preceding. 



160 Rep. No. 546. 

subjects. For thus ciarinCT to deny an ntjlimited and irrn^ponsible power in 
the General Assembly, those jiidores were arraigned before that body, when 
they barely escaped t)eing punished with dismissal from office. The con- 
duct of tlie General Assembly in tliat instance comports well with the dec- 
laration made by one of the most prominent members of the House of Rep- 
resentatives, while standing in his place, viz: that the Legislature of Rhode 
Island was omnipotent. This decUtration was made within the last twenty 
years, and caimot have escaped the recollection ot many no.v living. 

The General Assembly would not have proceeded as they did in the case 
just mentioned, had they not been emboldened by the charter, which leaves 
it in their power to make and unmake judges once a year, or oftener if they 
see fit. Is not this a capital defect? We shall have more to offer on this 
subject by and by. 

What shall we say of an instrument of government which is uncertain 
enough to leave it to be made a question, whether, upnn a failure to eb'ct a 
governor and senators, the government itself fell through, and with it the 
legislative acts of the ensuing year, the titles to a large amount of property. 
and the proceedings and decisions of the courts? We shall say, if we are 
just to ourselves, tluit it should be forthwith dispensed with, and that a new 
one should be adopted by the people without delay. 

The charter is lurther essentially defective in having affixed a certain 
representation to each town for all time to come ; thus making no provision 
for the changes that might happen. 

No form of a constitution can be worth much, which leaves to the repre- 
sentative servants of the people the power of determining the rights of the 
people as voters. The people ought always to do this for themselves, and 
not leave it to be done for them. Strange mistakes sometimes liappen from 
this neglect ; as in this State, where it lias become necessary to hskiv/iothe 
people are? More on this subject in another place. 

Who will say by what right the towns of North Kingstown and South 
Kingstown are singled ont from the other towns in the State, by the act of 
June, 1722, and each entitled to a senator? 

In May, 1778, the first senator having declined serving, the General As- 
sembly promoted each of the other senators one degree higher, and elected 
a new tenth senator! ! 

Without citing any more examples, we appeal then to our fellow-citizens. 
sand ask them whether there does not exist abundant reason for proclaiming 
what was expressed in one of the resolutions passed at the first session of 
the convention, namely : That the powers of the Legislature, and the rights 
of the citizen, should be defined and fixed by a written State constitution ? 

A subject of just complaint, and one which loudly calls for the corrective 
hand of a constitution, is the extreme inequality of our represtntntion. 
This evil has been entailed upon us by our strange adherence to the char- 
ter of Charles II. This charter provides (as we have seen) that the towns 
in the State shall be represented by •' not exceeding six persons for Newport, 
four persons for each of the respective towns of Providence, Portsmouth, 
and Warwick, and two persons for each other town." At the time the char- 
ter was granted, this was a fair and equal apportionment of representatives, 
according to the relative population of the several towns. But since that 
period, the relative population of our towns has so greatly changed, and so 
many small towns, entitled to two representatives each, have been incorpo- 
rated, by dividing and sub-dividing larger ones, (hat the freemen of this 
State are now very unequally and unfairly represented in our State Legis- 



Rep. No. 546. 161 

Mature. In order to show the extent of this inequality, we ask yojir atten- 
tion to a few statements, which you will find iully supported by referring to 
the official returns of votes polled in each town at our recent elections, and 
by comparing the number of these votes with the number of representatives 
to which each town is entitled by the charter. 

At the last spring election, the whole numb-^r of votes polled in all the 
towns in this State was 7,317. One third of this number is 2,489. Our 
House of Representatives consists of 72 members. 38 of these (beino- a ma- 
jority of two members) were elected by 2,384 qualified freemen — less than 
one-third of the qualified freemen of the State who then voted. 'I'he re- 
maining 34 members were, of course, elected by the remaining 4,933 free 
men. The result is about the same at our other elections. 

Half the freemen or (more properly speaking) qualified voters in the 
State, amount by the returns to 3,658. 51 representatives (being a majority 
of 15) are now elected by 3,637 voters — less than half the qualified voters in 
the State, The remaining 21 representatives are, of course, elected by the 
remaining 3,680 qualified voters. 

By descending a little to particulars, we shall find instances of inequality 
still more unjust and indefensible. The town of Jamestown, for instance, 
sends one representative to every*18 freemen; while the town of Burrill- 
ville sends but one representative to every 113 freemen ; the town of Fos- 
ter but one representative to every 156 freemen ; the town of Smithfield hut 
one representative to every 206 freemen; and the city of Providence but 
one representative to every 275 freemen. 

Thus our system supposes that one freeman of the town of Jamestown is 
entitled to as much political weight and importance as 6 freemen of the 
town of Burrillville, 8 of the town of Foster, 11 of the town of Smithfield, 
and 15 of the city of Providence. It consequently takes 6 freemen in Bur- 
rillville, 8 in Foster, U in Smithfield. and 15 in Providence, to equal one 
freeman of the town of Jamestown. The result will be very similar by 
comparing other small towns with larger ones. 

An inequality of representation like this is too unjust to be much longer 
tolerated. It is not uncommon in the monarchies of F]urope ; but, with the 
single exception of Rhode Island, it is unknov/n in the United States. It 
was never intended by our venerable ancestors who procured the charter ; 
and if Roger Williams were now to rise from his grave, there can be no 
doubt that such inequality would, of itself, induce him to take the lead of a 
political reformation. 

If the number of representatives from each town be compared with the 
whole population of each tovi^n, the result will not materially differ from 
that to which we have arrived in considering the representation of qualified 
voters only. 

The whole population of this State, according to the census of 1830, is 
97,210. One-third of this number is 32,403. 31,308 (beino- less than one- 
third) are now represented by 38 members of the House of Representatives, 
being a majority of 2 in that body. The remaining 65,892 are, of course, 
represented by only 34 members. 

Half the population of the State is just 48,605. 47,365 (being less than 
half the population) are now represented by 51 members of the House of 
Representatives — being a majority in that body of 15. The remaining 
49,845 are, of course, represented by 21 members only. 

Of the twelve most agricultural towns in the State, the six largest have 
II > ^ 



162 Rep. No.' 546. 

less than one-third t!ie weight of representation in our Legislature thai the 
SIX smallest have; yet this inequality is represented by some as a mere 
question of interest between the agricultural and manufacturing towns. 

This inequality of representation has had the eftect of placing the majority 
of the qualified voters in this State under the control of the minority. This 
is as certain as the fact that figures speak the truth. ISow, who does not 
see that upon all questions in which the local interests of this minority are 
adverse to the local interests of the majority, they will unite against the ma- 
jority? And who does not see that whenever they do so unite, they will 
control the majority? It is an odious feature of our present system, that it 
has given a local character to some of the most general and vitally import- 
ant questions of legislation. What, for instance, can be more important 
than a just and equal apportionment of taxes? And yet our present system 
of representation has given a minority of the freemen both the interest and 
the power to perpetuate an unequal and unjust apportionment. What can 
be a more important object of legislation than to establish a just and equal 
representation of the people? Yet our present system has given to a minor- 
ity of the freemen both the interest and the power to continue our present 
unequal and unjust representation. Our present system is at war with the 
pi'osperity of the State. Is not the cbnteujplated accession of territory, 
wealth, and population from the State of Massachusetts important to our in- 
terests? Yet our present system has given to a minority of the freemen 
both the power and the local interest to defeat this accession. 

INow, it is one of the essential parts of the definition of a republican gov- 
ernment, or representative democracy, that it is a govertiment resulting 
from the u'ill of the majority, asctr/alned by a just and equal representa- 
tion. Is that government, then, where the will of the majority is not as- 
certained by a just and equal rejiresentation, but where the will of the mi- 
nority controls that of the majority, a republican governiTient? Is it not, 
in effect, whatever may be its forms, an oligarchy — or the rule of a fewl 
How, indeed, can we better define an oligarchy, than by calling it a govern- 
ment in which the less number, not by the power of virtue or talent, but 
by a political appointment, rule the greater? Whether this minority be a 
small or a large minority does not alter the principle. A large minority 
has no more right, on republican principles, to rule the majority, than a 
small one. Even a large minority, especially in a small State, is easily 
brought under the control of a few leading men. We have seen that, in 
this State, the legislative power is placed, by the inequality of our repre- 
sentation, in the hands of less than one third part of the qualified voters. 
These eleci a majority of the representatives. A ie\x political managers, 
who give themselves to the business, have but little difficulty in managing 
such a nhnority in this small State, and in ruling the whole State as they 
please, against the will of two thirds of the freetnen, and three fourths of 
the people. It is not strange, therefore, to find some men of all parties very 
unwilling to disturb the present order of things. 

We by no means contend that representation ought to be proportioned to 
the amount of property represented, or to the amount of taxes paid. The 
citiz-^n of small property, who pays a tax in proportion to his means, is as 
much entitled to a voice in the appropriation of that tax, though small in 
amount, as the most opulent man in the State. The same principle is ap- 
plicable to towns and counties. 

The true basis of representation undoubtedly is that adopted by the con- 



Rep. No. 546. 163 

stitution of tiie United States — population; for the representative repre- 
sents not only the interests of the independent freemen, who are his imme- 
diate fconstituents, but also tht interests of the wiiole population, who are 
depi-ndent upon or connected with them^ and property is so equally dis- 
tributed among the people in our country, that the practical etfect of ad- 
liering to this basis is, that those who pay the expenses of government will 
have a fair voice in the measures of government. We have seen that the 
relative chancres in our population, and the incor[)oration of small towns, 
have combined to change this basis; and it is certainly an aggravation of 
this evil, that it has carried along with it an extravagant disproportion be- 
tween our representation and taxation. This will be made perfectly evi- 
dent by comparing our present ratio of representation with the act of the 
Gieneral Assembly passed in 1824, establishing a valuation of the ratable 
property in every town in the State as a rule of taxation. It will be found, 
by referring to that act, that the taxable properly in the county of Provi- 
dence amounts to $1,6511,01)0 more than all the taxable property in all the 
other counties in the State; and yet the county of Providence has consid- 
erably less than one-third of the representation which those counties have. 
It will also be found that the taxable property in six of the towns in this 
State an)0unts to about the same as the taxable property in the other twenty- 
five towns ; yet these six towns elect but tbnrteen representatives, while the 
other tov/ns elect the remaining fifty-eight representatives. It will also be 
found that some of our country towns pay five^ others six, others seven, 
others eight, and others nine times the amount of taxes paid by other 
country towns having the same number of representatives as the former; 
and yet this subject has often been represented as a mere question of in- 
terest between town and country. 

These statements prove that the portion of our people who pay the 
weight of the taxes are deprived of their fair numerical influence in the 
appropriation of these taxes. Is this just, fellow-citizens? Is it right? Will 
posterity believe that we are the sons of those men of Rhode Island who 
were foremost to shed their blood and expend their treasure in humbling 
the power of Great Britain, "for imposing taxes upon us without our con- 
sent ?" Certainly those who pay the weight of the taxes are entitled to be 
equally represented, in proportion to their numbers, with those do not. 
This is all we ask for them. But, to crowd them down below the level of 
their equal rights with one hand, and to keep the other hand in their pock- 
ets, only because time and accident have given us the power to do so, is 
unworthy of the successors of Roger Williams, — unworthy of tiie land of 
Greene, Olney, and Perry! 

S! range as it is, the State of Rhode Island, so far famed for relis^ious lib- 
erty, seems to have become insensible to the claims of political liberty. It 
is the only State in this great republican confederacy in which the people 
have not limited the power of their legislature by a written constitution; — 
the only State in the Union in which the people suffer a fair and equal rep- 
resentation of their interests to be defeated by a rotten borough system, al- 
most as odious as that which the subjects of the Kins' of Great Britain have 
too much republican spirit to endure, and which they have lately, in a great 
degree, corrected by a parliamentary reform. 

The remark of one of our own citizens is hut too true — "that the great 
foundations of republican liberty and equality have virtually ceased to be 
the basis of the government of Rho *e Island." He might have added, 



164 Rep. No. o46. 

with equal truth, that "the evil is only to be remedied by a conslitidhn--^ 
a constitution founded upon enlightened and just principles, and approbated 
and adopted by the voice of the people." 

You have just seen that thirty-eight (two more than half of the repre- 
sentatives to the General Assembly) represent less than one ihird of the 
population of the State, namely, thirty-one thousand three hundred and 
eighteen inhabitants ; and, after adding that a majority of that number of 
inhabitants have no voice m the election of those representatives, it will be 
lime for us to advance to the very important inquiry, whether the minority 
of a minority ought any longer to govern this State ; or, whether there 
ought to be such an extension of suffrage as to include among the voters 
a majority of the people. And in prosecuting this inquiry, we have a just 
claim to your patient attention, even if our remarks should be protracted 
to a length in any degree proportioned to its great interest and magnitude. 
A question relating to the rights and disabilities of more than thirteen 
thousand* of your fellow-citizens cannot be hastily and carelessly consid- 
ered and dismissed, without such an imputation of indifference toward their 
feelings and claims, both in those who otl'er reasons, and in those to whom 
those reasons are addressed, as would be alike discreditable to our candor, 
justice, and patriotism. 

We contend, then, that a particijiation in the choice of those who make 
and administer laias, is a natural right, which cannot be abridged^ nor 
suspended any farther titnn the greatest good of the greatest number im- 
peratively requires. And this greatest good is not that of any portion of 
the people, however large, but ot the whole population of a State. It may 
seem strange that a fundamental truth like this, which contains the very 
life-blood and vitality of a republican government, should be called in 
question at the present day, and in our own country. But it is, never- 
theless, true, that there are those who, wliile they yield a formal and guarded 
deference to this great doctrine, yet m their reasoning and practice destroy 
all the force of their hollow and doubtful admission ; and maintain doc- 
trines which, if followed out to their legitimate consequences, would justify 
almost any exercise of irresponsible and unjust power. 

In order to comprehend more clearly the nature of the political right to 
partake in the choice of rulers, let us see, in the first place, how rulers 
came to exist. A nation, or State, is a collection of families, held in union 
by their consent to a form of government for the whole, either express or 
implied. This union, for purposes of defence, and for the security of pre- 
viously existing rights of person and property, (founded on the great law 
of nature written in every man's heart,) takes place, of course, at the first 
settlement of a country. In the early and rude ages of the world, and to 
the present period among uncivilized people, personal strength, courage, and 
fortitude are the only recommendations to public favor ; and the affairs of 
government are usually intrusted to men of war and prowess. In the 
course of time, the power thus delegated, — ^having become fixed in the 



Tlie number of the white male citizens of this Stale, over ihe age of twenty-one years, ac- 
cording to the last census, exceeds twenty-three thousand. Ten thousand would be a very high 
estimate of the number of freemen — probably a thousand too large. But say there are ten 
thousand treemen in the State ; it then becomes a matter of the utmost importance to examine 
a legislative provision, which excludes the whole of the remaining thirteen thousand and some 
hundreds from all political privileges. 



Rep. No. 540. 165 

hands of those who hold it, by means of mihtary force ; or in other hands, 
iike theirs, by conquest, with the aid of tlie lono: train of frauds and arti- 
fices which mioht enlists in its service a^rainst right all over the world, — 
was transmitted, like property, to their successors, who, under the names of 
chiefs, kinu'?, and other appellations to designate the post of supremacy in 
a State, thenceforth became the established sovereigns of the difterent na- 
tions of the farth. 

That the elective process, which has been described, is not the mere fic- 
tion ot speculative writers, bitt actually took phice at some remote period in 
the history of almost every country, (in the old world, for instance, in the 
progress of population westward, from its earliest seat in the east,) is ren- 
dered almost certain by what we know of the institutions of our remote 
progenitors in the forests of Germany, and by the laws and usages of jj^ov- 
ernment in some of the aboriginal tribes of this continent. It was adopted 
among ourselves by the pilgrim fathers, who, when they had passed beyond 
the execution of English laws, proceeded to form a plan of government, by 
nuitual consent and natural suffrage, which was carried into effect upon their 
arrival at the rock of Plymouth. The proceedings of Roger Williams and 
liis associates furnish another striking exam|)le ; and, if we are not greatly 
mistaken, the accurate history of some of our western settlements, at the 
early period when the hardy pioneers first buried themselves in the forest, 
beyond the reach of civilization and law, would elucidate this problem of 
the formation of government, and fully sustain the suggestions that have 
been offered. 

As a general rule, then, government was first formed by the act and 
with tlie consent of those who were to be governed, given either expressly 
or by acquiescence. And what did government confer upon those who 
established it 7 Here lies the radical error of those wlio contend tliat all 
political rights are the creatures of the political compact. Those reasoners 
will tell you about riohis created by society. We wish to nsk, previously, 
what those rights were which existed before political society itself. Those 
rights were the rights to life, to liberty, to property — in general, to the pur- 
suit of happiness. Life was the gift of the common Maker of all ; and 
could not be taken, without conmiitiing the greatest act of injustice which 
one man can commit a^j^ainst another. Personal liberty, too — the right to 
walk abroad upon the face of the earth--was another natural right. The 
bounties of nature were all, at the beginning, spread out before the human 
race fur their sustenance and enjoyment ; and he who should appropriate 
the fruits of the earth to his own use — and more especially those with 
which he had mixed his own labor by the cultivation of the soil — had a 
just ric^ht to repel the invasiotn'of him who should seek to dispossess him of 
what he h;id acquired. This was the natural right to property. Each in- 
dividual also had the riirht of pursuing his own happiness in the way which 
he might prefer, provided he injured no man in the enjoyment of the same 
right. Another great personal right already alluded to, has been reserved 
lor the last : it is the ri^rfit which every mem., amonrr the familits hy which 
nations were composed, had of i^ivino- or rvithholding his voice in every ques- 
tion relating to the uninn of those families in uform of government, and of 
removins" from its jurisdiction if that union were formed against his con- 
sent. The existence of snch a natural right is too evident to be disputed ; 
and so far was it from being surrendered when government was once 
formed, that its continuance was absolutely necessary to maintain the ex- 



166 Kep. No. 546. 

istence of that arovernment by the re-election of new magistrates when the 
terms of those first elected had expired. This right is the very right of 
suffrage which is the burden of our present inquiry, and which we call a 
natural right. Political society could not covfer that right or pvrvf-r upon 
its members by the exercise ofiohick it first came into existence. In other 
words, man, in the exercise of his natural rights, niade government ; 
and government did not give to man his rights. Why, then, it will be 
asked, was government established at all, if not to give rights? We will 
answer by saying that the end of government teas to make previously ex- 
isting rights^ conftrrtd by the hnnd of God^ more secure. Where men 
live in families, as we have described, without laws, each man is the natu- 
ral, and, in most cases, the sole protector of his own rights. If life, liberty, 
property, and happiness be threatened or invaded, each man is then obliged 
to defend himself against the aggressor, and victory will attend not upon 
the best right, but upon the strongest arm. The portion of land appropri- 
ated out of the common stock to individual uses will be liable to coiitiiiual 
invasion. Individual happiness will be perpetually insecure. The right 
of suffrage, which we have shown to exist, but for vvhich there is no use 
in this state of' things, at last brings men of different families together, and 
they agree to certain laws, and upon certain magistrates to execute them ; 
thus freeing themselves from the necessity of perpetual warfare individu- 
ally against individuals, in private defence. This is government. It does 
not give rights, but it defines and defends them. Examine the most exten- 
sive collection of laws in existence, which has been gradually accumula- 
ting for ages, from the necessities of men in their various relations to each 
other, audi which has been matured by the wisdom of the most enlightened 
legislators and judges, and you will not find one just law in the whole of it 
which is not designed to promote and protect some one of the great natural 
rights which existed before written law and political society itself. Gov- 
ernment, then, being designed to accomplish a orreater good for each man 
than he could single-handed secure to him>elf, the greatest good of the 
greatest number must be the everlasting criterion of all governments in all 
ages and parts of the world ; and it is the duty of patriots and philanthro- 
pists, whenever this greatest good has b^^en disregarded, in the abridgment or 
suspension of natural rights, to endeavor to bring back government to its 
original and just principles. The idea of surrendering natural liberty, in 
any proper sense of that word, upon entering into political society, in con- 
sideration of the benefits to be derived from it, is one of those preposterous 
fictions with which day-dreaming men have so long abused the easy credu- 
lity of mankind, and which despotic rulers most readily embrace, that they 
may, with a greater appearance of justice, enslave and oppress their fellow- 
creatures. A man, upon entering into political society, surrenders to the 
magistrate the protection of his rights, and not the existence of the rights 
themselves. 

It is very common to attempt to make a distinction between the rio:ht of 
property, and the riglit to participate in political power, founded on the fact 
that the former is so much less interfered with by governments than the 
latter. From this fact the inference is drawn, tliat the former is a natural 
right, and the latter is not. The fact of interference is true, but the infer- 
ence is not correct. A despotic government will, for its own sake, respect 
the rights of projierty ; but will carefully suppress all political rights as 
coming in contact with itself. And yet various restraints on the holding 



Rep. No. 546. 167 

of property have prevailed, and now prevail, in different countries ; and 
the examination of them would be very much to our purpose if time per- 
mitted. The reason why an enlightened reo^ard to the best "[ood, interferes 
so much more with political rijihts than with the right to hold property, is 
found in the different directions which these rights take in their exercise. 
In acquiring property, a man dirt^cts his attention to the productions of na- 
ture and of industry, and to the various exchanges of them; and the more 
who are at work in this way, the better for the public. Tlie right of voting 
brings a man in contact with his fellow citizens in matters of right and in- 
terest, and controls the legislation by which the latter are protected ; and 
there will be a great many who are too ignorant to exercise it to the advan- 
tage of the whole. 

It is also objected to the doctrine of a natural right of suffrage, that mi- 
nors and females are excluded from political privileges. I'he first part of 
the objection, regarding minors, proves too much for the objectors ; for as 
the minor is debarred from the full enjoyment of the right of properly also, 
until the age of twenty one years, it might be argued, with equal show of 
reason, that there is no natural right of property; for which rii^ht the ob- 
jectors strenuously contend. But the truth is, that the restriction upon mi- 
nors does not confiict in the least with any natural ri^ht; it acknowledges 
their rights, and only decides the period at wliich they shall commence and 
be exercised. This decision is not arbitrary, but founded on a just ob- 
servation and experience of human nature and character, it is necessary, 
before the yoinig man can enjoy any of his natural rights to his own ad- 
vantage, or with safety to the u-eneral good, that he should be able to take 
care of his own interests, should have attained to some knowledge of him- 
self, of affairs, of mankind, of the nature and operations of government. 
True it is that some are better quahfied for political action at tlie age of 
eighteen, than otiiers at the most mature and vigorous period of life. But, 
as a genera! rule, twenty one years are not too long a time to acquire the 
requisites for the full enjoyment of civil and political rio-hts. If men were 
born into the world in the full possession of their physical, mental, and 
moral powers, without the necessity of development, exercise, and cultiva- 
tion, then there might be some force in the objection which is offered. But 
as this is not the case, the rule of all civilized countries, which postpones 
a man's majority until he has attained the stature and capacity of a man, 
is founded on a just deference to the greatest good of the whole, without 
infringing upon individual rights. This rule is merely the continuation 
of a law of nature, enforced in the families of which we have spoken, be- 
fore the formation of political society. 

With regard to the exclusion of women from the exercise of political 
power, we are far enough from denying to them the possession of natural 
rights. It is well known that they formerly exercised the elective franchise 
in one of the States of this Union — New Jersey; and now that they have 
ceased to do so, the suspension of tlieir rights rests not upon any decree of 
mere force, but upon a just consideration of the best good of society, in- 
cluding that of the sex itself. Their own assent, it should be added, con- 
firms this arrangement of their natural protectors; and being fully aware 
that the dignity and purity of iheir sex, character and example, would be 
soon impaired in the conflicts of party strife, they have wisely consented 
to forego the nominal exercise of politiciil power, and to rule mankind by 
the only absolute authority which is consistent with their greatest happi- 



168 Rep. No. 546. 

iiess. There is only one criterion of this abridgment or suspension of the 
rights of our nature — to which we have frequently referred ; and if the 
greatest good of the greatest number do not require the exclusion of women 
from our political assemblies, in accordance with the decision of those 
countries where they are most honored and esteemed, then is this exclusion 
unjust. The inquiry, in each case, is strictly a question of fact. Any 
other exclusion of individuals, or classes of persons, must be tried and de- 
cided by the same rule. 

Bat to proceed : political liberty is not, then, as we hear it sometimes 
said, the after-growth of refined and cultivated ages, but it is the sponta- 
neous oifs[)ring of a natural sense of right and justice; and though harsh 
in some of its features, in an uncivilized age, it may still vigorously exist, 
and even then contain within its rude forms the germs of those institutions 
which shall become the boast and the glory of subsequent and more en- 
lightened generations. To him who studies the philosophy of history, it 
is a matter of surprise and pleasure to discover, in the government of the 
ancient Germans, the elements and principles of liberty which make the 
most valuable portion of the constitution of England, and which have 
been carried out and so greatly improved in our own admirable form of 
government. 

If at all successful in our investigation, we have arrived at the conclu- 
sion, that government was designed for the protection and perpetuation of 
rights — not derived from itself, but natural and inherent — in such a way 
as to promote the greatest good of the whole: and that the question now 
before us is, not what right of suffrage the government ought to grant as 
a gift, but with what restrictions, required by this greatest good, suffrage 
may be claimed as a right by the people of this State. Is it consistent 
with this general good that the present landed qualification should be any 
longer continued as the exclusive condition of exercising the priviU^ge of 
an elector? 

As we are addressing republicans, who believe that a republican govern- 
ment is the only one which truly consults the rights and happiness of the 
people, if we should show that the present restriction is, in its operation^ 
inconsistent with republican principles, then we shall secure the aid of all 
those who consistently hold those principles, in having this restriction re- 
moved. 

While the general welfare is the great aim and object of the American 
plan of government, most ot the governments of the old world are con- 
structed and operate for the benefit of the few, at the expense of all the 
rest. The orignial principle of equality of suftVage at the formation of 
political society has been set entirely at naught ; and you will see a despot 
whose remote anceslor was elected to the head of a state on account of his 
valor and achievements, now claiming to rule over their descendants by 
divine riyht, and to exclude them from political privileges. The eflect of 
this kind of government, and of the artificial condition of society connected 
with it, is to place all the wealth and power of the country in the hands 
of the intelligent few; and, beyond the middle classes, at the other ex- 
tremity of the body politic, to create a mass of poverty, ignorance, and 
degradation, which is incapacitated to participate, to its own sjood, in the 
government of the country, and unfit to accept of a better government if 
it should be offered. This is the most dreadful effect of a long standing 
despotism. In such a state of society, where the vast majority are taughi 



Rep. No. 546. 169 

to re2:ard the few who rule them ns a higher order of heings — are imbued 
wiih a leeliiio- of entire servihty, and liave lost that of personal worth and 
independence — a true lover of his fellow men may well hesitate about the 
propriety and the safety of suddenly introducing a republican system, and 
makinw-'tliem voters all at once, without the preparatory process of educa- 
tion ; since the ffood of the whole, including- the oppressed themselves, 
niight require their exclusion. Such a man, if in his heart a republican, 
would, notwithstandiuof his hesitation about immediate emancipation, still 
acknowledge their natural rights. He would feel that the poorest and most 
deiJ:raded subject ol the most despotic monarch is yet a brother of the hu- 
man race, and has within him the capacity of better things; that all who 
wear the form of humanity are entitled to the hopes and privileges of hu- 
man nature. He would therefore be anxious to qualify the oppressed as 
soon as possible, and to raise them to the privilege of self-government. But 
whatever course a true patriot might feel himself bound to adopt in one 
of the corrupt monarchies of the old world, no sucli reason can be given 
for a postponement of political rights in our own country. No privileged 
orders have ever existpd in it, to create the vast inequality which prevails 
elsewhere between the many and the few, A spirit of freedom was brought 
with them by our ancestors, and has ever subsisted among us. There is a 
very gejieral diffusioti of useful knowledge. The great majority, also, in 
this country, are interested in property of some sort or other ; and are thus 
strictly bound together in interest to support the government. The only 
exception to this general equality is in the slave States, where a large part 
of tlic population's in a still lower condition than the degraded populace 
to which we have alluded. But be the case as it may in those States, there 
is no pretence of any such marked inequality among the citizens of f<e\v 
England, as to designate any particular class of them for exclusion from 
the benefit of political rights. The true American doctrine is, that the 
majority not only have a right to govern, but that they are sulficiently in- 
telligent and honest to govern ; and that, if there be any doubt about this 
sufficiency, we ought immediately to set to work and build more schools. 
Men in Europe, who are opposed to any further improvement in government, 
may talk about the necessity of " barring out the people," and of " defending 
themselves against tlie people." But this will not do here. He, therefore, 
who contends in New England for any limitation of political privileges that 
excludes a majority of his fellow-citizens from voting, whatever may be his 
pany,or professions, or denunciation of other men on the score of republican- 
ism, tells you, in effect, startled though he may be at the sound of the 
words, that he distrusts and is unfavorable to a republican form of gov- 
ernment — that he wishes "to make it safe," by confining all power to the 
minority, who will thus be able to protect themselves against the people. 
Protection ag;ainst the people in this country ! Any man strenuous for the 
present j-ystem, and who calls himself friendly also to popular rights, would 
do well to inquire for the definition of the word "people." It includes, be- 
sides landholders, many more who are getting impatient for a new defini- 
tion of the word, however its meaning may have been settled by long usage 
in this State. Depend upon it, fellow-citizens, that if the people of this 
country become ignorant and corrupt, our form of government will be 
changed, in spite of all the barriers of a landed qualification. While they 
continue intelligent, it is as unnecessary as it is unjust to bar out the ma- 



170 . Rep. No. 546. 

jority. We will not use any flattering words about the intelligence of the 
people, as is too often done, because we would not encournge any self-satis- 
tiiction on this point. Those wfio now claim to be made voters in this 
State wish to see this iuielligence greatly increased. They wish to see 
education taken out of the range of declamation, and made a matter of fact. 
They feel a confidence in the stability of our republican government, and 
that it would be treason to doubt it. Their reliance is on the efTect of yen- 
eral education. They are anxious to see the means of a connnon educa- 
tion greatly increased in Rhode Island, and are ready to pay their propor- 
tion of it by a poll or other tax. They will fear nothing for the country 
so soon as but a small fraction of the population shall be unable to read, 
write, and cipher, and be uninstructed in the principles of common honesty. 
Let those among us wlio fear to extend suffrage, on account of the alleged 
ignorance of the applicants, lend their aid to introduce an improved and ex- 
tended system of public schools. They will thus quiet their own scruples, 
and confer an incalculable benefit upon the State. This is the true, patriotic, 
republican course. We do not concede the name of republican to every 
one who uses it. He only is entitled to it, in our estimation, who prefers a 
republic above all other forms of government; who upholds it by his words 
and his example ; who refuses its privileges to none who are fit for them ; 
who seeks for its perpetuation in the increase of public virtue and. intelli- 
geiice. If anything be wanting to this definition of a republican, it will be 
supplied by the addition tluit he loves his country ihoie than his party, 
however honest it may be. 

Further, as political is the only safeguard of civil liberty — or, in other 
words, as a participation in the choice of those who make laws is the only 
security that those laws shall be just and equal in their operation — we ask, 
is tlie civil liberty of the majority protected as it ought to be in this St;ite? 
"In countries," says an English writer, " where a man is, by birth or for- 
tune, excluded from offices, or from a power of voting for proper persons to 
fill them, that man, whatever be the form of government, or whatever civil 
liberty or power over his own actions he may have, has no power over 
those of another. He has no share of the government, and therefore has 
no political liberty at all. Every man has an absolute and unalienable 
right to civil liberty; and for the security of if, political liberty should be 
extended as widely as possible. No man should be excluded from the ex- 
ercise of it, escepthio- from circumstances of in/avoidable necessity. It 
may appear, at first sight, to be of little consequence whether persons in 
the common ranks of life enjoy any sliare of political liberty or not. But, 
without this, there cannot be that persuasion of security and independence 
which alone can encourajje a man to make great exertions. A man wiio 
is sensible that he is at the disposal of others, over whose conduct he has 
no sort of control^ has always some unknown evil to dread. He will be 
afraid of attracting the notice of his superiors, and must feel himself a mean 
and degraded being. But a sense of liberty, and a knowledge of the laws 
by which his conduct must be governed, with some degree of control over 
those who make and administer the law s, give liim a const.-mt feeling of his 
own importance, and lead him to indulofe a free and manly turn of think- 
ing, wliich will make him greatly superior to what he would have been 
under an ar'ntrary form of government." M'his is tlie language of a foreign 
writer, tlie subject of a monarciiical government. If it be bound and just 



Rep. No 546. 171 

in its application to such a government, it has tenfold force in a country 
with institutions like our own. We see that a man may b« civilly free, and 
politically a slave. An absolute despot may dispense wise laws to his sub- 
jects, and maintain them with impartiality. It is especially his interest to 
guard the right of property, since every addition to the national wealth 
adds to his own resources, and to the strength and splendor of liis govern- 
ment. But there is no security for the coninmance of this protection ; and 
it is in the power of a despotic successor to overturn all previously estab- 
lished laws; to stop the general transfer of property, and to constitute him- 
self, as the present sovereign of Egypt has done, the sole merchant in his 
own dominions. Of course, we do not mean to intimate triat any similar 
gross abuse of power has ever been perpetrated in this State; but, b^ore 
leaving this part of the subject, we would ask one practical question, name- 
ly — whether there has ever been any reason to suspect in our Legislature, 
chosen as it is, any tendency to lean toward this or that interest in the 
State, at the expense of others? 

But not only is our present restrictive system opposed to the fundamental 
principles of a republican govert)ment, but it is in violation of the real in- 
ti'ntions of those who founded our State, and procured the charter of (^harles 
11. It was declared at the first session of the General Assembly, in tire 
year 1(347, that the government of the Mate should be a democracy— that 
is to say, a rule of the people. That rule was perfectly consistent, at 
the foundation of the State, and long after, with a landed qualification. It 
was then in this State, as it is now in our newly-settled western States ; he 
who did not own land, owned nothing. A man who goes to settle in Mis- 
souri, is a purchaser of land as a matter of course. If he be a mechanic, he 
n)ust, nevertheless, before he exercises his trade, make a clearing and set up 
his log hut, A few dollars, for the payment of which he has credit, per- 
haps, will purchase a considerable estate. If a landed qualification were 
introduced into several of the western States, it would not much diminish 
the number of voters, who now vote upon a more extended plan It was 
very much the same in the early days of Rhode Island. Landed property 
was not only the princi|ial property of the citizens, but was so easily attain- 
al)Ie, that a landed qualifi'^aiion for voters excluded only a small portion of 
the people from political power. But the condition of things h:is changed — 
the towns have changed ; new interests have sprung up, and there are now 
great numbers of our most honest, industrious, andusef^ul citizens, who own 
no land, but who contribute by their occupations, and by the payment of 
taxes to the extent of their means, their proportionate measure to the pub- 
lic welfare. Yet these men have no voice in the government which they 
contribute to snp[)ort ; being excluded upon the false notion tliat landed 
property is the only kind that is decisive of a man's intelligence and hon- 
esty. Look at the hardship of the case of a mechanic, for instance. He 
has received a common education ; he has served as a journeyman, and is 
now about to commence business for himself with some small earnings of his 
own ; his savings are only sufficient to procure the implements of his 
trade. After fairly starting in life on his own account, he becomes anxious 
to provide for himself a home. He marries; he hires a tenement; in the 
course of time he acquires more money, which his interest demands should 
be invested in the stock of his trade. He is fully able to purchase one hun- 
dred and thirty four dollars worth of land ; but it is, in most cases, against 



172 Rep. No. 546. 

his interest to do so, until he can purchase a great deal more. In the mean 
time, he is debarred from the polls; atjd if lie asks why, the answer must 
be that the non-freeholders are too ignorant or dishonest to be trusted in so 
important a matter as voting. This we believe is a fliir statement of the 
case of hundreds of mechanics in this State ; of exactly how many hun- 
dreds, we are not now able to say, but we hope to lay this information be- 
fore you at some future time. The people of this State cannot be aware of 
the real operation of the present system, or they would long since have ap- 
plied a corrective. Take some examples of the way in which this system 
works : 

"In 1830 there were, in the town of North Providence, 779 male inhabit- 
ants over 21 years of age ; of whom 200 were freeholders, leaving 579 non- 
freeholders. In 1832, 66 of the non freeholders were taxed for about 
$50,000 worth of property. The amount of their taxes was $140. This tax 
was levied on those only who kept stores, or who were known to have prop- 
erty ; while there were probably three times that number whose bank stock 
and other property amounted to as much more, unknown to the assessors. 
There are residing in Pawtucket /^yd patriots of the Revolution, who have 
no voice in any of the alTairs of the town or State." 

"In Providence, 65 non-freeholders alone have lately paid a tax of 1,078 
dollars; and 361, including the 65, a tax of 1,810 dollars." (Some eldest 
sons are included in this list.) 

" In Cumberland, there are 210 tax-payers who Iiave no vote. 280 per- 
sons voted at the last election in that town." 

"In Warren, there are 136 freeholders, natives of this State, and 49 resi- 
dent freeholders, natives of other States. In 1833, 79 non-freeholders were 
assessed $156 42." 

But this restriction is not merely burdensome upon traders and mechan- 
ics. How f^ire the younger sons of farmers? True, a sort of virtue is 
transmitted from the land owner, bnt it reaches no farther than the first- 
born son. We have but a word to say about that remnant of the right of 
primogeniture — the privilege of the eldest son to vote. If we had a fran- 
chise to give away, and the question was, which of the sons in the family 
should have it, there would be many good reasons for preferring the eldest. 
But the real question is, why either of the sons, or any other person, should 
be exempted from the general law of qualification, whatever it may be. 
No good reason has been, nor can be, given. 

But the farmer himself does not escape the effect of the present law. 
Misfortune may overtake him, and he may be obliged to morigajje his es- 
tate — perhaps to some non-freeholder, who has accumulated his earnings, 
and has something to lend. The moment the mortga^jee goes into posses- 
sion, the farmer';} former capacity and competency literally fall to the ffround: 
he is no longer fit to be trusted with a vote ; and the non freeholder, who 
was before not to be trusted, becomes all at once invested with the dignity 
and immunities of a freeman. But industry retrieves the farmer's losses, 
and he redeems his estate. His int( lligence and trnstv/orthiness return up- 
on him by the magic of his title deed ; and the hapless wight, who has thus 
been uidulged with the brief fruition of political privileges, shrinks away, 
all at once, into his former insignificance. What does such a farmer think 
about suffrage? 

Take the three professions of law, divinity, and medicine. The majori- 



Hep. No. 546. m 

ty of lawyers,* clergymen, and physicians,! as a body, certainly are not 
landholders; and yet we freely intrust our property, our consciences, and 
our lives to men who, the law says, are too ignorant and corrupt to vote 
for a constable ! We feel a proper respect for the lundholdtrs ot this State. 
A great part of this convention are landholders. We are happy to see tliat 
so much of the good old-fashioned spirit of the primitive tmies has been 
transmitted to our own, through the farming interest. But notwithstanding 
the just estimation in which we hold this interest, — that we should say, or 
believe, that all the intelligence, honesty, and patriotism in the State reside 
with them, is too much for their modesty to ask, or for our sense of justice 
to concede. 

We see, then, that a landed qualification operates, at the present day, very 
differently from what it did in early times. If one of those ancestors who 
voted for "democracy," in 1647, could speak to us from the tombs, would 
he counsel us to rescind that vote, and change the name, — or to correct that 
legislation by which it has become a dead letter? We can be at no loss for 
an answer to this question. 

If we look at the charter, and the early laws relating to freemen, we shall 
see still more clearly how opposed the present law is to the true intention 
of our predecessors. The charter vests the election of freemen in the 
General Assembly, a.nd prescribes no qi/nlification. The company being a 
land company, with powers of government annexed, and having in view to 
improve and settle tfieir territory as fast as possible, it would have been nat- 
ural for them, independently of the reason that landed property was then 
almost the only property, to prefer such members as would take an interest 
in the cultivation of the soil. The company was empowered by the charter 
to transport to the colony, for its plantation and defence, such persons as 
might be willing to accompany them ; and the emigrants became farmers, as 
a matter of course. The Assembly, therefore, in favorably regarding the 
agricultural interest, evidently had no political design ; and practised no 
restriction, in the sense in which a landed requisite is one at the present 



♦ In October, 1718, it was enacted by the General Assembly, that no person should have "in 
any one cause above two attorneys," and that one of them should be "a freeholder, a freeman, 
and an inhabiiantin this colony." 

In October, 1729, an act was passed " restricting all lawyers from being chosen deputies (to 
the General Assembly) of any towns in this colony, during their practising the law." it was 
repealed at the February session succeeding, having been found, as is stated in the preamble to 
the repealing act, "to be of ill consequence, and inconsistent with the right of his Majesty's 
subjects in this colony," A marvelous sense of justice! 

It cannot be necessary to do more than allude to a more recent act of the Legislature, impo- 
sing a special tax on members of the legal profession ; to a vote excluding ihem from seats at 
the bar ol the House of Representatives; and to a vote depriving insolvent petitioners of the benefit 
of argument by counsel, upon the trial of their petitions. 

t In October, 1748, a fine of 100 pounds, " for f very such offence," was imposed on any physi- 
cian who should refuse or neglect to obey the orders of the Governor, and a list of other State 
ana town othcers, in their attempt to prevent the spreading of a contagious disease. On turn- 
ing to a previous law (of 1743) to ascertain what could be required of a physician, it appears 
that the abovementioned officers might, at their pleasure, send him, or any otlier " suitable per- 
son" on board of an infected vessel, without any regard to his own inclination. Medical men, 
to their great honor, have, with rare exceptions, been ready, in all titnes of pestilence and ca- 
lamity, to sacrifice their health and to risk their lives in the service of the public ; and this com- 
pulsory process is unjust to their rights and character, and ill-suited to their feelings. The act 
does not specify whether any distinction shall be made between freeholders and non-freeholders 
ill this case. The penalty lias been changed from £100 to ,^40; and now stands at that sum. 
We have had some strange laws in this " government." 



174 Rep. No. 546. 

time. The requisite of admission was not made a political instrument till 
loti^ after. There is reason to believe that they looked more to the fitness 
of the person proposed for admission, than to his property in land ; though 
almost every decent person in those times was a land-owner of course. 
There were inhabitants not freemen ; but their number must have been 
small. To show the sense of the Legislature on the subject of qualifica- 
tions, we ask your attention to some of their acts. 

The act of March, 1(jG3-'4 declared "That all persons whatsoever, that 
are inhabitants within this colony, and admitted freemen of the same, shall 
and may have liberty to vote for the electing of all the general officers in 
this colony, «fec.; as is expressed in the charter of the colony." 

It also enacted "That no person shall be elected to the place of a deputy 
to sit in the General Assembly of this colony, but those that are freeholders 
therein, and freemen of the same." 

In the same year it was farther declared " That all men professing Chris- 
tianity, and of competent estates,* and of civil conversation, who acknowl- 
edge and are obedient to the civil magistrate, though of different judgments 
in religious affrdrs, (Roman Catholics only excepted,!) shall be admitted 
freemen," and be permitted to choose officers, atid to be eligible to office. 

No estate of any kind is required by the first act ; and none of any fixed 
value by the last, to make a freemen. It probably varied, both in kind and 
quantity, with the opinion entertamed by the Assembly of the applicant's 
character and demeanor. It is important to notice the distinction made be- 
tween tlie electors and those who might be elected deputies to the General 
Assembly. The electors were to be freemen — admitted at first without any 
specified qualification, and next upon having "competent" estates; — the 
deputies must have estates in land — be freeholders awe/ freemen. 

The act of 1665 continues the qualification of" competent estates," with- 
out defining them. (Page 154 of old record.) 

In 1666 it was enacted that the freemen of each town shall have " full 
power granted them to admit so many persons, inhabitants of their respect- 
ive towns, freemen of their towns, as shall be by them adjudged deserving 
thereof." It was made the duty of the town clerks of all the towns, once a 
year, to send a list of all the freemen admitted in their respective towns to 
the General Assembly, the day before the election ; and of the general re- 
corder to enrol in the colony's book " such persons that shall be so returned, 
and admitted freemen of the colony."+ 

The desert here spoken of must have been good character, and useful- 
ness to the colony. The towns might, and no doubt did, consider some to 
be deserving of admission who owned no land, and others to be unfit who 
did. 

It was enacted in 1724 that no person should be admitted a freeman, un- 

* Previously to the grant of the present charter, there was no other requisite for admission 
than that of " being found meet for the service of >the body" politic — a body, by the way, into 
which our ancestors first incorporated themselves by natural and equal suffrage. 

t See note to page 159. 

X It appears that there was an intermediate step between the practice of electing freemen wholly 
by the General Assembly, and afterward wholly by the towns. This is more clearly explamed 
in the manuscript Digest of 1719. The plira'eology of the act of 166G there varies greatly 
from that of the printed act. At pages 35 and 36, it is enacted " That every town, at their town 
meeting, hath power to make such men freemen of their towns as they shall judge may be meet, 
and may be serviceable to serve in the towns in town offices." The act goes on to say, that all 
such persons may then vote for town officers; and that after their names shall have been pre- 
sented to the General Assembly, and they *' pass by vote to allow ihem freemen of the colony," 
hey may vote for general officers. 



Kep. No. 546. 175 

less he were a freeholder of lands, &c , of the vaUie of 100 pounds, or to 
the vahie of 40 shilhngs a year; or tJie eldest son of siicli a freeholder; 
'•any other act, cusiom, or usage, to the contrary liereof notwithstandinc^." 

In 1730 it was enacted "That no person whatsoever shall be admitted 
a freeman of any town in this colony, unless he be a freeholder of lands, 
&c., to the value of 200 pounds, or 10 pounds per annum, or the eldest 
son of such a freeholder." 

Id 1742 it was further declared that no person shall be admitted to vote, 
but such only who, at the time of voting, are freemen, and possessed of 
land, &.C., as above. 

The preamble of the act of 1746 complains of the inroad of bribery and 
corruption into the colony; and gives, as the occasion of it, the manner of 
adnntting freemen, which " is so lax, and their qualifications as to their 
estates so very loir^ that many persons are admitted, who are possessed of 
little or no property^ Tlie remedy of the evil (whether real or pretended 
by the leading politicians to cover iheir desigi-i, we need not now inquire) 
consisted in raising the qualification to 400 pounds value, or 20 pounds 
rent per annum ; without which, no one was " allowed to vote or act as a 
freeman." 

Tlie qualification of voters was changed again in 1762; and it was en- 
acted that no person whatever should be permitted to vote, or act as a 
freeman, but such only as were possessed of a real estate of the value of 
40 pounds, or which sliall rent for 40 shillings per annum. 

It is sufficiently evident, from this brief examination, tlmt a freeman was 
not necessarily a freeholder; and that the mode of admittijig freemen, pre- 
viously to the act of 1724, [whicli act, for the first lime in. the coleny, estab- 
lished an. exclusive freehold qualification,) was entirely irregular ; and the 
language used about its laxity, and the lowness of qualifications, and the 
allusion in the act of 1724 to "a custom or usage to the contrary" of what 
was then enacted, show that the restriction had been merely nominal. 
There is anotlier itnportant fact apparent from the acts raising the qualifi- 
cation to two and four hundred poiuids, namely — that a distinction was thus 
made amoui; the freemen themselves. All persons (previously freemen, or 
not, it made no difference) who did not come up to the sum of two and 
four hundred pounds, were, by these acts, deprived of their privileges. 
The acts of 1742, 1746, and 1762, directed not merely who should be ad- 
mitted freemen in future, but also who should cease to act as such.* This 
unmaking of freemen, or depriving; them, without proof of crime, of every- 
thing but the mere name, was a clear violation of the spirit of the charter, 
and goes, iu addition to the remarks already made upon the operation of 
that nistrument, to show how little it was practically regarded in the busi- 
ness of legislation ; and that the General Assembly then exercised, as now, 
an undefined power, similar to that of the Parliament of England. " If rep- 
resentatives of the people," it has been well said, "chosen for the ordinary 
purposes of legislation, could assume a control over this right, (the right of 
sufiVage,) to limit, curtail, or extend it at will, they might disfranchise any 
portion they pleased of their own electors — might deprive them of the power 
ever to remove them ; and thus reduce the govenmient to a permanent 
aristocracy.^^ 

*Our statute-book, at the present day, does not prescribe, in direct terms, who .shall be free- 
men, but who shall not vote or act as such. The law, on its very face, is an excluding rather 
than an enabling act. 



17() Rep. No. 546. 

The existing restriction on suffrage is, then, we think, clearly in opposi- 
tion to the real iiilention of our aticeMors, and to the spirit of the democracy 
which they estabhshed. We have already seen that it exchides many wiio 
pay taxes. It is further objectionable, because it occasions those taxes to 
be imposed without consent, and without any control of their expenditure. 
It was this same evil to which our fathers refused to submit, and whicli led 
lo the revolutionary contest. It is still an evil, thouo;h visited upon a large 
portion of the people by their own fellow-citizens. If it were unjust tor 
our forefathers to be taxed without representation, it is equally unjust for 
their descendants to be so taxed by their brethren, so long as they have no 
voice in determining either the quantity or appropriation. How, let it be 
asked, are the duties on those articles of foreign importation, which are 
consumed in this State, paid? By the body of the consumers, who consist 
as well of non freeholders as of the owners of the soil. The expenses of 
the General Government, as we well know, are paid without any resort to 
direct taxation. The non freeholders pay their full proportion to govern- 
ment in the shape of duties, and yet they have no part in national affairs; 
because those only can vote for Representatives lo Congress who are voters 
for members of the most popular branch of the State Legislature. And 
these voters are exclusively the owners of the soil. This injustice is so 
palpable, that we think it must extort the confession of all who give it a 
moment's attention. Ought it not to be remedied? 

The objection that the non-freeholders, if admitted, will vote away the 
money of other people, comes with a very ill grace from those who are now 
voting away the money of these very non-freeholders without their con- 
sent. 

The present system is also inconsistent with itself. It excludes intelli- 
gent and upright men from the polls, because their business is such that 
the possession of the requisite landed qualification is impracticable. And yet, 
in many instances, they are bound to the soil by a species of real property, 
consisting of houses, workshops, &,c., built upon land leased to them for a 
term of years. A life estate entitles a man to vote ; a lease for 99 years 
does not. Is this consistency ? 

Again : the present system of voting is opposed to the spirit of the con- 
stitution of the United Slates. That constitution contemplates no such 
distinction among the citizens as our law creates. It guaranties to each 
State a republican form of government, the very nature of which is to ex- 
tend the right of voting to a majority of its citizens. If we venerate that 
instrument, why should we any longer withhold those privileges which it 
intends to confer? 

Another objection to our law of restriction is, that it is opposed to the 
theory and practice of all the other Slates, with a single partial exception. 
In North Carolina a freehold is still required to vote for a Senator. This 
is now the only remaining State in which the right to vote for any officer 
is confined exclusively to landholders. 

The following is a table of the qualifications of voters in all the States, 
derived from a careful examination of each of their constitutions: 

Mame.— Citizenship of the United States, and three months' (next pre- 
ceding) State residence. Untaxed Indians excluded. 

New Hcifnpshire. — Inhabitance and payment of taxes. 

Massachusetts. — Citizenship: one year's Stale, and six months' (next 
preceding) town or district residence, and payment of taxes. 



Rep. No. 546. 177 

Connecticut. — Citizenship of the United States, and settlement in the 
State, with a freehold of seven dollars yearly value, and six months' (pre- 
cedino-) town residence; or, a year's performance of mihtary dnty ; or, the 
payment of taxes, with good moral character. Blacks excluded. 

Vcrmnut. — One. year's (next previous) residence, with quiet and peacea- 
ble behavior, and an oath to vote according to conscience " touching any 
matter that concerns the State." 

Rhode Island. — inhabitance in town where vote is offered, with real es- 
tate to the full value of 134 dollars, or which shall rent for 7 dollars per 
annum; or, being the eldest son of a freeholder, to the same amount. Vo- 
ting, by writing name on back of ticket — same in effect as viva voce. 
Blacks excluded. 

New York. — Citizenship, with one year's State, and six months' (next 
previous) town or county residence, and payment of a tax within the year 
preceding an election, unless exempted; or performance of military duty 
within tl^it year, unless exempted ; or, p. rformance of labor upon the high- 
ways, (unless an equivalent has been paid) with three years' (next prece- 
ding) State, and one (the last) year's town or county residence. For men 
of color, three years' citizenship of the State, with a freehold of the value 
of 250 dollars, owned for one year preceding an election, and having paid 
a fax thereon. 

Neio Jersey. — One year's (immediately preceding) county residence, and 
being worth 50 pounds proclamation money. 

Pennsylvatda. — Two years' (next previous) residence, and payment of a 
State or county tax, assessed at least six months before an election. Sons 
of voters allowed to vote between the ages of 21 and 22 years, without 
having paid taxes. 

Didaware. — Citizenship, with one year's (next preceding) State and the 
last moiitli's county residence, and payment of a tax assessed six months 
before an election. Citizens allowed to vote between the ages of 21 and 22 
years, wiihout having paid a tax. Blacks excluded. 

Maryland. — Citizenship, with one year's State, and six months' (next 
preceding) county residence. Blacks excluded. 

F/ro-«///a— Citizenship and residence — with a freehold qualification, ac- 
cording to the former constitution — or, a freehold of the value of 25 dollars 
— or, a reversion in land of the value of 50 dollars — or, the occupancy of a 
leasehold estate, of a term originally not less than five years, at a rent of 20 
dollars a year — or, lastly, having been a housekeeper and head of a family 
for 12 months next preceding, in the place where application is made to 
vole, and having paid a State tax within the preceding year. Voting viva 
voce. Blacks excluded. 

Norfdt Carolina. — To vote for Senators, one year's (immediately pre- 
ceding) residence in any one county, and a freehold, within the same 
county, of fifty acres of land, held for six months next previous, and at the 
day of election. — To vote for members of the House of Commons, one 
year's (immediately preceding) residence in any one county, and having 
paid public taxes. 

South, Carolina. — Citizenship and two years' State residence previous to 
the day of election, with a freehold of fifty acres of land, or a town lot, 
legally possessed at least six months previous, — or, without a freehold, 
having been a resident in the election district where the vote is offered six 
months previous. Blacks excluded. 
12 



178 Rep. No. 546. 

Georgia. — Citizenship and inliabitance, with six months' county resi- 
dence, and the payment of taxes, if assessed, for the year preceding an 
election. Voting viva voce. 

Ohio. — A residence of one year next preceding an election, and bein^ 
assessed to pay a State or county tax, — or, laboring on the roads. Blacks 
excluded. 

Kentucky. — Citizenship, with two years' Slate, or one year's (next pre- 
ceding) town or county residence. Voting viva voce. Blacks, mulattoes, 
and Indians excluded. 

Tennessee. — Irjhabitance in the State, and a freehold in the county 
where the vote is offered, — or, inliabitance in any one county six months 
immediately precednig the day of election. 

Mississippi — Citizenship of the United States, with one year's (next 
preceding) State, and the last six months' county or town residence, and 
enrolment in the militia, — or, having paid a State or county tax. Blacks 
excluded. 

Alabama. — Citizenship of the United States, with one year's (next pre- 
ceding) State, and the last three months' county or town residence. Blacks 
excluded. 

Louisiana. — Citizenship of the United Stati s, with one year's (next pre- 
ceding) county residence, and the payment of a State tax within the last 
six months prior to the election. Blacks excluded. 

Indiana. — Citizenship of the United States, with one year's (next pre- 
ceding) residence, entitles to vote in the county where resident. Blacks 
excluded. 

Illinois. — Residence in State for six months next preceding an election 
entitles to vote in the county or district where resident. Voting viva voce. 
Blacks excluded. 

Missouri. — Citizenship of the United States, with one year's (the next 
before) Slate, and the last three months' county or district residence. Blacks 
excluded. 

Those v/ho call in question any natural right of suffrage, lay great stress 
upon the fact that in so many of these constitutions* the qualifications of 
persons eligible .to the offices of government are fixed much higher tharn 
those of the eleciors themselves. They say that therefore political rights 
are not self-subsistent, but are derived from an arbitrary appointment of 
the lawgiver. We do not consider any such distinction to be necessary in 
this State, nor do we contend for it; and it is a sufficient answer to the 
objectors to say, that where the distinction does exist, it was made by the 
people themselves, in their original, sovereign capacity. The constitutions 
of all the States proceeded from the great mnjority of the people, fairly rep- 
resented in convention. These constituiions were laid beiore them for 
acceptance or rejection. They could and did define, limit, and settle their 
own rights as they saw fit. The fact above stated, so far then fiom proving 
anything against the rights of the people, proves another thing conclusively 

♦ The Slates which have made landed property an indispensable requisite fur ihe governor, 
senators, and representatives, are the following; New Hampsiiire, Norih Carolina, South Caro- 
lina, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi. In New York, the governor and senators; in 
New Jerse}', the legislative councillors and represeniaiivs; in Virginia, the senators and 
representatives; and in Massachusetts and Georgia, the goveinors, must be landhoMers. In 
ihe remaining tliirteen Slates, no property in landis exclusively required of ar>y of the above- 
mentioned officers. 



Rep. No 546. 179 

in fcivnr of the people, namely, — that, in manifesting so much solicitude that 
nil places of trust should be filled with those most competent to dischari^e 
their duties, and in thus foregoing an equal claim to iliem in all the voters, 
they h ive shown themselves the safe depository of political power, aud 
eminently worthy of republican freedom and self-government. 

We do not ask for a change here, merely because a restriction like ours 
has been abolished in other States, but because such a change is right. 
Still, tlie fact that twenty two out of twenty three of the other States have 
no such exclusive landed qualification as that now insisted upon in this, 
ought to go far in overcoming any doubts or scruples on the subject of ati 
extension of suftrage. Are not the people of the other States our brethren? 
Are we not all bound together as one people, under the glorious constitution 
of the United States? Uan the j)eople of this State be expected to entertain 
any less liberal ideas of republican freedom and government than the vast 
majority of their brethren elsewhere, who are united to them in interest 
and feeling, and separated only by the outline of State boundaries? Such 
an expectation is unreasonable, and contradicted by all observation and ex- 
perience. Are not the people of otiier States, who have adopted the plan 
of extension, as enlightened, as capable of understanding the greatest good 
of the whole, as much blessed with sound laws and the wise execution of 
them, as ourselves? Are we indebted to a landed suffrage for any decided 
superiority in our civil and social condition ? Have we gone further than 
all others, in proportion to our means, in providing for public instruction 
and public charities? We are obliged reluctantly to admit the contrary. 
Not to pursue this part of our subject any further at present, let any man 
point to any one practical result m this State, which gives an advantage 
to a landed qualification for voters over that of the payment of taxes, and 
we shall be happy to give it a fair consideration, and allow to it all the 
weiiiht to which it may be entitled. 

One of the reasons offered in favor of a freehold qualification is, that it 
tends to a greater division of land, and to check the increase of great landed 
estates. Even admitting this to be trup, the remedy is not wanted; for it 
has already been supplied by the statute of distributions. The right of 
primogeniture, as it respects property, has been done away. An equal divi- 
sion most commonly takes place at the death of a parent; and it is perfectly 
well known that the third, or fourth generation at most, in this country, 
scatters the greatest accumulation that the industry and economy of the 
ancestor is ever able to make. Property is divided and equalized in our 
country, to an extent never known in any other. And the interest in prop- 
erty of some kind or other, thus created in the majority of the people, is 
one reason, and a strong one, for believing that our form of government 
will be permanent. In no Slate, which has exchanged the landed for a tax 
qualification, has there been the slightest complaint of too great an accumu- 
lation of land in a k\v hands from this cause. The argument is evidently 
more for the benefit of the present suffrage law, than for the benefit of the 
people. 

What, then, is the object of any property qualification at all for a voter? 
The only just object is to raise a presumption of his honesty and intelli- 
gence. VVhere this honesty and intelligence can be ascertained, indepen- 
dently of a particular qualification, there the necessity of it ceases. Men of 
all opinions readily say, in the discussion of the question of suffrage, We 
should be perfectly willing to let in all honest and intelligent persons to 



180 Kep. No. 546. 

vote, whether they have property or not, if we could only ascertain (hem. 
The man of substance is not admitted to vote, upon ony property qualifica- 
tion which niay he adopted, because he is a man of substance, but because 
Ijis quahfication raises the necessary presumption in his favor. If the law 
merely reg^arded the voter's substance, then the more substantial he might 
be, the more power should he have as a voter. If this were the spirit of a 
law relating to the elective right, then, to be consistent, we ought to go back 
to ihe plan adopted by one of the kings of ancient Rome, who divided the 
voters into classes and centuries, in such a way, that though each man had 
but one vote, yet the men of substance had the most centuries, and so con- 
trolled the elections. But how does property, or the ability to pay a tax, 
(which implies property, and amounts to the same thing,) raise an inference 
of a man's honesty and intelligence? Only in this way : if a man inherit 
property, the presumption is, judging by the natural fieelings of men, that 
the parent who left it to him was able and willing to give him education 
enough to use it properly; if a man have acquired property, the presump- 
tion .IS, and must be, as a general rule, that industry and probity were exer- 
cised by him in sc^doing; and that the cares and relations, which properly 
brings with it, have sharpened iiis faculties, and increased his natural intel- 
ligence. Now, all we ask is, that every man among us who can be fairly 
presumed to be honest and intelligent enough to exercise the privilege of a 
voter, consistently with the best good of our whole population, should be ad- 
mitted to that privilege. And we propose such a quahfication as will raise, 
in our condition of society, the presumption of honesty and intelligence ; 
and if a certain minimum, or smallest sum, were fixed, so that every one 
who chose to pay a tax on not less than dollars should become a vo- 
ter, all pretence of objection on account of the supposed control the assessors 
of taxes might have over elections would be entirely removed. 

A strict registration of voters we consider indispensable ; and voting by 
baltot, so that it could not be known how the vote was given, would remove 
the objection of improper influence. We are very desirous to see it intro- 
duced. 

The distinction proposed between the qualifications of the native and the 
naturalized citizen is founded on the principle already laid down, viz: that 
the abridgment or suspension of a political right to promote the greatest 
good of the greatest number, and for that purpose only, is the self-preserving 
law of a political society. The restriction places the foreign born citizen ii» 
a better condition than the present freeholder, as he is only required to have 
been once the owner of a freehold, for a certain length of time, to be deter- 
mined by the framers of a constitution. The non-freeholders are willing 
and anxious to l)e tried by this law of the greatest good. The moment it 
can be shown that their claim of privilege is inconsistent with the greatest 
good of the whole community, they are willing to withdraw it. But let it 
be so shown. 

It is a mistake in any to suppose that this restriction is at variance with 
any provision in the constitution of the Uniied States. When the constitu- 
tion says that "the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States," it does not mean that they 
shall carry their rights with them from one State to another, but that they 
shall accept of such as are provided in the State to which they have re- 
moved their residence, and be subject to all distinctions tliere established. 

There are some who consider themselves as making a reply to the argu- 



Rep. No. 546. 181 

men\s whidi have been offered, by affirmino^ that '-'no one ought to inter- 
fere with the rules and usages of a land company P What idea snch per- 
sons can have of the nature of the government of this country, or of any 
government, it would not be easy to determine. "The rules and usages of 
a land company," both civil and pohlical, must then prevail forever in 
Rhode Island, whether right or wrong. We hope to be al)le on all occa- 
sions to manifest a becoming resignation to the appointments of Divine 
Providence; but we have not any such respect for the decrees and ordi- 
nances of men, no belter than ourselves, as to believe or admit that, in polit- 
ical afTairs, " whatever is, is right." The " rules and usages of a land com- 
pany" may be very convenient for those who hold power, and desire to keep 
it ; but they have no recommendations of justice or policy to others who are 
kept out of possession of their proper share of that power, though they have 
a permanent interest in the State, and are not destitute of a patriotic attach- 
ment to their native land.* Tlie colonists of Rhode Island were indeed a 
land company; bat they were endowed with political privileges, and have 
exsrcised the usual functions of government; and for what piirposc'gov- 
ernment was made, and who ought to partake in it, we have already seen. 
The friends of reform do not ask, nor do they consider themselves answered 
by being informed, how old their jjovernment is. Their question is, whether 
it be right or wrong. If an attempt were made to gel possession of the 
shares of a trading, banking, insurance, or, if you please, of a land compa- 
ny, williout the payment of an equivalent, then there would be just reason 
for protesting against this invasion of chartered and vested rights. If such 
an attempt should be made, those who are aggrieved will find complete pro- 
tection in the strong arm of the law. 

We would ask ojf those who contend that everything should remain in 
this generation as it came to us from tlie preceding, one or two questions. 
Suppose that some eminent individual in Eiiwjandt had been employed to 
draw up a form of government for the colony of Rhode Island ; and that, for 
the sake of conformity with the institutions of the mother country, he had 
introduced a provision into the charter to the effect that the offices of gov- 
ernor, deputy governor, and of the assistants, should forever be confined to 
the male de^cendents of Arnold, Wdliam^, OIney, and the other persons who 
were named in the charter, to fill them for the first time. Suppose farther, 
that this hereditary Senatnt had not been abolished at the Revolution, but 
that it had Continued to our own time: would you now advocate it? And if 
so, might you not say that it was established by the original law of a " land 
company," confirmeci by usage, and too venerable to be disturbed? If op- 
posed to it, would you not say, however determined the Senators might be 
never to surrender their liereditary privileges, that there ought to be, and 
must be, some way of voting them down? To add one more question — 

*Ii ha. subject for reflection, that, while si me of tlie desceodait-: of the early settlers of the 
Stale have no vole in the places of their Jatht rs any one may ccme in from abroad, and upon 
the purrh ise of real estate, and being piopmuided three months prev^icusly, may become a vo- 
ter. We welcome strangers, but not to greater privileges than are enjoyed by the inajority of 
oil own citizens. , 

t Tlie consiituiion prepared for the Slate of South Carolina by the celebrated Locke can 
hardly be deemed to have created anv exception lo the siatemeni be lore made, that no privileged 
order of men had ever exi-ted in this count v; since, that (■oii^iitiition was found to be totally 
Jmpracticab'e, and was abroaaied in KJO'J, ader a duration of im y 2'i year>. 

?It is one of the very remarkable features of our Slate goverumeni, that the Senate is the m-ore 
|)opul2.r branch of the Legislature. 



182 Rep. No. 546. 

what is the meaning of the clause in the conslitntion of the United States^ 
which guaranties to each State a repuhlican ftrm of governnjent ? Is it noty 
that no constitution, hivv, nor usa^e of any Stale, however agreeable to the 
majority, sliall ever be suffered to compel ihe snbmission of a minority to a 
form of government in any respect anti repnbhcan ? If the minority in 
every State be thus taken care of, most assuredly any expression of the will 
of the majority, not inconsistent with the definition of a republic, will be 
recognised by the General Government. 

It IS a great mistake to say that the prescription in favor of the present 
order of things has never been disturbed. At about the commencement of 
the Revolution, the General Assembly manifested their sense of the neces- 
sity of some change, by the appointment of a committee to report upon a 
proper form of government for the Slate. No report, it is believed, was ever 
made. Otlier attempts, both for partial and general reform, liave been un- 
successful; and tlie evils of the body politic have been suffered to accumu- 
late. 

Blit it ought to be borne in mind that no continuance of usage, or pre- 
scription however lonor, can impair or lake away political rights from the 
people. From the ancient English maxim, '' Time does not run against 
the king," erase the word "king," and insert " people," and you have a 
great and everlasting truih. INo delay or acquiescence on iheir part can 
ever make it right to govern wrong, or to deprive any man of a voice in 
public affairs, who is sufficiently honest and intelligent to use it well. 

We have seen that our existing fieehold qualification for voters is incon- 
sistent with a just regard to natural rights; thai it is opposed to the prin- 
cijtles of a republican government; to the real intentions of the founders of 
this State; to the declaration of American independence; to the spirit of tlie 
constitution of the United States ; to the practice of all tfie other States but 
one ; that it is inconsistent with itseh, attd unfair in its operation. Still 
farther: admitting, lor argutnent's sake, (and God forbid that we should ev^er 
otherwise make the admission, so long as we retain any recollection of the 
declaration of independence, and of the principles, the acts, and the men 
of the Revolution!) that there are no natural rights, and that all political 
power and privilege proceeds from the government to the people, the pres- 
ent landed qualification is proved to be highly tinnecessary and in xpe- 
dient. But there are many, who are capable of feeling the ti-rce of these 
objections, who will call them abstract and theoretical, and say that they 
want more facts. We want them too ; and we ask these objectors to go 
along with us in the search — bearing in mind at the same time that, as the 
freehold restriction is in derogation of political rights, the burden of proving 
its nece.'-sity rests upon its advocates. We have come to the great issue of 
fact, which we now again tender to our fellowciiizens, and it is: Are those 
citizens who, by an extension of suffrage, would be admitted to vote, such 
a class of persons as are unfitted by their character to paiticipate in the po- 
litical privileges which they claim ? We wish this question to be fairly 
niet. Enough has been said, in vague and general terms, about '■'■ uinvhole- 
some ciiizetis,^^ "persons nut to be safely trusted." "without property, and 
vicious ;" about '* protecting the sound \m\x\ of the conmiuniiy against those 
who have nothing at s'take in society," and ''protecting the people against 
iiiiruders and adventurers from other Stales." Ii is perfecily < asy to make 
this general declamation, and it has its natural and designed effect upon too 
many minds. Let those who use this language come out and say, if they 



Rep. No. 548. 183 

will venture the assertion, that the body of trader^t and mechanics^ and pro- 
fessional nicn^ and sons of landholders^ are the base and corrnpt persons 
who are aimed at in. ihes9 sweeping deiinnciations. No others can be 
meant. They are the men who unite with a large portion of the farn:iing 
interest in demanding a reform. Shame, then, upon those defamers of their 
fellow citizens who, in tlie ititercsted defence of a decrepid and tottering 
system, resort to this wanton and nnrnanly abuse and dispuragement, which 
(he daily business and intercourse of life prove to be wholly destitute of 
foundation in truth. We shall endeavor to show the people more in detail 
who these men are, who now claim the esiablisnment of tlieir just rights, 
and how many of them contribute by taxes to the public irtaMiry. We 
invite you, fellow-citizens, to go along with us, and to aid us in the inves* 
tigaiion. 

But there is one charge made against the friends of reform, which ought 
not to be passed by without a more particular notice. It is said by some, 
that they are urging on a war against property, and stirring up the poor 
against the rich. Was there ever a more unfounded and ungenerous accu- 
sation '/ God forbid that we should ever fall so low as to be capable of re- 
sorting to this last and basest expedient of decayed and desperate politicians ! 
The />o(7r against the iich!—m a country where all interests and classes are 
combmed and interwoven in mutual dependence, and rise and prosper, or 
decline and fall together. Does any one seek to take away any right from 
others, and to appropriate it anew? It will be time to throw out such a sug- 
gestion when it is made to appear that an attempt to obtain the (ixercise of 
his own riglits is robbery from other people, and not till then. 

The subject of the jUi)ici.\RY, though last in the order of consideration, 
is not the least in magnitude iuid importance. In introducing this subject, 
it is proper to state a single fact, and we believe that noconmient is required. 
The fact is this: that, while the most numerous portion of the present free- 
men are averse to any change in the judiciary, those who are now excluded 
from the polls are in favor of it. 

The improvement of our courts of law will be an essential provision in 
any constitution that may be hereafter planned for this State. Independ- 
ence in the judge, is essential both to the formation of the best judicial 
character, and to the best administration of justice. A judge should sit se- 
renely abore all the storms of political strife, that he may rightly divide the 
justice of tlie law between man and man ; he should have nothing to hope 
from party as^cendency, and nothing to fear from the fall of political friends. 
A judge, however honest he may be, is in great dansjer of having his- impar- 
tiality called in question in decidiiiir a case, or instructing a jury, when one 
of the litigants has been recently placed shoulder to shoulder with him in 
a warm contesi; for victory. The public good cannot be properly consulted 
wheuever b'ss attention is pjiid to the qualifications of men to sit and de- 
cide as judges, than to services rendered to the appointing power. 

The necissiiy of a welldffined and independent judiciary is more fully 
appreciated when we remembpr th;it the Legislature of this State in many 
instances act as a court of jiistice. Under their oath of otRce as legislators, 
they assume the responsibility of judires. They, in fict, legislate concern- 
ing particular facts, upon rules and principles unknown to the common 
law. If they can do so in one instance, they may do so in others.* They may 

* The practice of appointins: special judges foi- particular cases, which has existed in this 
State, is highly inproper and dangerous. 



184 Rep. No. 546. 

dispense with that palladium of liberty — the trial by jury — and erect them- 
selves into a tribunal to decide both upon the law and the facts. 

If there be any one sig-ht more unpleasant #ian another, it is that of a 
political judge acting alternately as an adminislrator of the laws and the 
manager of a party; and yet the fault is all your own. You drive hmi to 
the necessity of management, in order to retain a place which is opened 
once a year to new competitors. 

A court appointed during good behavior, and receiving a fixed and com- 
petent support, is indispensably necessary as the. sheet-anchor of a consiitu- 
tion. It affords a constant barrier against encroachments of the legislative 
and executive powers, either upon the boundaries of each other, or u[)on 
the rights of the citizen. So far from admitting that the acts of the l^egis- 
lature could not be called in question, it would be the arbitrator between 
the people and their representatives ; between those who make laws, and 
those who are called on to submit to them. The poorest possible of all 
economy is that which places the salaries of judijes, and law officers gene- 
rally, so low, that (ew men of the first rate qualifications can be induced to 
abandon the superior emoluments of private practice. The money wliich 
is annually expended upon protracted litigation in this State, greatly ex- 
ceeds the amount of the most liberal salaries that could ever be desired for 
our courts. This loss to the people is never taken into the account in esti- 
mating the cost of cheap justice. In 1729, the judges of the court of com- 
mon pleas in this State were appointed during good behavior. The act 
regnl.ting their term of appointment was repealed four years after, in 1733;* 
and they were afierwards chosen annually. We want a fundamental law, 
which sfiall place their tern) of oflice out of the reiich of everybody hut 
the power that makes and unmakes constitutions. If you object to inde- 
pendent courts on account of tlie cost, the non freeholders would he glad to 
pay their part of a poll, or other tax, large enough to support both the courts 
and the schools. 

We have -poken to you, fellow citizens, of the nature of fundamental 
laws, or constitutions, and of the source whence they are properly derived ; 
of the history, operation, and defects of the present charter ; of the great 
inequality and injustice in the apportionment of our representation ; of the 
duty of extending the privilege of voters to all our fellow-citizens who are 
qualified to partake in it, consistently with the general good ; of the vital 
necessity of ;in independent and permanent judiciary. Have we, or have 
we not, shown you that there is something radically wrong in the political 
institutions of Rhode Island? and if so, does it not follow, as an irresistible 
conclusion, that all political measures, designed and properly tending to 
produce a complete and effectual change, without any further delay, are 
right, expedient, and entitled to your strong and cordial support? A con- 
stitutional party in this State, if it proceed upon open and fair grounds, di- 
rectly and resolutely to its end, is most emphatically the Coinmotiwealth^s 
farty. It has a right to expect the adherence of the older portion of our 
citizens, whose duly it is to transmit to their successors not merely what 
they have received, but all those additional improvements which the wis- 
dom of age and of political experience has been able to suggest; it chal- 

• The reason given in the preamble of the act of repeal is, that the law of 1729 is " found 
very inconsi.>-ienl with the consiituiion ol this government, and contrary to the same.'' An in- 
dependent judicitiry is truly inconsistent with an arbitrary lesislaiure. But any incongiuiiy of 
this .'•ort may be easily coriected, by fixing a proper limitation of legislative poweis. 



Rep. No. 546. , 185 

lenires the bestenerjiies and the most active oo operation of the younger men. 
Every motive of duty and of patriotism calls uponj^liem to range them- 
selves on the cotistitntional side, and to aid us in making our government 
more suitable fo the condition, and more " meet for the service of the body" 
politic. As they successively come forth to refresh the life blood of ihe 
political system, let them be found among tlie friends of justice and refor- 
mation. We shall make the best return of gratitude to the memory of our 
venerated ancestors, not by forever retaining the long established and pres- 
ent condition of our inheritance, but by proceeding, with some portion of 
their spirit, to do what they would do, if now within the range of human 
affairs and interests, to make it more worthy of tlie citizens of a free coun- 
try. Ill the language of the illustrious author of the declaration of inde- 
pendence, " It is not only the right, but the duty, of those now on the stage 
of action, to cliange the laws and institutions of government, to keep pace 
with the progress of knowledge, the light of science, and the amelioration 
of the condition of society. Notliing is to be considered unchangeable, but 
the inhtrent and inuilieiiable rights of man." 

Without stopping to recapitulate more minutely the different topics and 
arguments of this address, we now commend them to your earnest attention 
and deliberate judgment, with confidence as to the result. Wo have endeav- 
ored to speak plainly and distinctly. But, if there should remain any doubt 
in your minds respecting any subject, or part of a subject, which has been 
considered, we shall be ready to make any explanations that may be de- 
sired. We ask you to call together, by your representatives, a convention 
which shall represent the people at large, and prepare for us a liberal and 
permanent constitution. We wish to proceed in the usual course of our 
brethren in other States ; and that the same Legislature which has imposed 
on tlie citizens of Rhode Island a landed qualification not spoken of in the 
charter, has at least as much right to suspend it, for the single purpose of 
facilitating the exercise by the people of the great, original right of sove- 
reignty in the f irmation of a constitution, we cannot for a moment doubt. 

We wait your decision. Let it be worthy of republican freemen. 



^o. 5.- (A.) 

Proposed roristifuflon of the Siaic of Rhode Island and Providence Plan- 
tations, as fjially adopted by the peoplel^- convention, assembled at Prov- 
idence on the \bth daij of November, 184L 

We, the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, irrateful to Almighty God for bis blessing vouchsafed to the '' lively 
experiment" of religious and political freedom here "held forth" by our ven- 
erated ancestors, and earnestly imploring the favor of his gracious provi- 
dence towards this our attempt to secure upon a permanent foundation the 
advantages of well ordered and rational liberty, and to enlarge and trans- 
mit to our successors the inheritance that we have received, do ordain and 
establish the following constitution of government for this Slate. 



186 Rep. ^0. 546. 



mc 



ARTICLE I. 
claratlou of principles and rights. 



1. In the spirit and in the words of Ro^er Williams, the illustrions foun- 
der of ttiis State, and of his venerated associates, we declare "that this gov- 
ernment shall be a democracy," or government of the people, " hy the ma- 
jor consent" of the same "only in civil things." The will of the people 
shall be expressed by representatives freely chosen, and returning at fixed 
periods to their consiituenls. This State shall be, and forever remain, as 
in the design of its f)nnder, sacred to '-soul liberty," to the rights of con- 
science, to freedom of thought, of expression, and of action, as hereinafter 
set f<)rth and secured. 

2. All men are created free and equal, and are endowed Iiy their (^reator 
with certain natural, inherent, and inalienable rights; amonu- which are life, 
liberty, the acquisition of property, and the pursuit of ha|)p'iness. Govern- 
ment cannot create or bestow these rights, which are the gift of God ; but 
it is instituted for tiie stronger and surer defence of tiie same, that men may 
safely enjoy the rigfits of life and liberty, securely possess and transmit prop- 
erty, and, so far as laws avail, may be successful in the pursuit of happiness. 

3. All political power and sovereignty are originally vested in. and of right 
belong to, the people. All free governmi nts are founded in their authority, 
and are estal)lished for the greatest good of the whole numlter. The peo- 
ple have therefore an unalienable and indefeasible right, in their original, 
sovereign, and unlimited capacity, to ordain and institute government, and 
in the same caj acity to alter, reform, or totally change the same, when- 
ever their safety or happiness requires. 

4. No favur or disfavor ougiit to be shown in legislation toward any man, 
or party, or society or religious denomination. The laws should be made 
not for the good of the few, but of the many ; and the burdens of the State 
ought to be fairly distributed among its citizens. 

5. The diffusion of useful knowleJge, and the cultivation of a sound mo- 
rality in the fear of God, being of the first importance in a republican State, 
and indispensable to the maintenance of its liberty, it shall be an impera- 
tive duty of the iiCgislature to promote the establishment of free schools, 
and to assist in the support of public educaiion. 

6. Every person in this State ought to find a certain remedy, by having 
recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which may be done to his 
rights of person, property, or character. He ought to obtain right and jus- 
tice freely and without purchase, completely and without denial, promj-tly 
and without delay, conformably to tlie laws. 

7. The right of the people to he secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and possessions, against unreasonable searclies and S( izures, shall not be vio- 
lated ; and no warrant shall issue but on complaint in writing upon prob- 
able cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and describing as neatly as 
may be the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized. 

8. No person shall be held to answer to a capital or other infamous charge, 
unless on indictment by a grand jury, except in cases ari^^^ing in tlie land 
or naval forces^ or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war 
or public danger. No person shall be tried, after an acquittal, for the same 
crime or offence. 

9. Every man being presumed to be innocent until pronounced guilty 



Rep. No. 546. 187 

by the law, all acts of severity, that are not necessary to secure an accused 
person. oui[ht to be repressed. ^ 

10. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor 
en, el or nnnsual punishments inflicted ; and all punislnnents ought to be 
proportioned to the offtiice. 

11. All prisoners shall be bailable upon sufficient surety, unless for cap- 
ital offetices, when the proof is evident or the presumption great, "^rhe priv- 
ilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in 
cases of rehtdlicni or invasion, the public safety shall require it. 

12 in all criiuinal prosecutions, the accused shall have tlie privilege of a 
speedy and pulilic trial, by an impaitial jury; be informed of the nature 
and cau.<^e of the acusation ; be confronted with tlie witnesses agairst him; 
have compulsory process to oblain them in his favor, aod at the public ex- 
pense, when necessary; have the assistance of counsel in his defence, and 
be at liberty to speak for himself. Nor shall he be deprived of his life, lib- 
erty, or property, unless by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land. 

13. The right of trial by jury sliall remaiu inviolate, and in all criminal 
cases the jury sliall jnd^e both of the law and of the facts. 

14. Any person in this State, who may be claimed to be held to labor or 
service, under the laws of any otiier State. Territory, or District, sliall be en- 
titled to a jury trial, to ascertain the validity of such claim. 

15. No man in a court of common law shall be required to criminate 
himself 

lo. Retrospective lav/s, civil and criminal, are unjust and oppressive, and 
shall not be made. 

17. The people have a right to assemble in a peacea1)le manner, without 
molestation or restraint, to consult u[)on the public welfare; a right to give 
instructions to their Senators and Representatives ; and a right to apply to 
tliose invested with tlie powers of e;overnment for redress of grievances, for 
tile repeal of injurious laws, for the correction of fai\Its of administration, 
and for all other purposes. 

18. The liberty of the press being essential to the security of freedom in 
a State, any citizen may publish his sentiments on any sutject, being re- 
sponsible for the abuse of that liberty ; and in all trials for libel both civil 
and criminal, the truth, spoken from good motives, and for justifiable ends, 
shall he a sufficient defence to the person charged. 

19. Private property shall not be taken for public uses without just com- 
pensaiion, nor unless the public good require it; nor under any circum- 
stances, until compensation shall have been made, if required. 

20. The military shall always be held in strict subordination to the civil 
authority. 

21. No ;;o!dier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without 
the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in manner to be pre- 
scribed by law. 

22. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free, and all attempts 
to iiifl lence it by temporal jiunishments, or burdens, or by civil incapacita- 
tions, lend to beget habits of h\pocrisy and meanness: and whereas a prin- 
cipal object of our venerated ancestors in their migration to this country, 
and their settlement of this State, was, as they expressed it, to hold forth a 
lively experiment, thit a flourishing civil State may stand, and be best 
rnaintiiined, with full liberty in religi' us concernments: Vie therefore de- 
CLAKK that no man shall be compelltd to frequent or support any religious 



188 Rep. No. 546. 

worship, place, or ministry wliatsoever, nor be enforced, restrained, milest- 
ed, or burdened in His body or goods, nor disqualified from holding any 
office, nor otherwise suffer, on accoimt o( his religious belief; and that all 
men shall be free to profess, and by argument to aiaintain. their opinions in 
matters of religion; and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, 
or afl?ect their civil capacities ; and that all other relit^ioiis rights and privi- 
leges of the people of this State, as now enjoyed, shall remain inviolate and 
inviolable. 

23. No witness shall be called in question before the Legislature, nor in 
any court of this State, nor before any magistrate or other person author- 
ized to administer an, oath or affirmation, for his or her religious belief, or 
opmions, or any part thereof; and no objection to a witness, on the ground 
of his or her religious opinions, shall be entertained or received. 

24. The citizens shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise all the rights 
of fishery, and privileges of the shore, to which they have been heretofore 
entitled under the charter and usages of this Stale. 

25. The etmmeration ofihe foregomg rights shall not be construed t3 
impair nor deny others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE II. 
Of electors and the right of suffrage. 

1. Every white male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty- 
one years, who has resided in this State for one year, and in any town, city, 
or district of the same for six months, next preceding the election at which 
he offers to vote, shall be an elector of all officers who are elected, or may 
hereafter be made eligible by the people. Out persons in the military, naval, 
or marine service of the I'nited States, shall not be considered as having 
such established residence, by being stationed in any garrison, barrack, or 
military place in any town or city in this State. 

2. Paupers and persons under guardianship, insane, or lunatic, are exclu- 
ded from the electoral right; and the same shall be forfeited on conviction 
of bribery, forgery, perjury, theft, or other infamous crime, and shall not 
be restored utdess by an act of the General Assembly. 

3. No person who is excluded from voting, for want of the qualification 
first named in section first of this article, shall be taxed, or be liable to do 
military duty ; provided that nothmg in said first article shall be so con 
strued as to exempt from taxation any property or persons now liable to be 
taxed. 

4. No elector who is not possessed of, and assessed for, ratable property 
in his own right, to the amount of one hundred and fifty dollars, or who 
shall have neglected or refused to pay any tax assessed upon him, in any 
town, city, or district, for one year pn ceding the town, city, ward, or district 
meeting at which he shall ofier to vote, sliall be entitled to vote on any 
question of taxation, or the expenditure of any public moneys in such town, 
city, or district, until the same be paid. 

5. In the city of Providence, and other cities, no person shall be eliijible 
to the office of mayor, aldermivn, or common councilman, who is not ta.xed, 
or who shall have neglected or refused to jiay his tax, as provided in the 
preceding section. 

6. The voting for all officers chosen by the people, except town or city 



Rep. No. 546. 189 

officers, shall be by ballot ; that is to say, by depositing a written or printed 
ticket in the ballot-box, vviilioiit the name oC the voter written tliereon. 
Town or city officers shall be chosen by ballot, on the demand of any two 
persons entitled to vote for the same. 

7. There shall be a strict registration of all qualified voters in the towns 
and cities of the State ; and no person shall be permitted to vote, wliose 
name has not been entered npon the list of voters before the polls are opened. 

8. The General Assembly shall pass all necessary laws for the prevention 
of fraudulent voting by persons not having an actual, permanent residence, 
or hor-ne, in the State, or otherwise disqualified according to this constitu- 
tion ; for the careful registration of all voters, previously to the time of vo- 
ting; for the prevention of frauds upon the ballot-box; for the preservation 
of the purity of elections ; and for the safekeeping and accurate couniing 
of the votes ; to the end that the will of the people may be freely and fully 
expressed, truly ascertained, and effectually exerted, without intimidation, 
suppression, or unnecessary delay. 

9. The electors sliall be exempted from arrest on days of election, and 
one day before, and one day after the same, except in cases of treason, fel- 
ony, or breach of the peace. 

10. No person shall be eligible (o any office by the votes of the people, 
who does not possess the qualifications of an elector. 

ARTICLE III. 
Of the distribution of powers. 

1. The powers of the government shall be distributed into tliree depart 
ments — the legislative, tlie executive, and the judicial. 

2. No person or persons connected with one of these departments shall 
exercise any of the powers belonging to either of the others, except in cases 
licrein directed or permitted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

OJ the legislative department. 

1. The legislative power shall be vested in two distinct Houses: the one 
to be called the House of Representatives, the other the Senate, and both 
together the General Assembly. The concurrent votes of the two Houses 
shall be necessary to the enactment of laws; and the style of their laws 
shall be: Be it enacted by the General Assembly, as follows. 

2. No member of the General Assembly shall be eligible to any civil office 
under the authority of the State, during the term for which he shall have 
been elected. 

3. If any Representative, or Senator, in the General Assembly of this 
State, shall be appointed to any office under the Government of the United 
States, and sfiall accept the same, after his election as such Senator or Rep- 
resentative, his seat shall thereby become vacant. 

4. Any person who holds an office under the Government of the United 
States may be elected a member of the General Assembly, and may hold 
his seat therein, if, at the time of his taking his seat, he shall have resigned 
said office, and shall declare the same on oath, or affirmation, if required. 

5. No member of the General Assembly shall take any fees, be of counsel 



190 Rep. No. 546. 

or act as advocate in any case pending before either branch of the General 
Assembly, mider penalty of forleiting his seal, upon due proof thereof. 

6. Each House sliali judge oftlie eleclioti and quahfications of its mem- 
bers ; and a majority of ah the members of each House, whom the towns 
and senatorial districts are entitled to elect, shall constitute a quorum to do 
business; but a smaller number may adjouru from day to day, and may 
comp<l the att(^ndance of absent members, in such manner, and under such 
penalties, as each House may have previously prescribed. 

7. Eacli House may deiermiue the rules of its proceedings, punish lis 
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-tliirds 
of the members elected, expel a member; but not a second time for the 
same cause. 

8. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the 
same when required by one fifth of its members. The yeas and nays of 
the members of either House shall, at the desire of any five members pres- 
ent, be entered on the journal. 

f 9. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for 
more than two days, nor to any other place than that at which the General 
Assembly is holduig its session. 

10. The Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases of civil process, 
be privileged from arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and 
for two days before the commencement, and tv/o days after the termination 
of any session thereof. For any speech in debate in either House, no mem- 
ber shall be called in question in any other place. 

11. The civil and njilitary oilicers, heretofore elected in grand committee, 
shall hereafter be elected annually by the General Assembly, in joint com- 
mittee, composed of the two Houses of the General Assembly, excepting as 
is otherwise provided in this constitution ; and excepting the captains and 
subalterns of the militia, who shall be elected by the ballots of the mem- 
bers composing their respective con)panies, in such manner as the Gene- 
ral Assenibly may prescribe ; and such officers, so elected, shall be approved 
of and commissioned by the Governor, who shall deterihine their rank ; and, 
if said couipanies shall neglect or refuse to make such elections, after being 
duly notified, then the Governor shall appoint suitable persons to fill such 
offices. 

12. Every bill and every resolution requiring the concurrence of Ihe two 
Houses, (votes of adjournment excepted,) which shall have passed both 
Houses of the General Assembly, shall be presented to the Governor for 
his revision. If he approve of it, he shall sign and transmit the same to 
the Secretary of State ; but, if not, he shall return it to the House m which 
it shall have originated, with his objections thereto, which shall be entered 
at large on their journal. The House shall then proceed to reconsider the 
bill; and if, after such reconsideration, that House shall pass it by a majority 
of all the members elected, it shall be sent with the objections to the other 
House, which shall also reconsider it ; and, if approved by that House, 
by a majority of all the members elected, it shall become a law. If the bill 
shall not be relumed by the Governor within forty-eight hours (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall become 
a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly, 
by their adjournment, prevent its return ; in which case, it shall not be a 
law. 

13. There shall be two sessions of the General Assembly in every year ; 



Rep. No. 546. 191 

one session to be held at Newport, on the first Tuesday of June, for the 
or2;anization of the governmeut, tlie tleciion of officers, and for oilier busi- 
ness ; and one other session on the first Tuesday of January, lo be held at 
Providence, in the first year after the adoption of tliis constitution, and in 
every second year therealter. In tlie intermediate years, the January ses- 
sion shall be forever hereafter held in tlie counties of Washington, Kent, or 
Bristol, as the General Assenjbly may determine before their adjournment 
in June. 

ARTICLE V. 
Of the House of Representatives. 

1. The House of Representatives shall consist of members chosen by the 
electors in the several towns and cities, in their respective town and ward 
meetings, annually. 

2. The towns and cities shall severally be entitled to elect members ac- 
cording to the apportionment which follows, viz: Newport to elect five; 
Warwick four; Smiihfield five; Cumberland, North Providence, and Scit- 
uate, three ; Portsmouth, Westerly, New Shoreham, North Kingstown, 
South Kingstown, East Greenwich, Glocester, West Greenwich, Coventry, 
Exeter, Bristol, Tiverton, Little Couipton, Warren, Richmond, Cranston, 
Charlestown, Hopkinton, Johnston, Foster, and Burrillville, to elect two ; 
and Jamestown, Middletown, and Burrington, to elect one. 

3. In the city of Providence, there shall be six representative districts, 
which shall be the six wards of said city ; and the electors resident in said 
districts, for the term of three months next preceding the election at which 
they offer to vole, shall be entitled to elect two Representatives for each 
district, 

4. The General Assembly, in case of great inequality in the population 
of the wards of tlie city of Providence, may cause the boundaries of the 
six representative districts therein to be so altered as to include in each.dis- 
trict, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants. 

5. The House of Representatives shall have authority to elect their own 
Speaker, clerks, and other officers. The oath of office shall be admniistered 
to the Speaker by the Secretary of State, or, in his absence, by the Attorney 
General. 

6. Whenever the seat of a member of the House of Representatives shall 
be vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, the vacancy may be filled 
by a new election. 

ARTICLE VI. 
Of the Senate. ^ 

1. The State shall be divided into twelve senatorial districts ; and each 
' district shall be entitled to one Senator, who shall be annually chosen by 

the electors in his district. 

2. The first, second, and third representative districts in the city of 
Providence, shall constitute the fiist senatorial district; the fourth, fifth, 
and sixth representative districts in said city, the second district; the town 
of Smithfield, the third district; the towns of North Providence and Cum- 
berland, the fourth district; the towns of Scituate, Glocester, Burrillville, 
and Johnston, the fifth district ; the towns of Warwick and Cranston, the 



192 Rep. No. 546. 

sixth district; the towns of East Greenwich, West Greenwich, Coventry, 
and Foster, the seventh district ; tl)e towns of Newport, Jamestown, and 
NewSlioreliaui, the eighth district; the towns of Portsmouth, Middletown, 
Tiverton, and Little Corapton, the ninth district ; the towns of North Kings- 
town and South Kingstown, the tenth district; the towns of Westerly, 
Charlestown, Exeter, Richmond, and Hopiiinton, the eleventh district; the 
towns of Bristol, Warren, and Barrington, the twelfth district. 

3. The Lieutenant Governor shall be, by virtue of his office, Presideiit 
of the Senate; and shall have a right, in case of an equal divisifni, to vote 
in the same ; and also to vote in joint committee of the two Houses. 

4. When the government shall be administered by the Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor, or he shall be unable to attend as President of the Senate, the Senate 
shall elect one of their own members President of the same. 

5. Vacancies in the Senate, occasioned by death, resignation, or other- 
wise, may be filled by a new election. 

6. The Secretary of State shall be, by virtue of his office, Secretary of 
the Senate. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Of impeacliinents. 

1. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeach- 
ment. 

2. All impeachi^ents shall be tried by the Senate; and when sitting for 
that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. No person shall be con- 
victed, except by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected. When the 
Governor is impeached, the chief justice of the supreme court shall pre- 
side, with a casting vote in all preliminary questions. 

3. The Governor, and all other executive and judicial officers, shall be 
liable to impeachment ; but judgments, in such cases, shall not extend fur- 
ther than to removal from office. The party convicted shall, nevertheless, 
be liable to indictment, trial, and punishment, according to law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Of the executive department. 

\. The chief executive power of this State shall be vested in a Governor, 
who shall be chosen by the electors, and shall hold his office for one year, 
and until his successor be duly qualified. 

2. No person holding any office or place under the United States, this 
State, any other of the United States, or any foreign power, shall exercise 
the office o^gpovernor. 

3. He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed. 

4. He shall be commander in chief of the military and naval forces of 
the State, except when called into the actual service of the United States; 
but he shall not march nor convey any of the citizens out of the State, 
wilbout their consent, or that of the General Assembly, unless it shall be- 
come necessary in order to march or transport them from one part of the 
State to another, for the defence thereof 

5. He shall appoint all civil and military officers whose appointment is 
not by this constitution, or shall not by law, be otherwise provided for. 



Rep. No. 546. 193 

6. He shall, from time to time, inform the General Assembly of the con- 
dition of the State, and recommend to their consideration sucli measures 
as he m.ay deem expedient. 

7. He may require from any mihtary officer, or any officer in the execu- 
tive department, information upon any subject relating to the duties of his 
office. 

8. He shall have power to remit forfeitures and penallies, and to grant 
reprieves, commutation of punishments, and pardons after conviction, ex- 
cept in cases of impeachment. ' 

9. The Governor shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com- 
pensation which shall not be increased nor diminished during his contin- 
uance in office. 

U). There shall be elected, in the siame manner as is provided for the 
election of Governor, a Lieutenant Governor, who shall contimie in office 
for the same term ot time. Whenever the office of Governor shall becon^e 
vacant by death, resi:iaiation, removal from office, or otherwise, the Lieu- 
tenant Governor shall exercise the office of Governor until another Gov- 
ernor shall be duly qualified. 

11. Whenever the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall 
botli become vacant, by death, resignation, removal from office, or other- 
wise, the President of the Senate shall exercise the office of Governor until 
a Governor be duly qualified ; and should such vacancies occur during a 
recess of the General Assembly, and there be no President of the Senate, 
the Secretary of State shall, by proclamation, convene (he Senate, that a 
President may be chosen to exercise the office of Governor. 

12. Whenever the Lieutenant Governor or President of the Senate shall' 
exercise the ofiice of Governor, he shall receive the compensation of Gov- 
ernor only ; and his duties as President of the Senate shall cease while he 
shall contmue to act as Governor; and the Senate shcdl fill the vacancy 
by an election from their own body. 

13. In case of a disagreement between the two Houses of the General 
Assembly respecting the time or place of adjournment, the person exercis- 
ini the office of Governor may adjourn ihem to such time or place as he 
shall think proper ; provided that the time of adjournment shall not be ex- 
tended beyond the first day of the next stated session. 

14. The person exercising the oflir-e of Governor may, in cases of special 
necessity, convene the General Assembly at any town or city in tliis State, 
at any other time than hereinbefore provided. And, in case of danger from 
tlie prevalence of epidemic or contagious diseases, or from other circum- 
stances, in the place in which the General Assembly are next to meet, he 
may, by proclamation, convene the Assembly at any other place within the 
Slate. 

15. A Secretary of State, a General Treasurer, and an Attorney General, 
shall also be chosen annually, in the same manner, and for the same time, 
as is herein provided respecting the Governor. The duties of these offi- 
cers shall be the same as are now, or may hereafter be, prescribed by law. 
Should there be a ftiilure to choose either of them, or should a vacancy 
occur in either of their offices, the General Assembly shall fill the place by 
an election in joint committee. 

16. The electors in each county shall, at the annual elections, vote for 
an inhabitant of the county to be sherift' of said county, for one year, and 
until a successor be duly qualified. In case no person shall have a ma- 

13 



194 Kep. No. 546. 

jority of the electoral votes of his county for sheriff, the General Assembly, 
in joint committee, shall elect a sheriff tronj the two candidates who shall 
have the greatest nnmher of votes in such comity. 

17. All commissions shall be in the name of the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, sealed with the seal of the State, and attested 
by the Secretary. 

ARTICLE IX. 

« 

General provisions. 

1. This constitution shall be the supreme law of the State ; and all laws 
contrary to, or inconsistent with the same, which may be passed by the 
General Assembly, shall be null and void. 

2. The General Assembly shall pass all necessary laws for carrying this 
GonstitLition into effect. 

3. The judges of all the courts, and all other officers, both civil and mil- 
itary, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to the due observance of this 
constitution, and of the constitution of the United States, 

4. No junsdiciion shall, hereafter, be entertained by the General Assem- 
bly in cases of insolvency, divorce, sale of real estate of minors, or appeal 
from judicial decisions, nor in any other matters appertaining to the juris- 
diction of judges and courts of law. But the General Assembly shall con- 
fer upon the courts of the State all necessary powers for affording relief 
in the cases herein named ; and the General Assembly shall exercise all 
bther jurisdiction and authority which they have heretofore entertained, 
and which is not prohibited by, nor repugnant to, this constitution. 

5. The General Assembly shall, from time to time, cause estimates to be 
made of the ratable property of the State, in order to the equitable appor- 
tionment of State taxes. 

6. Whenever a direct tax is laid by the State, one-sixth part thereof 
shall be assessed on the polls of the qualified electors : provided that the 
tax on a poll shall never exceed the sum of fifty cents ; and that all per- 
sons who actually perform military duty, or duty in the fire department, 
shall be exempted from said poll tax. 

7. The General Assembly shall have no power hereafter to incur State 
debts to an amount exceeding the sum of fifty thousand dollars, except in 
time of war, or in case of invasion, without the express consent of the peo- 
ple. Every proposition for such increase shall be submitted to tlie electors 
at the next annual election, or on some day to be set apart for that purpose ; 
and shall not be farther entertained by the General Assembly, unless it re- 
ceive the voles of a majority of all the persons voting. This section shall 
not be construed to refer to any money that now is, or hereafter may be, 
deposited with this State by the General Government. 

8. The assent of two thirds of the members elected to each House of the 
General Assembly shall be requisite to every bill appropriating the public 
moneys, or pro{)erty, for local or private purposes; or for creating, con- 
tinuing, altering, or renewijig any body politic or corporate, banking cor- 
porations excepted. 

9. Hereafter, when any bill creating, continuing, altering, or renewing 
any banking corporation, authorized to issvie its promissory notes for circu- 
lation, shall pass the two Houses of the General Assembly, instead of being 



Rep. No. 546. 195 

"SQnl to the Governor, it shall be referred to the electors for their considera- 
tion, kt the next annual election, or on some day to be set apart for that 
purpose, with printed tickets containino^ the (luestion — Shall said bill (with 
a brief description thereof) be approved, or not? and if a majority of the 
f;lectors voting shall vote to approve said bill, it shall become a law ; other- 
wise not. 

10. AH grants of incorporation shall be subject to future acts of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, in amendment or repeal thereof, or in janywise affecting the 
same ; and this provision shall be inserted in all acts of incorporation here- 
after granted. 

11. The General Assembly shall exercise, as heretofore, a visitatorial 
power over corporations. Three bank commissioners shall be chosen at 
the June session for one year, to carry out the powers of the General As- 
sembly in this respect. And commissioners for- the visitation of other cor- 
porations, as the General Assembly may deem expedient, shall be chosen 
at the June session, for the same term of office. 

12. No city council, or other government, in any city, shall have power 
to vote any tax upon the inhabitants thereof, excepting the amount neces- 
sary to meet the ordinary public expenses in the same, without first submit- 
ting the question of an additiotjal tax, or taxes, to the electors of said city; 
and a majority of all who vote shall determine the question. But no elec- 
tor shall be entitled to vote, in any city, upon any question of taxation thus 
submitted, unless he shall be qualified by the possession, in his own right, 
of ratable property to the amount of one hundred and fifty dollars, and shall 
have been assessed thereon to pay a city tax, and sliall have paid the same, 
as provided in section fourth of article two. Nothing in that article shall 
be so construed as to prevent any elector from voting for town officers, and, 
in the city of Providence, and other cities, for mayor, aldermen, and mem- 
bers of the common council. 

13. The General Assembly shall not pass any lav/, nor cause any act or 
ihing to be done, in any way to disturb any of the owners or occupants of 
land in any territory now under the jurisdiction of any other State or States, 
the jurisdiction whereof may be ceded to, or decreed lo belong to, this State; 
and the inhabitants of such territory shall continue in the full, quiet, and 
undisturbed enjoyment of their titles to the same, without interference in 
any way on the part of this State. 

ARTICLE X. 

Of elections, 

1. The election of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of stale, 
general treasurer, attorney general, and also of senators and representatives 
to the Qeneral Assembly, and of sheriffs of the counties, shall be held on 
the third Wednesday of April annually. 

2. The names of the persons voted for as governor, lieutenant governor, 
secretary of state, general treasurer, attorney general, and sheriffs of the 
respective counties, shall |l3e put upon one ticket ; and the tickets shall be 
deposited by the electors m a box by themselves. The names of the per- 
sons voted for as senators and as representatives shall he put upon separate 
tickets, and the tickets shall be deposited in separate boxes. The polls for 
all the officers named in this section shall be opened ai the same time. 

3. All the votes given for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of 



196 Rep. No. 546. 

state, general treasurer, attorney general, sheriffs, and also for senators, shal! 
remain in the hallot-boxes till the polls he closed. These votes shall then^ 
in open town and ward meetings, and in the presence of at least ten quali- 
fied voters, be taken out and sealed up, in separate envelopes, by the moder- 
ators and town clerks, and by the wardens and ward clerks, who shall cer- 
tify the same, and forthwith deliver or send them to the Secretary of Slate, 
whose duty it shall be securely to keep the same, and to deliver the votes 
for State otficers andsheriffs to the Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives, after the House shall be organized, at the Jnue session of the General 
Assembly. The votes last name^ shall, without delay, be opened, counted, 
and declared, in such manner as the House of Representatives shall direct • 
and the oath of office shall be administered to the persons wlio shall be de- 
clared to be elected, by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and in 
the presence of the House : provided that the sheriffs may take their engage- 
ment before a Senator, judge, or justice of the peace. The votes for Sena- 
tors shall be counted by the Governor and Secretary of State within seven 
flays from the day of election ; and the Governor shall give certificates to 
the Senators who are elected. 

4. The boxes containing the votes for representatives to the General As- 
sembly in the several towns shall not be opened till the polls for representa- 
tives are declared to be closed. The votes shall then be counted by the 
moderator and clerk, who shall amiounce the result, and give certificates 
to the person selected. If there be no election, or not an election of the 
wliole number of representatives to which the town is entitled, the polls lor 
representatives may be re-opened, and the like proceedings shall be hady 
until an election shall take place; provided, however, that an adjournment 
of the election may be made to a time not exceeding seven days from the 
first meeting. 

5. In the city of Providence, and other cities, the polls for representatives 
shall be kept open during the whole time of voting for the day ; and the 
votes in the several wards shall be sealed up, at the close of tlie meetingj 
by the wardens and vizard clerks, in the presence of at least ten qualified 
electors, and delivered to the city clerks. The mayor and aldermen of said 
city or cities shall proceed to count said votes within two days from the 
day of election ; and if no election, or an election of only a portion of the 
representatives whom the representative districts are entitled to elect, shall 
have taken place, the mayor and aldermen shall order a new election to be 
held, not more than ten days from the day of the first election 5 and so on, 
till the election of representatives shall be completed. Certificates of elec- 
tion shall be furnished to the persons chosen, by the city clerks. 

6. Jf there be no choice of a senator or senators at the annual election, 
the governor shall issue his warrant to the town and ward clerks of the 
several towns and cities in the senatorial district or districts that may have 
failed to elect, requiring them to open town or ward meetings for another 
election, on a day not more than fifteen days beyond the time of counting 
the votes for senators. If, on the second trial, there shall be no choice of a 
senator or senators, the Governor shall certify the result to the Speaker of 
the House of Representatives; and the House of Representatives, and as 
many senators as shall have been chosen, shall forthwith elect, in joint 
committee, a senator or senators, from the two candidates who may receive 
the highest number of votes in each district. 

7. If there be no choice of Governor at the annual election, the Speaker 



Rep. No. 546, 197 

of the House of Representatives shall issue his warrant to the clerks of 
the several towns and cities, requiring them to notify town and ward meet- 
ings for another election, on a day to be named by hi^n, not more than 
thirty nor less than twenty days beyond the time of receiving the report 
of ihe committee of the House of Representatives who shall count the votes 
for Governor. If on tliis second trial there shall be no choice of a Gov- 
ernor, the two Houses of the General Assembly shall, at their next session, 
in joint committee, elect a Governor from the two candidates having the 
highest number of votes, to hold his office for the remainder of the political 
year, and until his successor be duly qualified. 

8. If there be no choice of Governor and Lieutenant Governor at the 
annual election, the same proceedings for the choice of a Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor shall be had as are directed in the preceding section : provided, that 
the second trial for the election of Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall 
be on the same day : and also provided, that, if the Governor shall be 
chosen at the annual election, and the Lieutenant Governor shall not be 
chosen, then the last named officer shall be elected in joint committee of 
the two Houses, from the two candidates havino^ the highest number of 
votes, without a further appeal to the electors. The Liieutenant Governor, 
elected as is provided in tliis section, shall hold his office as is provided in 
the preceding section respecting the Governor. 

9. All town, city, and ward meetings for the choice of representatives, 
Justices of the peace, sheriffs, senators, State officers, representatives to Con- 
gress, and electors of President and Vice President, shall be notified by the 
town, city, and ward clerks, at least seven days before the same are held. 

10. In all elections held by the people under this constitution, a majority 
of all the electors voting shall be necessary to the choice of the person or 
persons voted for. 

11. The oath, or affirmation, to be taken by all the officers named in this 
article shall be the following; You, being elected to the place (of gover- 
nor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, general treasurer, attorney 
general, or to the places of senators or representatives, or to the office of sher- 
iff or justice of the peace,) do solemnly swear, or severally solemnly swear, 
or affirm, that you will be true and faithful to the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, and that you will support the constitution 
thereof; that you will support the constitution of the United States; and 
that you will faithfully and impartially discliarge the duties of yotir afore- 
said office, to the best of your abilities and understanding: so help you 
God ! or, this affirmation you make and give upon the peril of the penalty 
of perjury. 

ARTICLE XI. 
Of the Judiciary. 

\. The judicial power of tliis State shall be vested in one supreme court, 
and in such other courts, inferior to the supreme court, as the Legislature 
may, from time to lime, ordain and establish; and the jurisdiction of the 
supreme and of all other courts may, from lime to time, be regulated by the 
•General Assembly. 

2. Chancery powers may be conferred on the supreme court ; but no 
other court exercising chancery powers shall be established in this State, 
except as is now provided by law. 



198 Rep No. 546. 

3. The justices of the supreme court shall be elected in joint cortp- 
mittee of the two Houses, to hold their offices for one year, and nntif 
their plices be declared vacant by a resolution to that effect, which shall 
be voted (or by a majority of all the members elected to the House in which 
it may ori^jinate, and be concurred in by the same vote of tlie other House, 
without revision by the Governor. Such resolution shall not be entertained 
at any other than the annual session for the election of public officers; 
and, in default of the passage thereof at the said session, the jud^e, or 
judges, shall hold his or their place or places for another year. But a judge 
of any court shall be removable from office, if, upon impeachment, he shall 
■be found guilty of any official misdemeanor. 

4. In case of vacancy by the death, resignation, refusal, or inability to 
serve, or removal from the State, of a judge of any court, his place may be 
ifilled by the joint committee, until tlie next annual election ; when, if elect- 
ed, he shall hold his office as herein provided. 

5. The justices of the supreme court shall receive a compensation, which 
shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. 

6. The judges of the courts inferior to the supreme court shall be annu- 
ally elected in joint committee of the two Houses, except as herein pro- 
vided. 

7. There shall be annually elected by each town, and by the several 
wards in the city of Providence, a sufficient number of justices of the 
peace, or wardens resident therein, with such jurisdiction as the General 
Assembly may prescribe. And said justices or wardens (except in the 
towns of New k'Shoreham and Jamestown) shall be commissioned by the 
Governor. 

8. The General Assembly may provide that justices of the peace, who 
are not re-elecied, may hold their offices for a time not exceeding ten days- 
beyond the day of the annual election of these officers. 

9. The courts of probate in this State, except the supreme court, shall re- 
main as at present establislied by law, nutil the General Assembly shall 
otherwise prescribe. 

ARTICLE XIL 
Of education. 

1. All moneys which now are, or may hereafter be, appropriated, by the 
authority of the Slate, to public education, shall be securely invested, and 
remain a perpetual fund for the maintenanre of free schools in this State-,, 
and the General Assembly are prohibited from diverting said moneys or 
fund from this use, and (iom borrowmg, appropriating, or using the same^ 
or any part thereof, lor any other purpose, or inider any pretence whatso- 
ever. But the income derived from said moneys or fund shall be annually 
paid over, by the general treasurer, to the towns and cities of the State, for 
the support of said schools, in equitable proportions: provided, however^ 
that a [lortion of said income may. in the discretion of the General Assem- 
'bly, be added to the principal of said fund. 

2. The several towns and cities shall faiihfnlly devote their portions of 
said annual distribution to the support of free schools ; and, in default there- 
of, shall forf'it their sliares of the same to the increase of the fund. 

3. All charitable donations for tlie support of free schools, and other puir- 



Rep. No. 546. 199 

poses of public education, sliall be received by the General Assembly, and 
invested and applied aijreeably to the terms prescribed by tlie donors : pro- 
vided the same be not inconsistent with tlie constiiuiion,or with sound pub- 
lic policy; in which case, the donation shall not be received. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

A mend I no its. 

The General Assembly may propose amendments to this constitution by 
the vote of a majority of all the members elected to each House. Such 
propositions shall be published in the newspnpers of the State ; and prmted 
copies of said propositions shall be sent by the Secretary of State, with the 
names of all the members who shall have voted thereon, with the yeas and 
nays, to ail the town and city clerks in the State; and the said propositions 
shall be, by said clerks, inserted m the notices by them issued for warnina: 
the next annual town and ward meetings in April ; and the town and ward 
clerks shall read s lid propositions to the electors, when thus assembled, 
with the names of all the Representatives and Senators who shall have 
voted thereon, with the yeas and nays, before the election of Representa- 
tives and Senators shall be had. ]f a majority of all the members elected 
at said annual meetings, present in eacli House, shall approve any proposi- 
tion thus mi'.de, the same shall be published as before provided, and then 
sent to t!ie electors in the mode provided in the act of approval ; and, if then 
approved by a mnjority of the electors who shall vote in town and ward 
meetings, to be specially convened for tliat purpose, it shall become a part 
of the constitution of the State. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Of the adoption of tlte constitution. 

1. This constitution shall be submitted to the people, for their adoption 
or rejection, on Monday, the 27th day of December next, and on the two 
succeeding days ; and all persons voting are requesli d to deposite in the bal- 
lot-boxes printed or written tickets in the following form : 1 am an Ameri- 
can citizen, of the age of twenty-one years, and have my permanent resi- 
dence, or home, in this State. I am (or not) qualified to vote under the ex- 
isting laws of this State. I vote for (or against) the constitution formed by 
the convention of the |)eople, assembled at Providence, and which was pro- 
posed to the people by said convention on the iSth day of November, 1841. 

2. Every voter is requested to write his name on the face of liis ticket; 
and every person entitled to vote as aforesaid, who, froiTi sickness or other 
causes, may be unable to attend and vole in the town or ward meetings as- 
sembled for voting upon said constitution, on the days aforesaid, is requested 
to write his nam6 upon a ticket, and to obtain the signature, upon the back 
of the same, of a person who has given in his vote, as a witness thereto. 
And the moderator, or clerk, of any town or ward meeting convened for the 
purpose aforesaid, sliall receive such vote, on either of the three days next 
succeeding the three days before named for voting on said constitution. 

3. The citizens of the several towns in tliis State, and of the several 
wards m t!ie city of Providence, are requested to hold town and ward meet- 



c 



200 Rep. No. 546. 

ings on the days appointed, and for the purpose aforesaid ; and fdso to ciioose, 
ill each town and ward, a moderator and clerk, to conduct said meetings, 
and receive the votes. 

4. The moderators and clerks are required to receive, and carefully to 
keep, the votes of all persons qualified to vote as aforesaid, and to make 
registers of all the persons voting; which, together with the tickets given 
in by the voters, shall be sealed up, and returned by said moderators and 
clerks, with certificates signed and sealed by them, to the clerks of the con- 
vention of the people, to be by them safely deposited and kept, and laid be- 
fore said convention, to be counted and declared at their next adjourned 
meetinof, on the r2th day of January, 1842. 

5. This constitution, except so much thereof as relates to the election of 
the officers named in ihe sixth section of this article, shall, if adopted, go 
into operation on the first Tuesday of May, in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and forty two. 

6. So much of the constitution as relates to the election of the officers 
named in this section shall go into operation on the Monday before the 
third Wednesday of April next preceding-. The first election under this 
constitution, of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Gen- 
eral Treasurer, and Attorney General, of Senators and Representatives, of 
sheriffs for the several counties, and of justices of the peace for the several 
towns, and the wards of the city of Providence, shall take place on the 
Monday aforesaid. 

7. The electors of the several towns and wards are authorized to assem- 
ble on the day aforesaid, without being notified, as is provided in section 
9th of article 10. and without the registiation required in sectiof) 7th of ar- 
ticle 2, and to choose moderators and clerks, and proceed in the election of 
the officers named in the preceding section. 

8. The votes given in at the first election for Representatives to the Gen- 
eral Assembly, and for justices of the peace, shall be counted by the modera- 
tors and clerks of the towns and wards chosen as aforesaid ; and certificates 
of election shall be furnished by them to the Representatives and justices of 
the peace elected. 

9. Said moderators and clerks shall seal up. certify, and transmit to the 
House of Representatives all tlie votes that may be given in at said first 
election for Governor and State officers, and for Senators and sheriffs; and 
the votes shall be counted as the House of Representatives may direct. 

10. The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, at the first ses- 
sion of the same, qualify himself to admmister the oath of oflice to the mem- 
bers of the House, and to other officers, by taking and subscribing the same 
oath in the presence of the House. 

1 1. The first session of the General Assembly shall be held in the city of 
Providence on the fiist Tuesday of May, in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-two, with such adjournments as may be necessary ; but 
all other sessions shall be held as is provided in article 4 of this consti- 
tution. 

12. If any of the Representatives, whom the towns or districts are entitled 
to choose at the first annual election aforesaid, shall not be tlien elected, or 
if their places shall become vacant during the year, the same proceedings 
may be had to complete the election, or to supply vacancies, as are directed 
concerning eleciious in the preceding sections of this article. 

13. If there shall be no election of Governor or Lieutenant Governor, or 



Rep. No. 546. , 201 

of both of these officers, or of a Senator or Senators, at the first annnal elec- 
tion, the Honse of Representatives, and as many Senators as are chosen, 
shall forthwith elect, in joint committee, a Governor or Lientenant Gov- 
ernor, or both, or a Senator or Senators, to hold their offices for the re- 
mainder of the political year: and, in the case of the two officers first named, 
until their successors shall be duly qualified. 

14. If the number of justices of the peace determined by the several 
towns and wards on the day of the first annual election shall not be then 
chosen, or if vacancies shall occur, the same proceedings shall be had as are 
provided for in this article in the case of a non election of Representatives 
and Senators, or of vacancies in their offices. The justices of the peace 
thus electtd shall hold office for the remainder of the political year, or 
until the second annual election of justices of the peace, to be held on such 
day as may be prescribed by the General Assembly. 

15. Ttie justices of the peace elected in pursuance of the provisions of 
this article, may be engaged by the persons acting as moderators of the 
town and ward meetings, as herein provided ; and said justices, after ob- 
taining: their certificates of election, may discharge the duties of their office, 
for a time not exceeding twenty days, without a commission from the Gov- 
ernor. 

16. Nothing contained in this article, inconsistent with any of the pro- 
visions of other articles of the constitution, shall continue in force for a 
longer period than the first political year under the same. 

17. The present government shall exercise all the powers with which 
it is now clothed, until the said first Tuesday of May, one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-two, and until their successors, under this constitution, 
shall be duly elected and qualified. 

18. All civil, judicial, and military officers now elected, or who shall 
hereafter be elected by the General Assembly, or other competent author- 
ity, before the said first Tuesday of May, shall hold their offices, and may 
exercise their powers, until that time. 

19. All laws and statutes, public and jirivate, now in force, and not re- 
pugnant to this constitution, shall continue in force until they expire by 
their own limitation, or are repealed by the General Assembly. All con- 
tracts, judgments, actions, and rights of action, shall be as valid as if this 
constitution had not been made. All debts contracted, and engagements en- 
tered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against 
the State as if tliis constitution had not been made. 

20. The supreme court, established by this constitution, shall have the 
same jurisdiction as the supreme judicial court at present established ; and 
shall have jurisdiction of all causes v/hich may be appealed to, or pending 
in the same; and shall be held at the same times and places in each 
county, as the present supreme judicial court, until the General Assembly 
shall otherwise prescribe. 

21. The citizens of the town of New Shoreham shall be hereafter ex- 
empted from military duty, and the duty of serving as jurors in the courts 
of this St. te. The citizens of the town of Jamestown shall be forever here- 
after exempted from military field duty. 

22. The General Assembly shall, at their first session after the adoption 
of this constitution, propose to the electors the question, whether the word 
"white," in the first line of the first section of article 2 of the constitution, 
shall be stricken out. The question shall be voted upon at the succeeding 



202 Rep. No 546. 

annual election; and if a majority of the electors voting shall vote to strike 
ont the word aforesaid, it sluill be stricken fron:ithe constitution ; otherwise, 
not. If the word aforesaid shall be stricken ont, section 3d of article 2 shall 
cease to be a pari of the constitution. 

23. The president, vice presidents, and secretaries shall certify and sign 
this constitution, and cause the same to be published. 

Done in convention, at Providence, on the 18th day of November, in the 
year one thousand eight hundred and forty one, and of American inde- 
pendence the sixty-sixth. 

JOSEPH JOSLIN, Prcddent of the Convention. 



Attest: 

'N'ViLLiAM H. Smith, } „ . . 
1 o u r i^ecretanes. 

John o. Harris, \ 



WAGEK VVEEDEN, /> ./• p / / 
SAMUEL H. WALES, \ ^^^^ ^residents. 



No. 6.— (B.) 

PEOPLE'S CONVENTION. 

The people's constitution was declared adopted by the convention on 
Thursdiiy, January 13, as follows: 

Whereas, by the return of the votes upon the constitution, proposed to 
the citizens of this State by this convention on the 18th day of November 
last, it StUisfactorily appears that the citizens of this State, in their original 
and sovereign capacity, have ratified and adopted said cotistitution by a 
large majority ; and the will of the people, thus decisively made known, 
ought to be implicitly obeyed and faithfully executed : 

V\ e do, therefore, resolve and declare thnt said constitution rightfully 
ought to be, and is, the paramount law and constitution of the Slate of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

And we do further resolve and declare, for ourselves, and in behalf of 
the peo[)le whom we represent, that we will establish said constitution, and 
sustain and defend the same by all necessary means. 

Resolved, That the officers of this convention make proclamation of the 
return of the votes upon the constitution; aud th.at the same has been 
adopted, and has become the constitution of this State ; and that they cause 
said proclamation to be published in the newspapers of the same. 

Resolved, That a certified copy of the report of the committee appointed 
to count the votes upon the constitution, and of these resolutions, and of 
the constitution, be sent to his excellency the Governor, with a request that 
he communicate the same to the two Houses of the General Assembly. 

A resolution was offered relating to the safekeeping of the votes, which 
was passed, as follows : 

Resolved, That the secretaries cause all the votes given in upon the 
constitution in their separate envelopes to be enclosed in a general enve- 
lope, sealed up, and safely deposited; and that ihey be authorized to copy any 
part of the registry of said votes, or of the votes ihemsi Ives, upon the ap- 
plication of any person. 

Resolved, That it be recommended to the electors of the several towns 



' Kep No. 546. 203 

and representative districts in this State, who are friendly to the constitu- 
tion, to choose as n)ai)y delegates as they are entitled to el'^ct Representa- 
tives to the General Assembly, to assemble in convention at Providence on 
the 16th day of Fehrnary next, at 2 o'clock, p. m., for the purpose of nom- 
inatincr a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and other State officers, to be 
supported upon a constitv.tional and ISiate ris'/ils ticket, at the first general 
election, on Monday the 18th day of April next. 

Resolved, That the friends of the constitution in the several senatorial 
districts, counties, towns, and representati'/e districts, be also requested to 
hold meetings at an early day for the nomination of senators, sheriffs, rep- 
resentatives, and justices of the peace, to be voted for at the general election 
on the 18th day of April next. 

On motion, the convention then dissolved. 



The undersigned, who were appointed on the 12tli day of January, 1842, 
a committee of the people's convention, to examine and count the votes 
upon the constitution propos'-d to the people by said convention, on the 
18ih day of November last, which said votes were given in on the 27th day 
of December last, and on the five subsequent days, report that they have 
attended to the duty of their appointment, and they present to the conven- 
tion the following statement of the result: 

County of Providence. 



Providence — 










Fieemen. 


Non-freemen. 


Total. 


Fir.st ward - 


162 


362 


524 


. Second ward 


90 


281 


371 


Third ward 


165 


472 


637 


Fourth ward 


142 


357 


499 


Fifth ward 


245 


519 


764 


Sixth ward 


255 


506 


761 




l,n.59 


2,497 


3,556 


Smithfield 


3S2 


956 


1,338 


Scituate 


2t)8 


316 


524 


Glocester 


195 


207 


402 


Cumberland 


294 


598 


892 


Cranston 


167 


237 


404 


Johnston 


141 


206 


347 


North Providence* 


214 


469 


6b3 


Foster 


124 


114 


238 


Burrillville 


149 

2,933 


134 


283 




5,734 


8,667 









*The votes of five freemen and of iliree non-freemen given in favor of the cousiitutioD, were 
rejected for informality of tlie return. 



204 



Rep. No 546. 

County of Newport. 





Freemen. 


Non-freemen. 


Total. 


Newport 


319 




883 


1,202 


Portsmouth 


71 




55 


l26 


New Shore ham* 


102 




30 


132 


Jatuestown 


18 




13 


31 


Middletown 


8 




22 


30 


Tiverton 


102 




172 


274 


Little Compton - 


19 


Ke?it. 


25 


44 




039 


1,200 


L839 




County of 




Warwick 


309 




591 


900 


East Greenwich 


50 




85 


135 


West Green wicli 


17 




45 


62 


Coventry 


157 
533 




249 
970 


406 




1,503 




County of 


Bristol. 






Bristol . 


152 




214 


366 


Warren - 


103 




107 


210 


Barrington 


28 




24 


52 




283 




345 


628 




County of Washington. 




Westerly- 


107 




144 


251 


North Kingstown 


84 




169 


253 


South Kingstown 


138 




137 


275 


Charlestown 


64 




36 


100 


Exeter - 


52 




82 


134 


Richmond 


44 




88 


132 


Hopkinlon 


83 79 

572 735 

ECAPITULATION OF THE COUNTIES. 


162 




1,307 


R 




Providence 


- 2,933 




5,734 


8,667 


Newport 


639 




1,200 


1.839 


Washit)gron 


572 




735 


1,307 


Kent 


533 




970 


1.503 


Bristol - 


283 




345 


628 




4,9eo 


8,984 


13,944 







* Twenty six additional voles for the constiiution were given by twenty-two freemen and four 
non-freemen, of wiiich no regular return was received. 



Rep. No. 546, 205 

The whole number of males in the State, over the age of 21 years, as 
nearly as can be ascertained by the census of the United States for the 
year 1841), is 26,142. Deducting at a moderate computation 3,U0U persons 
who are not citizens of the United States over the age of 21 years and per- 
manent residents, or who are excluded by being under guardianship, in- 
sane, or convict, and the remainder is 23,142, of wliom a majority is 11,572, 
The constitution has received 873 votes more than one half of all the 
adult males in the State, and 2.372 more than half all tliose qualified 
to vote for said constitution by citizenship, age, and residence, as afore- 
said, and an actual majority of 4,744. Deduct from 23,142, the whole 
number who voted for the constitution, (viz: 13,944.) and the remainder is 
9,198; of whom 9,146 did not vote, and 52 voted against the constitution, 
viz: In Smiihfield 2; North Providence 11; Tiverton 3; Little Compton 
17; Westerly 1 ; South Kingstown lU; Warwick I ; East Greenwich 6; 
and Warren 1. 

Of the persons who voted. 4,960 are qualified voters under the existing 
laws of the State. The greatest number of votes ever polled by said voters 
was 8,622, at the presidential election in November, 1840 ; of this number, 
a majority of 1,298 have voted for the constitution — making, also, as your 
committee believe, a mnjority of all the freemen of the State. 

The committee have found all the returns of votes from the several towns 
and wards to have been regularly made, and accompanied with lists of 
all the persons voting, which enumerate the qualified voters, and those who 
are not. Every voter has signed his name upon his ticket; and the com- 
mittee believe that both the voting and the returns have been as regular 
and accurate as at any election ever held in the State. 

A considerable number of votes were returned as having been given by 
freeholders who had not yet been admitted freemen; but they were, of 
course, counted with those of the non freemen. 

The committee report to the convention, as the result of their exanrina- 
tion and count of tlie votes, that the constiiution proposed to the people by 
said convention on the 18th day of November last, has been adopted by a 
large majority of the citizens over the age of 21 years, having their perma- 
nent residence in the Stale. 

William James, Chairman. Welcome Ballou Sayles, 

John R. Waterman. Sylv. Himes, 

Dutee J. Pearce, Israel Wilson, 

David Daniels, Jonathan Remington, 

Oliver Chace, jr., Christ. Smith, 

Robert R. Carr, Elisha G. Smith, 

Ariel Uallou, Samuel Luther, 

Thomas W. Dorr, Erasmus D. Campbell, 

Samuel T. Hopkins, Nathan Bardin, 

Alfred Reed, Joshua B. Rathbun, 

Win. C. Barker, Nathan A. Brown. 

Abner Haskell, 

Alexander Allen, Wm. H. Smith, 1 ^ 

Willard Hazard, John S, Harris, \ ^^^^retancs. 

Providence, January 13, 1841. 



206 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 7.— (BB.) 

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS, 
A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas the convention of the people of this State, at their last session, 
in the city of Providence, on the l3th day of January, A. D. 1842, passed 
the following resolutions, to wit : 

" Whereas, by the return of the votes upon the constitution, proposed to 
the citizens of this State by this convention, on the 18th day of November 
last, it satisfectorily appears that the citizens of this State, in their original 
and sovereio^n capacity, have ratified and adopted said constitution by a 
.large majority; and tlie will of the people thus decisively made known, 
ought to be implicitly obeyed and faithfully executed: 

" We do. therefore, resolve and declare that said constitution rightfully 
ought to be, and is, the paramount law and constitution of the State of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

" And we do further resolve and declare, for ourselves, and in behalf of the 
people whom we represent, that we will establish said constitution, and sus- 
tain and defend the same by all necessary means. 

" Resolved^ That the officers of this convention make proclamation of the 
return of the votes upon the constitution, and that the same has been 
adopted and has become the constitution of this State, and that they 
cause said proclamation to be published in the newspapers of the same." 

Now, therefore, in obedience to the above vote of said convention, we, 
the undersigned, officers of the same, do hereby proclaim and make known 
to all the people of this Stale, that said constitution has been adopted by a 
large majority of the votes of the citizens of this State ; and that said con- 
stitution of right ought to be, and is, the paramount law and constitution of 
the State of Khode Island and Providence Plantations. 

And we hereby call upon the citizens of the State to give their aid and 
support in carrying said constitution into full operation and effect, accord- 
ing to the terms and provisions thereof. 

Witness our hands, at Providence, in said State, this 13th day of Janua- 
ry, A. D. 1842. 

JOSEPH JOSLIN, 
President of the Convention. 
WAGER WEEDEN, ; .- d -^ , 
SAMUEL H. WALES, \ ^^^^ Presidents. 

jIhn \ hTrr'Is, ( ^^^retaries. 



No. a— (c.) 

Opinion of John Pitman^ now United States judge for the Rhode Island 

district. 

In addition to the testimony of William E. Richmond, esq., which was 
recently laid before the General Assembly, that of Judge Pitman is now of- 
fered. Mr. Pitman is, with the rhetorical aid of Professor Goddarei, the 



Rep. No. 546. 207 

author of the address to the members, which has been circulated amonof 
itiem, 10 prove tiiat all political rights originate with the government, to 
which the people are indebted for all grants of privilege, instead of being 
themselves the sovereign power, as has been generally supposed. 

Subjoined is the first section of the "bill to extend suffrage," which was 
passed in the Senate of this State, in February, 1811, and was laid on the 
table in the House of Representatives ; and also a petition to the Assembly 
in favor of said bill, with a subsequent argument in support of the same, 
based on the doctrines. of the declaration of independence. 

Mr. Pitman was the author of the bill, petition, and argument ; and they 
are presented as affording an interesting contrast with his present views, as 
contained in his aforesaid "address." The public will decide which side 
of the case Judge Pitman has maintained with the greatest ability and 
success. He is now a rancorous opponent of the rights of the people. 

It is hoped that a similar act of justice to that now rendered to the politi- 
cal judge, may be shortly rendered to the nominal professor, " who pays no 
taxes." 

At the time when said bill was passed, (February 11,) the following per- 
sons were State officers: James Feniier, Governor; Isaac VVilbor, Lieuten- 
ant Governor; Jeremiah B. Howell, John Remington, Daniel Babcock, 
Benjamin Howland, Daniel Mowry, William Waterman, Oliver Gardner, 
Isaac Barker, William Peckham, Senators, (John D'Wolf, absent.) 

The remaining sections of the bill, which are omitted, were intended to 
guard the general provisions of the first section. 

P. S. — A great number of the above addresses have been sent to different 
parts of the State, done up with United States Government paper and tape. 



RIGH r OF SUFFRAGE. 

The following is the suffrage bill originated in and passed the Senate of 
the State, at the last session of the General Assembly, and was met in the 
House by a postponement : 

AN ACT in addiiidti lo an act entitled " An act regulating the manner of admitting freemen, 
and directing the method oJ electing officers in this State." 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly^ and by the authority thereof it 
is enacted. That every white male citizen of this State, who has attained to 
the age of twenty one years, and who is rated lor a poll or property tax, or 
who is or has been enrolled in the militia of this State, shall be hereafter 
entitled to vote for general officers of this State, and for persons to represent 
the respective towns in General Assembly : Provided., That no citizen 
shall be entitled to vote by virtue of his being, or having been, enrolled in 
the militia, who is exempted from military duty in consequence of any 
bodily defect or infirmity : Provided, also, That no citizen shall be admit- 
ted to vote in any town for the officers or persons aforesaid, except the one 
wherein such citizen shall have been a resident for the space of one year 
next preceding the time of such voting : And provided, always., That 
every citizen qualified as aforesaid, shall be entitled to vote as aforesaid, not- 
withstanding he may not have been admitted a freeman in any town in 
this State. 



208 Rep. No. 546. 

After the above bill was read in the House, Mr. D'WoIf, of Bristol, pre- 
sented the following: petition, vvhrch he requested might be then read, as it 
was connected with tlie subject-matter of the bill ; and it was read accord- 
ingly: 

To the hotiorable General Assembly of the State of Rhode Idand and 
Providence Plantations, to be holdtn at East Greenwich., on lite fourth 
Monday of February, A. D.V^W. 

The subscribers, citizens and freemen of said State, humbly represent 
unto your honors, that they have viewed, with much concern, a practice 
which has lately obtained in this State, and which tends to destroy, and 
render of no effect, the law which regulates the qualification of freemen, 
and to evade some of the provisions of the act entitled "An act regulating 
the manner of admitting freemen, and directing the method of electing offi- 
cers in this State." 

We consider a blow aimed at our elective franchise as aimed at the root 
of our liberties. The people of this State have no other way of exer- 
cising their controlling power, but in the choice of those to whom their 
original power is delegated; and if they are deprived of this, in whole or 
in part, they are, in whole or in part, subjected to usurped and illegi- 
timate authority. The people of this State, acting by their representatives 
in General Assembly, have heretofore willed tliai no person should have 
a right to vote in the choice of general officers, or town representatives, 
but such as were admitted freemen, and who possessed a certain property 
qualification. The lowest property qualification of a voter, is a real estate 
in this State, for the life of the voter, of the fall value of one hundred 
and thirty-four dollars, or which will rent for seven dollars a year ; and 
the law says that no estate of a less quality shall entitle a person to 
the freedom of this State. The ingenuity of man has, however, devised 
a way completely to evade this provision, to bring a man within the letter 
of this law, and to enable him to vote without a real interest in a shilling's 
worth of freehold. F^or example; A is possessed of a freehold estate of the 
value of one hundred and thirty-four dollars, and gives a life lease of it 
to B, upon the consideration that B shall pay him a yearly rent for the 
same of twenty or fifty dollars, and also upon the condition, in case the 
said rent should remain unpaid at the expiration of twelve months, that the 
lease should be void, and that A should have a right to re enter upon the 
premises. B goes forward with this lease, and claims a right to vote as 
being a freeholder, (having heretofore been admitted a freeman.) There is 
no question but that the freehold of A is of a sufficient value ; and the only 
question is respecting the fraud of the conveyance, which, although appa- 
rent to every one, still B can go forward and swear that he is possessed of 
the estate according to the tenor of the said conveyance, and that he has 
given no assurance to reconvey it. His vote is received, and goes to bal- 
ance the vote of some substantial freeholder. But it is plain B has no estate 
in effect, whatever he may have in law. He enters into no covenant to pay 
the rent, and only forfeits the lease if he does not do it. It is perfectly un- 
derstood between the parties, that the rent is never to be paid ; which is pur- 
posely placed much higher than the premises are yearly worth, in order 
that the lessor may run no risk of being deprived of the control of his prop- 
erty, and that the lease may stand or not, at his pleasure, at the end of tlie 
year. To make this contrivance as productive as possible, care has been 



Rep. No. 546. 209 

taken to give sucli leases to those who have a son of sufficient age to vote, 
who is then propounded, admitted a freeman, and suffered to vote as being 
the eldest son of a freeholder. If such proceedings are tolerated, then in- 
deed is our election law of no other utility than to sliarpen the wit and in- 
genuity of those who find no conscientious restraint in the spirit of a law 
which they are willing to destroy, if they can do it with inipunuy, by bring- 
iiig themselves within its letter. 

We would also respectfully submit unto your honors, whether some fur- 
ther provisions might not be made to prevent more effectually the making 
of voters, by other ways than is above stated, as we are convinced that 
either property qualifications should be abolished entirely, or some v\?ay 
found out to prevent the alarming increase of illegal voters. In the town 
of Providence alone, we are informed, that at the late town meeting iii that 
town, upwards of one hundred and twenty persons were propounded to be 
admitted free, preparatory to tiie election in April next; and we leave it to 
your honors to decide whether or not this increase is the natural result of 
increasing wealth and population. That this town should, according to 
the common course of things, increase its number of freemen one seventh 
it] one year, is to us astonisliing, when we consider that its number of in- 
habitants, according to the census of 1800 and 1810, has not increased in 
anything like the same proportion. 

We think your honors must be sensible of the importance of the elective 
franchise to the people of this State. Without a free and fair enjoyment of 
this, we cannot possess the substance of republicanism. We therefore pray 
that your honors would take this subject into consideration, and either ex- 
tend the right of voting to all the citizens of this State who pay a poll tax, 
and have been enrolled in the militia, or make such a law as shall prevent 
tfiose who have now the will and the means from qualifying for voters 
those who in fact thereby obtain no property, no independence, and who 
are made instruments in the hands of tiie rich to render nugatory tlie votes 
of such of the yeomanry, and of the middling cla.^s of citizens, as are 
not willing to submit to be led, and who have spirit and independence 
enoui^h to think and act for themselves. And we, as in duty bound, will 
ever pray, &c. 

[Signed by a number of freemen.] 



I certify the foregoing to be a true copy. 



TH. BURGESS, Clerk, 



No. 9.— (D.) 

Proposed constitution of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plan- 
tationSf as adopted by the convention assembled at Newport, dime 21 y 
1824. 

We, the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,, 
do ordain and establish this constitution for the government thereof : 

14 



210 Rep. No. 546. 

ARTICLE I. 
Of the dislribution of powers. 

1. The powers of the government shall be distributed into three distinct 
departments — the legislative, executive, and judicial. 

2. No person, or persons, belongmg to one of these departments, shall 
exercise any of the powers properly belonging to either of the others, ex- 
cept ill cases herein expressly directed or permitted, 

ARTICLE II. 

Section 1. 

Of the legislative department. 

1. The legislative power shall be vested in two distinct houses or 
branches : the one to be styled the Senate, the other the House of Repre- 
sentatives; and both together, the General Assembly, The style of their 
laws shall be. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of 
Rhode Island and. Providence Plantations. 

2. If any senator or representative in the General Assembly of this 
State shall be appointed to any oflice under the Government of the United 
States, and shall accept of the same after his election as such senator or 
representative, his seat shall thereby become vacated ; and any person 
who holds an office under the Government of the United States may be 
elected a member of the General Assembly, and may hold liis seat therein, 
if, at the lime of his taking his seat, he shall have resigned said office, and 
shall declare the same on oath, if required. No member of the General 
Assembly shall, during the time for which he shall have been elected, be 
appointed to any civil office under this State, which shall have been cre- 
ated, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased, during the 
time for which he was elected. No member of the General Assembly shall 
take any fees, be of counsel, or act as advocate before either branch of the 
legislature, under penalty of forfeiting his seat upon due proof thereof. 

3. There shall be one session of the General Assembly holden annually 
at Newport on the first Tuesday of May; and one other session, holden al- 
ternately at Providence and South Kingstown, on the second Monday of 
January in each year ; and the adjournments from said sessions, respectively, 
shall be holden at East Greenwich and Bristol alternately. 

4. The senators and representatives shall, in all cases of civil process, 
be privileged from arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and 
for two days before the commencement, and two days after the termination, 
of any session thereof ; and for any speech in debate, in either house, they 
shall not be questioned in any oiher place. 

5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections and qtialifications of 
its own members, and the majority shall constitute a quorum to do busi- 
ness ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may com- 
pel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such pen- 
alties as each house may prescribe. 

6. Each house may determine the rules of proceedings, punish its mem- 
bers for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds o( the 
members elected, expel a member, but not a second time for the same cause. 



Rep. No. 546. 211 

7. P2ach house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the 
r^ame wh<aj required by one fifth of its members. The yeas and nays of 
the members of either hodse shall, at the desire of one fifth of those pres- 
ent, be entered on the journal. 

8. Every bill which shall have passed bo'h houses of ih'^ General As- 
sembly shall be presented to the governor : if he approve of it, he shall 
sign and transmit it to the secretary; but if not, he shall return it to the 
house in which it shall have originated with his objections thereto, which 
shall be entered on their journal at large. The house shall then proceed 
to reconsider the bill ; and if, after such reconsideration, that house shall 
ogahi pass it, it shall l)e sent, with the objections, to the other House, which 
siiall also reconsider it ; and, if approved by that house, it shall become a 
law. But. in such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined by 
yeas and nays; and the names of the members voting for and against the 
bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively, if the bill 
shall not be returned by the governor within two days (Sundays excepted) 
after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall become a law. in 
like manner as if he had signed if, unless the General Assembly by tlieir 
adjourntnenl prevent its return ; in which case, it shall not be a law. 

9. The civil and military officers heretofore elected in grand conmiittee, 
shall hereafter be elected annually by the General Assembly in joint com- 
mittee, composed of the two houses of the legislature, excepting as is 
otherwise provided by this constitution ; and excepting the captains and 
subalterns of the militia, who shall be elected by the written votes of the 
members, composing their respective companies, in such manner as the 
legislature may prescribe; and such officers so elected shall be approved 
of and commissioned by the governor, who shall determine their rank ; 
and if said companies shall neglect or refuse to make such elections after 
beinof duly notified, then the governor shall appoint suitable persons to fill 
5uch offices. 

Section 2. 

Of the Senate- 

i. The Senate shall consist of ten members, to be chosen annually, by 
the electors, by general ticket; but no person shall be elected to the place 
of senator unless he be possessed of a freehold in this State sufficient to 
qualify him to be an elector, and shall be a freeman and inhabitant of the 
same. In case an election of a majority of senators should fail in any in- 
stance to be made by the electors at their annual election, the vacancies 
shall be filled by the House of Representatives ; and all vacancies in the 
Senate from any other cause shall be filled by the two houses in joint com- 
mittee. 

2. The lieutenant governor shall, by virtue of his office, be president of 
^he Senate, and have, when in committee of the whole, a right to debate ; 
and, when the Senate is equally divided, to give the casting vote. 

3. When the government shall be administered by the lieutenant gov- 
ernor, or he shall be unable to attend as president of the Senate, the Senate 
shall elect one of their own members president joro tempore. 

A. The secretary of state shall be, by virtue of his office, secretary of 
the Senate. 



212 Rep. No. 546, 

Section 3. 

Of the House of Representatives. 

1. The House of Representatives shall consist of memhers elected hy 
the electors of the several towns, in their respective town meetings, on the 
third Wednesday of April annually. Each town having three thousand 
inhabitants, and under tive thousand, shall be entitled to elect three repre- 
sentatives ; each town having' five thousand inhabitants, and under eight 
thousand, shall be entitled to elect four representatives; each town havnig 
eight thousand inhabitants, and under twelve thousand, shall be entitled to 
elect five representatives ; each town having twelve thousand inhabitants, 
and under seventeen thousand, shall be entitled to elect six representatives ; 
and each town having seventeen thousand inhabitants, shall be entitled to 
elect seven representatives ; but no town shall be entitled to elect more 
than seven representatives, nor shall any town be entitled to less than 
two. The representation in the several towns in this State shall be appor- 
tioned agreeably to the census of the people of the United States, taken Ik 
the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty, in conformity to the con- 
stitution thereof; and said apportionment shall continue to have efifect until 
a new census be taken of the people of the United States, as by their con- 
stitution is provided. The representation in the several towns in this State 
shall be apportioned agreeably to said new census; and so on at each sub- 
sequent period thereafter, whenever a census of the people of the United 
States shall be taken under the constitution thereof. 

2. No person shall be eligible to the place of representative in the Gene- 
ral Assembly, unless he be a freeman, and an inhabitant of the towi> for 
which he shall be elected, and possessed of a freehold in the same, sufficient 
to qualify him to be an elector according to this constitution. 

3. The House of Representatives shall have authority to elect their own 
speaker, clerk, and other officers. 

4. Whenever the seat of a member of the House of Representatives shall 
be vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, the vacancy may be filled 
by a new election. 

Section 4. 
Of impeachments^ 

1. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeach- 
ment. 

2. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate ; and, when sitting for 
that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. No person shall be con- 
victed, except on concurrence of two-thirds of the members elected. When 
the governor is impeached, the chief justice of the supreme judicial court 
shall preside. 

3. The governor and all other executive and judicial officers shall be 
liable to impeachment; but judgments in such cases shall not extend fur- 
ther than to removal from office. The party convicted shall, nevertheless, 
be liable and subject to indictment, trial, and punishment, according to law. 



Rep. No. 546. 213 

ARTICLE III. 
Of the executive department. 

L The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in a gov- 
ernor, who shall be chosen by the electors properly qualified, and shall 
hold his office for the term of one year, from the first Tuesday in May next 
succeeding liis election, and until his successor be duly qualified. But if 
no person shall have a majority of votes, the Senate and House of Represen- 
tatives, in joint committee, shall choose a governor by ballot, from the two 
persons havitig the highest number of votes. No person shall be eligible to 
the office of governor, who does not possess the qualifications of an elector, 
and who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and who is not 
a native born cit*izen of the United States, and who shall not have been, for 
the term of five years, resident within this State ; or who, at the time of his 
election, or during the term for which he was elected, shall not be a resi- 
dent therein. 

2. Th.ere shall also be chosen, in the same manner as hereinbefore pro- 
vided for the election of governor, a lieutenant governor, who shall con- 
tinue in office for the same term of time, and possess the same qualifications, 
as are required in the case of the governor. 

3. A secretary of state, general treasurer, and attorney goueral, shall also 
be chosen on the third Wednesday of April, annually, in the same manner, 
and for the same term of time, as hereinbefore provided as to the election 
of governor and lieutenant governor. And in case an election of the sec- 
retary of state^ attorney general, or general treasurer, should fail to be made 
by the electors at their annual election, or in case of a vacancy in either of 
said offices, from any other causes, tlie vacancy or vacancies shall be filled 
by the legislature, in joint committee of both branches thereof. 

4. 'IMie governor shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons after 
conviction, in all cases except those of impeachment. He shall preside in 
the joint committee of both houses, when assembled for the election of offi- 
cers, and shall have a casting vote therein, if the joint committee be equally 
divided. He shall from time to time give to the General Assembly informa- 
tion of the state of the governnjeot, and recommend to their consideration 
such measures as he shall deem expedient. 

5. In case of a disagreement between the two houses of the General 
Assembly respecting the time or place of adjonrnment, the person adminis- 
tering the office of governor m:iy adjourn them to such time and place as 
he shall think proper: provided that the time of adjournment shall not be 
extended beyond the day of the next stated session. 

6. The person administering the office of governor may, on special emer- 
gencies, convene the General Assembly at any town in this State, at any 
other time than hereinbefore provided. And in case of danger fro n the 
prevalence of contagious diseases in either of the places in which the Gene- 
ral Assembly may by law meet, or to which they may have been adjonrned, 
or from other circuoistances, he may, by proclamation, convene said As- 
sembly at any other place within this State. 

7. All commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the 
State of Rhode l>land and Providence Plantations ; shall be sealed with 
ihe State seal, signed by the governor, and attc^sted by the secretary. 

8. The governor shall be commander in-chief of the militia of this State. 



214 Rep. No. 546. 

9. In case of the death, resio^nation, refusal, or inahility to serve, or re- 
moval from office, of the governor, or his impeachment, or absence from 
the State, the lieutenant governor shall exercise the powers and anlhority 
appertaining to the office of governor until another be chosen, at the next 
annual election for governor, and be duly qualified, or until the governor, 
impeached or absent, shall be acquitted or return, or his inability be re- 
jmoved. 

10. If, during the vacancy of the office of governor, the lieutenant governor 
shall die, resign, refuse, or be unable to serve, or be removed from office, or 
if he shall be impeached, or absent from the State, the president of the 
Senate joro tempore shall in like manner administer the government until 
he be superseded by a governor or lieutenant governor, 

11. The compensation of the governor and lieutenant governor shall be 
established by law, and shall not be varied so as to take effrct until after an 
election which shall next succeed the passage of the law establishing such 
com()ensation. 

12. Tlie duties of the secretary, general treasurer, and attorney general, 
shall be the same under this constitution, as are now established by law, or 
as the'legislature may, from time to time, prescribe. 

Article IV. 

Of the judiciary department. 

1. The judicial power of tliis State shall he vested in one supreme judi- 
cial court, a circuit court of common pleas and general sessions of the peace, 
and in such other courts inferior to the supreme judicial court as the legis- 
lature may, from time to time, oidain and establish ; and the jurisdiction of 
the supreme judicial conrt, and all other courts, may, from time to time, be 
regulated by the legislature. 

2. There shall be annually appointed, in each town, a sufficient number 
of justices of the peace, with such jurisdiction as the legislature may pre- 
scribe. 

3. The justices of the supreme judicial court and circuit court of com- 
mon pleas and general sessions of the peace shall be appointed in the man- 
ner provided by this constitution. They shall be removable from office, 
by impeachment, or on the joint resolution of both branches of the legis- 
lature, two thirds of the number elected of each branch concurring therein. 
But no person who was a member of the legislature at the time of such re- 
moval, shall be appointed to fill the vacancy occasioned thereby : and in all 
cases of removiil by joint resolution of both briinches uf the legislature, the 
causes of remov;il, and the ayes and nays thereon, shall be stated and en- 
tered upon the journal of each house. 

4. The supreme judi'i.d court shall consist of one chief justice and two 
associate justices, a mnj<:)rity of whom shall form a quorum. The chief 
jiistice sfiall be appointed for the term of six years ; the second justice for 
the term of four years ; and the third justice for the term of two years ; but 
all subsequent appointments at the end of either of these terms shall be for 
the term of six years. The justices of the su()rt;me judicial court shall receive 
a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their term of office, 

5. 'The circuit court of common pleas and general sessions of the peace 
shall consist of five justices — one justice to be taken from each county ; and 



Rep. No. 546. 215 

the jurisdiction of said court shall extend to every county in this State ; and 
the terms of said court shall be holden in each county, as shall be pre- 
scribed by law. The justices of the circuit court of common pleas and 
general sessions of the peace shall be appointed for the terra of one year. 

6. No judge shall charo^e juries on matters of fact ; but may slate the tes- 
timony, and declare ihe law, 

7. The courts of probate in this State shall remain as at present estab- 
lished by law, until the legislature shall otherwise prescribe. 

ARTICLE V. 

Of elections and the right of svffrage. 

1. Every person who now is, or hereafter may be, admitted a free- 
man, previous to the adoption of this constitution, shall be an elector so 
lontj as he shall be possessed of the qualifications by which he was admit- 
ted to be a freeman ; and hereafter, every free white male citizen of the 
age of twenty one years, who is really and truly possessed, in his own prop- 
er right, of real estate, within this State, of the value of one hundred and 
thirty-four dollars, or which shall rent for seven dollars per annum, being 
an estate in fee simple, fee tail, or an estate in reversion, which qualifies no 
other person, or, al least, an estate for the person's own life, shall be enti- 
tled to be admitted a freeman in the town in which his estate lies; and, 
being so admitted, shall be an elector, and no other persons: Provided^ 
however^ That the yearly value of such life estate shall exceed tlie amount 
of the rent reserved, if any, by the sum of seven dollars per annum : And 
provided^ Tliat no person whose estate is under morto-age, and the mort- 
gagee is in possession of sucli estate, either by suit at law or by consent of 
the mortgager, shall be admitted to vote in the election of any officer in this 
State, or be capable of acting as an elector therein ; but the mortgagee, 
having possession of the land as aforesaid, shall be admitted to vote in the 
election of officers, if he be in other respects qualified : Provided^ hoii'ever^ 
That no mortgager, while in possession of the mortgao-ed premises, shall be 
admitted to vote thereon, unless his interest therein shall exceed the sum of 
one hundred and thirty four dollars, over and above all sums secured by 
mortgage: And provided, also. That no person shall be admitted to vote 
in any town in this State for representatives to the General Assembly, or for 
any town officers, or in any town affairs, who has not a sufhcient freehold 
in such town. 

2. Electors shall in all cases, except in those of treason, felony, and 
bread) of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at 
elections, and in going to and returnino' from the same; said privilege not 
to extend further than on said day of election. 

3. The privileges of an elector shall be forfeited by a conviction of bribery, 
forgery, perjury, theft, or other infamous crime; but such elector, so for- 
feiting his privileges, may be restored to the same by the General Assembly. 

4. No person shall be eligible to any office in this Slate, other than of- 
fices in the militia or town offices, unless he possess a freehold sufficient 
to qualify him to be an elector. 

5. The town meetings in this State for choosing the governor, lieutenant 
governor, senators and representatives to the General Assembly, secretary 
of state, attorney general, and general treasurer, shall be holden on the 
diird Wednesday of April, annually. 



216 Rep. No. 546. 

6. Every person who shall vote for the officers mentioned in the prece'- 
dinfj^ paragraph, except! nor for representatives to the General Assembly, shall 
have his name written at length on the back of his vote at the time of de- 
livering in the same ; and the names of all the officers voted for shall be 
put upon one ticket ; and all the votes so taken shall be, in open town meet- 
ing, sealed up by the town clerk,, and shall, together with a hst of the per- 
sons voting for governor, be delivered by said town clerk to a senator or 
one of the representatives of such town, whose duty it shall be to deliver 
them to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after the said house 
shall be duly organized ; which voles shall be opened, counted, and de- 
clared as the House of Representatives shall direct. 

7. The oath of office shall be admmistered to the persons who shall have 
been declared to be elected, in the manner in the preceding paragraph re- 
cited, by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and in presence of 
the house. 

ARTICLE VI. 
A declaration of certain constitutional rights and principles. 

1. Every person within this State ought to find a certain remedy, by 
having recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which he may re- 
ceive in his person, firoperty, or character. He ought to obtain right and 
justice freely, and without being obliged to purchase it; completely, and 
without any denial ; promptly, and without delay — conformably to the 
laws. 

2. The riyht of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be 
violated ; and no warrant shall issue, but on complaint in writing, upon 
probable cause, supported by oath or aflirmation, and describing, as nearly 
as may be, the place to be searched, atid the person or things to be seized. 

3. No person shall be holden to answer a capital or other infamous 
crime, unless on presemment or indictment by a grand jury, except in cases 
arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, 
in time of war or public danger. No person shall be liable to be tried, 
after an acquittal, for the same crime or offet.ce. 

4. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor 
cruel punishment inflicted ; and all punishments ought to be proportioned 
to the offence. 

5. All prisoners ought to be bailed by sufiicient sureties, unless for capi- 
tal ofiences, when the proof is evident, or the presumption great. The 
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when 
in cases of rebellion or invasion ilie public safety shall require it; nor ever, 
without the authority of the legislature, nor for u longer period than sixty 
days at any one time. 

6. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the privilege of a 
speedy and public trial by an impartial jury; to be informed of the nature 
and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against 
him ; to have compulsory process to obtam tliem in his favor ; and to have 
the assistance of counsel in iris defence. Nor shall he be deprived of his 
life, liberty, or property, unless by the judgment of his peers, or the law of 
the land. 

7. The person of a debtor, where there is not strong presumption of 



Rep. No. 546. 217 

fraud, ought not to be confined in prisoji after he shall have delivered up 
his property lor the benefit of his creditors, in such manner as shall be pre- 
scribed by law. 

8. Retrospective laws, punishing offences committed before the existence 
of such laws, are oppressive and unjust, and ought not to be made. 

9. No man, in a court of common law, shall be compelled to give evi- 
dence against himself. 

10. Every man being presumed to be innocent until pronounced guilty by 
the law, all acts of severity, that are not necessary to secure an accused 
person, oujjht to be repressed. 

11. 'I'he citizens have a right in a peaceable manner to assemble for their 
common ijood, and to apply to those invested with the powers of govern- 
ment for redress of grievances, or other pro[)er purposes, by petition, address, 
or remonstrance. 

12. The liberty of the press being essential to the security of freedom in 
a State, any citizen may publish his sentiments on any subject, being re- 
sponsible for the abuse of that liberty. 

13. The ri^lit of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, 

14. Private i)roperty shall not be taken for jiublic uses without just com- 
pensation. 

15. The military power shall always be held in strict subordination to 
the civil authority. 

16. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without 
the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in manner to be pre- 
scribed l>y law. 

17. VViiereas Almighty God liath created the mind free, and all attempts 
to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapaci- 
tations, tend to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness: and whereas a 
principal object of our venerable ancestors, in their migration to this 
country, and their settlement of this State, was, as they expressed it, to hold 
forth a lively experiment that a flourishino^ civil State may stand and be 
best maintained with full liberty in religious coticermnents : We therefore 
declare that no man shall be compelled to frequent, or support, any religious 
worship, place, or ministry whatsoever; nor enforced, restrained, molested, 
or burdened in his body or goods, nor disqualified from hold'wg any office, 
nor otherwise suflt'r, on account of his religious belief; and that all men 
shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in mat- 
ters of religion ; and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or 
afiect their civil capacities; and that all other religious rights and privileges 
oi the people of this State, as now enjoyed, shall remain inviolate and in- 
violable. 

18. Tlie enumeration of the foregoing rights shall not be construed to 
impair nor deny others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Of education. 

1. A fund shall be created from all moneys received for taxes on licenses 
granted uiid<^r the authority of this State for the support of free schools, 
which shall be called the school fund, and shall be invested and remain a 
perpetual fund, and shall continue to accumulate, until the interest arising 



218 Rep. No. 546. 

therefrom, tooether with the taxes annually paid on licenses, sliall be suffi- 
cient to support free schools, at least tiiree months in each year, in every 
town in this State. 

2. All charitable donations for the support of free schools shall be in- 
vested and applied agreeably to the will and pleasure of the donors. 

3. The General Assembly shall mnke all the necessary provisions by law 
for carrying this article into effect; but no law shall ever be passed, author- 
izing said fund to be diverted to any other use than the support of free 
schools in tlie several towns in this State, as provided in the first paragraph 
of this article. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Of amendments. 

The General Assembly may propose amendments to this constitution, by 
the vote of two-thirds of the members of each house. Such firopositions 
shall be [lublished in the newspapers, and printed copies thereof shall be 
sent by the secretary, with the names of all the members who shall have 
voted thereon, with the yeas and nays, to all the town clerks in the State; 
and said propositions shall be by said clerks inserted in the warrants or 
notices by them to be issued, for warning the next annual town meetings 
in April ; and the clerks shall read them to the electors, when assembled, 
with the names of all the senators and representatives wlio shall have 
voted thereon, with the yeas and nays, before the election of senators and 
re[)resentatives shall be had. If two-thirds of the members chosen at said 
annual meeting present in each house shall approve any proposition tlius 
made, the same shall be published in the newspapers, and again sent to the 
electors, in the mode to be prescribed by the act of approval ; and, if then 
approved by two thirds of tlie electors of the Strtte present, and voting 
thereon, in town meeting, to be specially convened for that purpose, shall 
become a part of the constitution of this State. 

ARTICLE IX. 
General provismis. 

1. This constitution, if adopted, shall go into operation on the first Tues- 
day of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five. The 
first election of governor, lieutenant governor, senators, and representatives, 
secretary, attorney general, and general treasurer, under said constitution, 
shall be had on the third Wednesday of April next preceding. All civil, 
judicial, and military officers now appointed, or who shall hereafter be ap- 
pointed by the General Assembly, or other competent authority, before the 
said first Tuesday of May, shall hold their offices and may exercise their 
powers until ten days thereafter. All laws now in force, and not repug- 
nant to this constitution, shall continue in force until they expire by their 
own limitation, or .are repealed by the General Assembly. All charters, 
contracts, judgments, actions, and rights of action, shall be as valid as 
though this constitution had not been made. The present government 
shall exercise all the powers, not repugnant to tliis constitution, with which 
it is now clothed, until the said first Tuesday of May, one thousand eight 
hundred and twenty five. 



Rep. No. 546. 219 

2. Ail debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the adop- 
tion of ihis constitiiiion, shall be as vahd against the State, as if t!iis con- 
stitntion had not been formed. 

3. This constitution shall be the supreme law of the State ; and the 
judiies of all the conrls, and all other oflicers, whether civil or military, 
shall be bound by oath or affirmation to its due observance. 

4. Ttie supreme judicial court, established by this constitution, shall have 
the same jurisdiction as the supreme judicial court at present establishedj 
and shall have jurisdiction of all causes which may be appealed to or pend- 
ino^ in the same, and shall l)e holden at the same times and [ilaces, in each 
county, as the present supreme judicial court, until the legislature shaH 
otherwise prescribe. 

5. The circuit court of common pleas and general sessions of the peace 
shall have the same jurisdiction as the present courts of common pleas and 
general sessions of the peace in the several counties, and shall have juris- 
diction of all causes winch may be appealed to or pending in the said courts 
of common pleas and general sessions of tlie peace in tlie respective counties : 
and shall be holden at the same times and places in the respective counties, 
as the said courts of comnjon pleas, until the legislature shall otherwise 
prescribe ; and all writs and processes wfiich may be made returnable to the 
said courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace, shall be re- 
turned to, and the same proceeding shall be had thereon in, the said circuit 
court of common pleas in each county, as might have been had thereon 
in the said courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace. 
Done in convention, at Newport, the third day of .Uily, in the year one 

thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, and of American independence 

the forty eighth. 

ELISHA R. POTTER, 

President of the Convention. 

Attest: Christophfr Elf^kry RoBBiNs, > c. . • 

\x- . „ ' > ^secretaries. 

vvELcoME Arnold uukgeSj S 



No. 10.— (G.) 

The Constitution of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, adopted November, 1842. 

We. the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 
grateful to Almiijhty God for the civil and religious liberty which he hath 
so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon our 
endeavors to secure and to transmit the same, unimpaired, to succeeding 
generations, do ordain and establish this constitution of government. 

ARTICLE I. 

Declaration of certain constitutional rights and principles. 

In order effectually to secure the religious and political freedom estab- 
lished by our venerated ancestors, and to preserve the same for our posteri- 
ty, we do declare that the essential and unquestionable rights and princi- 



220 Kep. No. 546. 

pies hereinafter mentioned shall be established, maintained, and preserved 
and sh.ill be of paramount obligation in all legislative, judicial, and execu- 
tive proceedings. 

Section 1. In tlie words of the Father of his country, we declare that 
"■ the basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and 
alter tbeir constitutions of government; but that the constitution which at 
any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole 
people, is sacredly obligatory njion all." 

Sec. 2. All free governments are instituted for the protection, safety, and 
happmess of the people. All laws, therefore, should be made lor the good 
of the whole ; and the burdens of the State ought to be fairly distributed 
among; its citizens. 

Sec. 3. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; and all 
attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil 
incapacitations, tend to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness : and 
whereas a principal object of our venerable ancestors, in their migration to 
this country, and their settlement of this State, was, as they expressed it, 
to hold forth a lively experiment that a flourishing civil State may stand 
and be best maintained with full liberty in religious concernments : We 
therefore declare that no man shall be compelled to frequent or to support 
any religious worship, place, or ministry whatever, except in fulfilment of his 
own voluntary contract; nor enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened 
in his body or goods, nor discpialified from holding any office, nor other- 
wise suffer, on account of his religious belief; and that every man shall be 
free to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and 
to profess, and by argument to maintain., his opinion in matters of religion ; 
and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect his civil ca- 
pacity. 

Sec. 4. Slavery shall not be permitted in this State. 

Sec. 5. Every person within this State ought to find a certain remedy, 
by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which he may 
receive in his person, property, or character. He ought to~obtain right and 
justice freely and without purchase, completely and without denial, 
promptly and without delay, conformably to the laws. 

Sec. 6. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, papers, 
and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be 
violated; and no warrant shall issue but on complaint in writing, upui 
probable cause supported by oath or affirmation, and describing as nearly 
as may be the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

Sec. 7. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or other infamous 
crime, unless on presentment or indictment by a grand jury except in cases 
of impeachment, or of such offences as are coanizable by a justice of the 
peace ; or in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, 
when in actual service in time of war or public danger. No person shall, 
after an acquittal, be tried for the same offence. 

Sec. 8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel [)uni.shments inflicted ; and all punishments ought to be propor- 
tioned to the offence. 

Sec. 9. All persons imprisoned ought to be bailed by sufficient surety, 
unless for offences punishable by death or by imprisonment for life, when 
the proof of guilt is evident or the presunijition great. The privilege of 
Jhe writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of 



Rep. No, 546. 221 

rebellion or invasion the public safety sliall require it ; nor ever, without 
the authority of the (General Assembly. 

Sec. 10. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused sliall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial by an inripartial jury, to be inlbrii:ed of the 
nature and cause of ihe accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses 
ao-ainst him, to have compulsory process for obtainino; them in his favor, 
to have the assistance of counsel in his defence, and shall be at liberty to 
speak for himself; nor shall he be deprived of life, liberty, or properly, un- 
less by the judgment of his peers, or the laws of the land. 

Sec. 11. The person of a debtor, when there is not strong presumption 
of fraud, ought not to be continued in prison after he shall have delivered 
up his property for the benefit of his creditor, in such manner as shall be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 12. No ex post-flicto law, or law impairing the obligation of con- 
tracts, shall be passed. 

Sec. 13. INo man in a court of common law shall be compelled to give 
evidence criminating himself 

Sec. 14. Every man being presumed innocent until he is pronounced 
guilty by the law, no act of severity which is not neces' ary to secure an 
accused person shall be permitted. 

Sec. 15. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate. 

Sec. 16. Private property shall not be taken for public uses without just 
compensation. 

Sec. 17. The people shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise all the 
rights of fishery, and the privileges of the shore, to which they have been 
heretofore entitled under the charter and usages of this State. But no new 
right is intended to be granted, nor any existing right imp.iired, by this dec- 
laration. 

Sec. 18. The military shall be held in strict subordination to the civil 
authority. And the law martial shall be used and exercised in such cases 
only as occasion sliall necessarily require. 

Sec. 19. No soldier shall be quartered in any house, in time of peace, 
without the consent of the Ovvner; nor in time of war, but in manner to 
be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 20. The liberty of the press being essential to the security of free- 
dom in a State, any person may publish his sentiments on any subject, 
being responsible for the abuse of that liberty ; and in all trials for libel, 
bojth civil and criminal, the truth, unless published from malicious motives, 
shall be sufficient defence to the person charged. 

Sec. 21. The citizens have a right in a peaceable manner to assemble 
for their common good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of 
government for redress of grievances, or for other purposes, by petition 
address, or remonstrance. 

Sec. 22. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be in- 
fringed. 

Sec. 23. The enumeration of the foregoing rights shall not be construed 
to impair or deny others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE II. 
Of the qualification of ehclors. 

Section 1 . Every male citizen of the United Stales, of the age of twetity- 



222 I?ep. No. 546. 

one years, who lias had his residence and home in this State for one year; 
and HI the town or city in which he may claim a right to vote six months 
next preceding the lime of voting, and who is really and truly possessed, in 
his own right, of real estate in such town or city, of the value of one hun- 
dred and thirty-four dollars over and above all incumbrances, or which 
shall rent for seven dollars per annum over and above any rent reserved, or 
the interest of any incumbrances thereon, being an estate in fee simple, fee 
tail, for tiie life of any person, or an estate in reversion or remainder, which 
qualifies no other person to vote, the conveyance of which estate, if by deed, 
shall have been recorded at least ninety days, shall thereafter have a right 
to vote m the election of all civil officers, and on all questions in all legal 
town or ward meetings, so long as he continues so qualified. And if any 
person hereinbefore described shall own any such estate within this State, 
out of the town or city m which he resides, he shall have a right to vote in 
the election of all general officers, and members of the General Assembly, 
in the town or city m which he shall have had his residence and home for 
the term of six months next preceding the election, upon producing a cer- 
tificate from the clerk of the town or city in which his estate lies, bearing 
date within ten days of the time of his voting, setting forth that such person 
has a sufficient estate therein to qualify him as a voter ; and that the deed, 
if any, has been recorded ninety days. 

Skc. 2. Every [ ] male native citizen of the United Stales, of the age of 
twenty-one ytars, who has had his residence and home in this State two 
years, and in the town or city in which he may offer to vote six months next 
preceding the time of voting, whose name is registered pursuant to the act 
calling tiie convention to frame tliis constitution, or shall be registered in 
the office of the clerk of such town or city at least seven days before the 
time he shall off<-r to vote, and before the last day of December in the pres- 
ent year, and who has paid or shall pay a tax or taxes assessed upon his es- 
tate within this State, and within a year of the time of voting, to the amount 
of one dollar, or who shall voluntarily pay at least seven days before the 
time lie shall offer to vote, and before said last day of December, to the 
clerk or treasurer of the town or city where he resides, the sum of one dol- 
lar, or such sum as, with his other taxes, shall amount to one dollar, for the 
support of public schools therein, and shall make proof of the same, by the 
certificate of the clerk, treasurer, or collector of any town or city where such 
payment is made ; or who, being so registered, has been enrolled in any mil- 
itary company in this btate, and done military service or duty therein, with- 
in the present year, pursuant to law, and shall (until other proof is required 
by law) prove by the certificate of the officer legally commanding the regi- 
ment, or chartered or legally authorized volunteer company, in which he 
may have served or done duty, that he has been equipped and done duty 
according to law, or, by the certificate of the commissioners upon military 
claims, that he has performed military service, shall have a right to vote in 
the election of all civil officers, and on all questions in all legally organized 
town or ward meetings, until the end of the first year after the adoption of 
this constitution, or until the end of the year eighteen hundred and forty- 
three. 

From and after that time, every such citizen who has had the residence 
herein required, and vvhnse name shall be registered in the town where he 
resides, on or before the last day of December, in the year next preceding 
the time of his voting, and who shall show, by legal proof, that he has for 



Rep. No. 546. 223 

r.nd within the year next preceding Ifie time lie shall offer to vote, paid a 
iiix or taxes assessed against him in any town or city ni this State, to the 
amount of one dollar, or that he has been enrolled in a mihtary company 
in this State, been equipped and done dnly therein according to law, and 
at least for one day during sncli year, shall have a right to vote in the elec- 
tion of all civil officers, and on all questions in all legally organized town or 
ward meetings: Provided^ That no person shall at any time be allowed to 
vote in the election of the city council of the ciiy of Providence, or upon 
any proposition to impose a tax, or for the expenditure of money in any town 
or city, unless he shall, within the year next preceding, have paid a tax as- 
sessed upon his property therein, valued at least at one hundred and thirty- 
four dollars. 

Sec. 3. The assessors of each town or city shall annually assess upon 
every person whose name shall be rejjistered, a tax of one dollar, or such 
sum as with his other taxes shall amount to one dollar; which registry tax 
shall be paid into the treasury of such town or city, and be applied to the 
support of public schools therein. But no compulsory process sliall issue 
for the collection of any registry tax: Provided, That the registry tax of 
every person who has performed military duty according to the provisions 
of the preceding section, shall be remitted for the year he shall perform such 
duty; and the registry tax assessed upon any mariner, for any year wfiile 
he IS at sea, shall, upon his application, be remitted ; and no person shall be 
alK)wed to vote whose registry tax, for either of the two years next prece- 
diuif the time of voting, is not paid or remitted as herein provided. 

Si:c. 4. No person in the military, naval, marine, or any other service of 
the United States, shall be considered as having the required residence by 
reason of being employed in any garrison, barrack, or military or naval sta- 
tion in this State; and no pauper, lunatic, person noti coitipos mentis, per- 
son under guardianship, or member of the Narragansett tribe of Indians, 
shall be permitted to be registered or to vote. Nor shall any person con- 
victed of bribery, or of any crime deemed infamous at common law, be per- 
mitted to exercise that privilege, unless he be expressly restored thereto by 
act of the General Assembly. 

Skc. 5. Persons residing on lands ceded by this State to the United States 
shall not be entitled to exercise the privilege of electors. 

Sec. G. The General Assembly shall have full power to provide for a re- 
gistry of voters, to prescribe the manner of conducting the elections, the 
form of certificates, the nature of the evidence to be required in case of a 
dispute as to the ritjht of any person to vote, and generally to enact all laws 
necessary to carry this article into effect, atid to prevent abuse, corruption, 
and fraud in voting. 

ARTICLE Iir. 
Of the distribution of powers. 

The powers of government shall be distributed into three departments— 
the legislative, executive, and judicial. 

ARTICLE IV. 
Of the legislative power > 
Section I. This constitution shall be the supreme law of the State, and 



224 Rep. No. 546. 

any law inconsistent therewith shall he void. The General Assembly shall 
pass all laws necessary to carry this constitution into effect. 

Sec. 2. The legislative power under this constitution shall be vested in 
two houses — the one to be called the Senate, the other the Hou?e of Repre- 
sentatives ; and both together, the General Assen:ibly. The concurrence of 
the two houses shall be necessary to the enactment of laws. The style of 
their laws shall be. It is enacted by tlie General Assembly as follows. 

Sec. 3. There shall be two sessions of the General Assembly holden 
annually — one at Newport, on the first Tuesday of May, for the purposes 
of election and other busmess ; the oiher on the last Monday of October, 
which last session shall be holden at South Kingstown once in two years, 
and the intermediate years alternately at Bristol and East Greenwich ; and 
an adjournment from the October session shall be holden annually at Prov- 
idence. 

Sec. 4. No member of the General Assembly shall take any fee, or be of 
counsel in any case pending before either house of the General Assembly, 
under penalty of forfeiting his seat, upon proof thereof to the satisfaction of 
the house of which he is a men^ber. 

Sec. 5. The person of every member of the General Assembly shall be 
exem|)t from arrest, and his estate from attachment in any civil action, 
durmg the session of the General Assembly, and two days before the com- 
mencement, and two days after the termination thereof; and all process 
served contrary hereto shall be void. For any speech in debate, in either 
house, no member shall be questioned in any other place. 

Sec. 6. Each house shall be the judge of the elections and qualifications 
of its members, and a majority shall constitute a quorum to do business ; 
but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel tlie 
attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties 
as may be prescribed by such house, or by law. The organization of the 
two houses may be regulated by law, subject to the limitations contained 
in this constitution. 

Sec. 7. Each house may determine its rules of proceeding, punish con- 
tempts, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concur- 
rence of two-thirds, expel a member ; but not a second time for the same 
cause. 

Sec. 8. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings. The yeas 
and nays of the members of either house shall, at the desire of one fifth of 
tliose present, be entered on the journal. 

Sec. 9. Neither house shall, during a session, without the consent of the 
other, adjourn for more than two days, nor to any other place than that in 
which they may be sitting. 

Sec. 10. The General Assembly shall continue to exercise the powers 
they have heretofore exercised, unless prohibited in this constitution. 

Sec. 11. The senators and representatives shall receive the sum of one 
dollar for every day of attendance, and eight cents per mile for travelling 
expenses in going to and returning from the General Assembly. The 
General Assembly shall regulate the compensation of the governor and all 
other officers, subject to the limitations contained in this constitution. 

Sec. 12. All lotteries shall hereafter be prohibited in thij State, except 
those already authorized by the General Assembly. 

Sec. 13. The General Assembly shall have no power hereafter, without 
the express consent of the people, to incur State debts to an amount exceed- 



Rep. No. 546. 225 

ing fifty thousand dollars, except in time of war, or in case of insurrection 
or invasion ; nor shall they in any case, without such consent, pledge the 
faith of the State for the payment of the obligations of others. This section 
shall not be construed to refer to any money that may be deposited with this 
State by the Government of the United States. 

Sec. 14, The assent of two thirds o( the members elected to each House 
of the General Assembly shall be required to every bill appropriating the 
public money or property for local or private purposes. 

Sec. 15. The General Assembly shall, from lime to time, provide for ma- 
king new valuations of property for the assessment of taxes, in such manner 
as they may deem best. A new estimate of such property shall be taken 
before the first direct State tax afier the adoption of this constitution shall 
be assessed. 

Sec. 10. The General Assembly may provide by law for the continuance 
in office of any officers of annual election or appointment, until other per- 
sons are qualified to take their places. 

Sec. 17. Hereafter, when any bill shall be presented to either House 'of 
the General Assembly, to create a corporation for any other than for reli- 
gious, literary, or charitable purposes, or for a military or fire company, it 
shall be continued until another election of members of the General Assem- 
bly shall have taken place- and such public notice of the pendency thereof 
shall be given as may be required by law. 

Sec. 18. It shall be the duty of the two Houses, upon the request of 
either, to join in grand committee for the purpose of electing Senators in 
Congress, at such times, and m such manner, as may be prescribed by law 
for said elections. 

ARTICLE V. 

Of the House of Representatives. 

Section 1. The House of Representatives shall never exceed seventy- 
two members, and shall be constituted on the basis of population, always 
allowing one representative for a fraction exceeding half the ratio; but 
each town or city shall always be entitled to at least one member; and no 
town or city shall have more than one-sixth of the whole number of mem- 
bers to which the House is hereby limited. The present ratio shall be one 
representative to every fifteen hundred and thirty inhabitants; and the 
General Assembly may, after any new census taken by the authority of the 
United States or of this State, re apportion the representation by altering 
the ratio; but no town or city shall be divided into districts for the choice 
of representatives. 

Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall have authority to elect its 
speaker, clerks, and other officers. The senior member from the town of 
Newport, if any be present, shall preside in the organization of the House. 

ARTICLE VI. 

Of the Senate. 

Section I. The Senate shall consist of the lieutenant governor, and of 
one senator from each town or city in the State, 
15 



226 Rep. No. 546. 

Sec. 2. The governor, and, in his absence, the lientenatit governofj. 
shall preside in the Senate and in grand committee. The presiding officer 
of the Senate and grand committee shall have a right to vote in case of 
ecjiial division, but not otherwise. 

Sec. 3. If, by reason of death, resignation, absence, or other cause, there 
be no governor or lieutenant governor present, to preside in the Senate, 
the Senate shall elect one of their own members to preside during such ab- 
sence or vacancy ; and until such election is made by the Senate, the sec- 
retary of state shall preside. 

Sec. 4. The secretary of state shall, by virtue of his office, be secretary 
of the Senate, unless otherwise provided by law ; and the Senate may elect 
such other officers as they may deem necessary. 

ARTICLE VIL 
• Of the executive power. 

Section 1. The chief executive power of this State shall be vested in a 
governor, who, together with a lieutenant governor, shall be annually 
elected by the people. 

Sec. 2. The governor shall take care that the laws be faithfully exe' 
cuted. 

Sec. 3. He shall be captain general and commander-in-chief of the mil- 
itary and naval forces of this State, except when they shall be called into 
the service of the United States. 

Sec. 4. He shall have power to grant reprieves, after conviction, in all 
cases except those of impeachment, until the end of the next session of the 
General Assembly. 

Sec. 5. He may fill vacancies in office not otherwise provided for by this 
constitution or by law, until the same shall be filled by the General Assem- 
bly or by the people. 

Sec. 0. In case of disagreement between the two houses of the General 
Assembly, respecting the time or place of adjournment, certified to him by 
either, he may adjourn them to such time and place as he shall think prop- 
er: frovidedj That the time of adjournment shall not be extended beyond 
the day of the next stated session. 

Sec. 7. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General As- 
sembly at any town or city in this State, at any time not provided for by 
law; and in case of danger from the prevalence of epidemic or contagious- 
disease in the place in which the General Assembly are by law to meet, or 
to which they may have been adjourned, or for other urgent reasons, he 
may, by proclamation, convene said Assembly at any other place v/ithin 
this Stale. 

Sec. 8. All commissions shall be in the name and by authority of the 
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ; shall be sealed with 
the State seal, signed by the governor, and attested by the secretary. 

•Sec. 9. In case of vacancy in the office of governor, or of his inability 
to serve, impeachment, or absence from the State, the lieutenant governor 
shall fill the office of governor, and exercise the powers and authority ap- 
pertaining thereto, until a governor is qualified to act, or until the office is 
filled at the next annual election. 

Sec. lU. If the offices of governor and lieutenant governor be both va- 



Rep. No. 546, ^27 

cant, by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, absence, or otherwise, 
Uie person entitled to preside over the Senate for tlie time being, shall, in 
like manner, fill the office of governor during such absence or vacancy. 

Sec 11. The compensation of the governor and heutenant governor 
shall be established by law, and shall not be diminished during the term for 
which they are elected. 

Skc. 12. The duties and powers of the secretary, attorney general, and 
generni treasurer, shall be the same under this constitution as are now 
established, or as, from time to time, may be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 
Of elections. 

Section 1. The governor, lieutenant governor, senators, representa- 
tives, secretary of state, attorney general, and general treasurer, shall 
be elected at the town, city, or ward meetings, to be holden on the first Wed- 
nesday of April, annually ; and shall severally hold their offices for one 
year, from the first Tuesday of May next succeedmg, and until others are 
legally chosen and duly qualified to fill their places. If elected or quali- 
fied after the said first Tuesday of May, they shall hold their offices for the 
remainder of the political year, and until their successors are qualified to 
act. 

Sec. 2. The voting for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of 
state, attorney general, general treasurer, and representatives to Con- 
gress, shall be by ballot; senators and representatives to the General As- 
sembly, and town or city officers, shall be choscfn by ballot, on demand ot 
any seven persons entitled to vote for the same ; and in all cases where an 
election is made by ballot, or paper vote, the manner of balloting shall be 
the same as is now required in voting for general officers, until otherwise 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 3. The names of the persons voted for as governor, lieutenant 
governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and general treasurer, 
shall be placed upon one ticket; and all votes for these officers shall, in 
open town or ward meetings, be sealed up by the moderators and town 
clerks, and by the wardens and ward clerks, who shall certify the same, and 
deliver or send them to the secretary of state, whose duty it shall be se- 
curely to keep and deliver the same to the grand committee after the or- 
ganization of the two houses at the annual May session ; and it shall be 
the duty of the two houses, at said session, after their organization, upon 
the request of either house, to join in grand committee, f )r the purpose of 
counting and declaring said votes, and of electing other officers. 

Sec. 4. The town and ward clerks shall also keep a correct list or regis- 
ter of all persons voting for general officers, and shall transmit a copy 
thereof to the General Assembly on or before the first day of said May 
session. 

Sec. 5. The ballots for senators and representatives in the several towns 
shall, in each case, after the polls are declared to be closed, be counted by 
the moderator, who shall announce the result, and the clerk shall give cer- 
tificates to the persons elected. If in any case there be no election, the 
polls may be re opened, and the like proceedings shall be had until an elec- 
tion shall take place; Provided, however, That an adjournment or adjourn- 



228 Rep. No. 546. 

ments of the election may be made to a time not exceeding seven days from 
the first meeting. 

Sec. 6. In the city of Providence, the polls for senator and representa- 
tives shall be kept open during tlie wiiole lime of voting for the day, and 
the votes in the several wards shall be sealed up at the close of the meeting 
by the wardens and ward clerks in open ward meeting, and afterwards de- 
livered lo the city clerk. The mayor and aldermen shall proceed to count 
said votes within two days from the day of election; and if no election of 
senator and representatives, or if an election of only a portion of the 
representatives shall have taken place, the mayor and aldermen shall order 
a new election, to be held not more than ten days from the day of the first 
election, and so on until the election shall be completed. Certificates of 
election shall be furnished by the city clerk to the persons chosen. 

Sec. 7. If no person shall have a majority of voles for governor, it shall 
be the duty of ihe grand committee to elect one by ballot from the two per- 
sons having the highest number of votes for the office, except when such a 
result is produced by rejecting the entire vote of any town, city, or ward, 
for mformality or illegality ; m which case, a new election by the electors 
throughout the State shall be ordered ; and in case no person shall have a 
majority of votes (or lieutenant governor, it shall be tlie duty of the grand 
committee to elect one by ballot from the two persons having the highesS 
number of votes for the office. 

Sec. 8. In case an election of the secretary of state, attorney general, 
or general treasurer should fail to be made by the electors at the annual 
election, the vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by the General Assembly, 
in grand comuiittee, from the two candidates for such office having the 
greatest numler of the votes of the electors. Or in case of a vacancy in 
either of said offices from other causes, between the sessions of the General 
Assembly, the governor shall appoint some person to fill the same until a 
successor elected by the General Assembly is qualified to act; and in such 
cast- , and also in all other cases of vacancies not otherwise provided for, 
the General Assembly may fill the same in any manner they may deenj 
proper. 

Sec. 9. Vacancies from any cause in the Senate or House of Represent- 
atives may be filled by a new election. 

Sec. 10. In all elections held by the people under this constitution, a 
majority of all the electors voting shall be necessary to the election of the 
persons voted for. 

ARTICLE IX. 
Of qualifications for offi.ce. 

Section 1. No person shall be eligible to any civil office, (except the 
office of school committee,) unless he be a qualified elector for such office. 

Sec. 2. Every person shall be disqualified from holding any office to 
which he may have been elected, if he be convicted of having offered, or 
procured any other person to offer, any bribe to secure his election, or the 
election of any other person. 

Sec. 3. All general officers shall take the following engagement before 

they act in their respective offices, to wit: You being by the free 

vote of the electors of this State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 



Rep. No. 546. 229 

tions, elected nnfo the place of , do solemnly swear (or affirm) to be 

trne and faitlifnl unto this State, and to support the constitution of this 
State and of the United States; that you will faithfully and impartially 
discharge all the duties of your aforesaid office to the best of your abilities, 
according to law : so help you God. Or, this affirmvition you make and 
give upon the peril of the penalty of perjury. 

Skc. 4. The members of the General Assembly, the judges of all the 
courts, and ail other officers, both civil and military, shall be bound by oath 
or atlirmation to support this constitution, and the constitution of the United 
States. 

Skc. 5. The oath, or affirmation, shall be administered to the governor, 
lieutenant governor, senators, and representatives, by the secretary of 
state, or, in his absence, by the attorney general. The secretary of slate, 
attorney general, and general treasurer, shall be engaged by the gover- 
nor, or by a justice of the supreme court. 

Sec. 6. No person holding any office under the government of the United 
States, or of any other State or country, shall act as a general officer, or as 
a member of the General Assembly, unless, at the time of taking his en- 
gagement, he shall have resigned his office under such government. 
And if any general officer, senator, representative, or jud^e, shall, after his 
election and engagement, accept any appointment under any other govern- 
ment, his office under this shall be immediately vacated ; but this restric- 
tion shall not apply to any person appointed to take depositions or acknowl- 
edgments of deeds, or other legal instruments, by the authority of any other 
State or country. 

ARTICLE X. 
Of the judicial fowtr. 

Section 1. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in one 
supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the General Assembly may, 
from time to time, ordain and establish. 

Skc. 2. The several courts shall have such jurisdiction as may, from 
time to time, be prescribed by law. Chancery powers may be conferred on 
Ihe supreme court, but on no other court, to any greater extent than is now 
provided by law. 

Sec. 3. The judges of the supreme court shall, in all trials, instruct the 
jury in the law. They shall also give their written opinion upon any 
question of law, whenever requested by the governor, or by either house 
of the General Assembly. 

Sec 4. The judges of the supreme court shall be elected by the two 
houses in grand committee. Each judge shall hold his office until his 
place be declared vacant by a resolution of the General Assembly to that 
effect; which resolution shall be voted for by a majority of all the members 
elected to the house in which it may originate, and be concurred in by the 
same majority of the other house. Such resolution shall not be entertained 
at any other than tHe annital session for the election of public officers ; and, 
in default of the passage thereof at said session, the judge shall hold his 
place as herein provided. But a judge of any court shall be removed from 
office, if, upon impeachment^ he shall be found guilty of any official misde- 
meanor. 



230 Rep. No. 546. 

Sec. 5. In case of vacancy by death, resignation, removal from the State, 
or from office, refusal or inabihty to serve, of any judge o( the supreme 
court, the office may be filled by tbe grand committee, until the next an- 
nual election, and the judge then elected shall hold his office as before pro- 
vided. In cases of impeachment, or temporary absence or inability, the 
governor may appoint a person to discharge the duties of the office during 
the vacancy caused thereby. 

Si:r. 6. "^rhe judges of the supreme court shall receive a compensation 
for their services, which shall not be diminished during their continuance 
in office. 

Skc. 7. The towns of New Shoreham and Jamestown may continue to^ 
elect their wardens as heretofore. The other towns, and the city of Provi- 
dence, may elect such number of justices ol the peace, resident therein, as 
they may deem proper. Tlie jnrisdicli n of said justices and wardens shall 
be regulated by law. The justices shall be commissioned by the governor, 

ARTICLE XI. 
Of impeachments. 

Section 1. The House of Representatives shall have tbe sole power of 
impeachment. A vote of two-thirds of all the members elected sliaU be re- 
quired for an impeachment of the governor. Any officer impeached shall 
thereby be suspended from office until judgment in the case shall have' been 
pronounced. 

Sec. 2. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate ; and, when sitting 
for that purpose, they shall be under oath or affirmation. I\o person shall 
be convicted, except by vote of two thirds of the members elected. When 
the Governor is impeached, the chief or presiding justice of the supreme 
court, for the time being, shall preside, with a casting vole in all prelimi- 
nary questions. 

Sec. 3. The governor, and all other executive and judicial officers, shall 
be liable to imi)eachment ; but judgment in such cases shall not extend fur- 
ther than to removal from office. The person convicted shall, nevertheless^ 
be liable to indictment, trial, and punishment, according to law. 

ARTICLE XII. 
Of tducalion. 

Section 1. The diffusion of knowledge, as welt as of virtue, among the 
people, being essential to the preservation of their rights and liberties, it 
shall be the duty of the General Assembly to promote public schools, and 
to adopt all means which they may deem necessary and proper to secure to 
the peo|)le the advantages and op| oriunities of education. 

Sec. 2. The money which now is, or which may hereafter be, appro- 
priated by law for the establishment of a permanent fund for the support of 
public schools, shall be securely invested, and remain a perpetual fund for 
that purpose. 

Skc. 3. All donations for the support of public schools, or for other pur- 
poses of education, which may be received by the General Assembly, shall 
be applied according to the terms prescribed by the donors. 



Kep. No. 546. 231 

Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall make all necessary provisions by 
law for carryiiis: this article into effect. They shall not divert said money, 
or fund, from the aforesaid uses; nor borrow, appropriate, or use the same, 
or any part thereof, for any other purpose, under any pretence whatsoever. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Of amendments. 

The General Asseuibly may propose amendments to this constitution by 
the votes of a majority of all the members elected to each house. Such 
propositions for amendment shall be published in the newspa[)ers, and print- 
ed copies of them shall be sent to the secretary of state, with the names of 
all the members who shall have voted thereon, with the yeas and nays, to 
all the town and ciiy clerks in the State, The said propositions shall be, 
by said clerks, inserted in the warrants or notices by them issued, for warn- 
ing the next annual town and ward meetings in April ; and the clerks shall 
read said propositions to the electors when thus asseujbled, with the names 
of all the representatives and senators who shall have voted thereon, with 
the yeas and nays, before the election of senators and representatives shall 
be had. If a majority of all the members elected to each house, at said 
annual meeting, shall approve any proposition thus made, the .same shall 
be published a'.id submitted to the electors in the mode provided in the act 
of approval ; and if then approved by three fifths of the electors of the State 
present, and voting thereon in town and ward meetings, it shall become a 
part of the constitution of the State. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Of the adoption of this constitution. 

Section 1. This constitution, if adopted, shall go into operation on the 
first Tuesday of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
three, "^rhe first election of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of 
state, attorney general, and general treasurer, and of senators and rep- 
resentatives under said constitution, shall be had on the first Wednesday of 
April next preceding, by the electors qualified under said constitution ; and 
the town and ward meetings therefor shall be warned and conducted as is 
now provided by law. All civil and military officers now elected, or who 
shall be hereafter elected, by the General Assembly, or other competent au- 
thority, before the said first Wednesday of April, shall hold their offices, and 
may exercise their powers, until the said first Tuesday of May, or until 
their successors shall be qualified to act. Ail statutes, public and private, 
not repugnant to this constitution, shall continue in force until they expire 
by their own limitation, or are repealed b^ the General Assembly. All char- 
ters, contracts, judgments, actions, and rights of action, shall be as valid as 
if this constitution had not been made. The present government shall ex- 
ercise all the powers with which it is now clothed, until the said first Tues- 
day of May. one thousand eight hundred and forty three, and until the gov- 
ern m3nt under this constitution is duly organized. 

Sec. 2. All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the 
adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the State as if this 
constitution had not been adopted. 



232 Rep. No. 546. 

Sec. 3. The supreme court, established by this constitution, shall have- 
the same jurisdiction as the supreme judicial court at present established ; 
and shall have jurisdiction of all causes which maybe appealed to, or pend- 
ing in the same; and shall be held at the same times and places, and in 
each county, as the present supreme judicial court, imtil otherwise pre- 
scribed by the General Assembly. 

Sec. 4. The towns of New Shoreham and Jamestown shall continue to 
enjoy the exemptions from military duty which they now enjoy, until other- 
wise prescribed by law. 

Done in convention at East Greenwich, this fifth day of November, 

1842. 

JAMES FENNER, President. 

HENRY Y. CRANSTON, Vice President. 

Thomas A. Jenckeis, > ci j • 
,,r \A7 TT i t^ecretaries. 

W ALTER VV. Updike, S 



State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

In Convention^ November 5, A. D. 1842. 

Resolved^ That the constitution framed by this convention be certified 
by the officers thereof, and, with the journal and papers of the convention, 
be deposited in the office of the secretary of state, who shall cause said 
constitution, together with this resolution, and all acts and resolutions of the 
General Assembly relating to this convention, to be printed and distributed 
according to law ; and that said constitution be submitted to all the people 
•who may be by law authorized to vote thereon, for their ratification or re- 
jection; at town or ward meetings to be holden in the several towns and in 
the city of Providence, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the 21st, 
22d, and 23d days of November, A. D. 1842. The several town and city 
clerks shall issue the necessary warrants for said meetings. Said meetings 
shall be kept open for the reception of votes during the time herein speci- 
fied, and longer if necessary, viz : from the hour of 9 o'clock in the forenoon 
until 4 o'clock in the afternoon ; and in the town of Newport and city of 
Providence, until 7 o'clock in the evening on the days appointed. 

In the first line of the second section of article second, relating to the 
qnalification of electors, when the constitution is enrolled, there shall be a 
blank space left betwi^en the words every and male; and at the meetings 
hereinbefore appointed for voting upon the constitution, the following ques- 
tion shall also be separately submitted, to be voted upon by those who may 
be authorized to vote for or against said constitution, viz: '' In case the con- 
stitution framed by the convention assembled at Newport in September, 
1842, be adopted, shall the blank in the first line of section second of article 
second of said constitution be filled bv the word wliiteT'' and a sufficient 
number of affirmative and negative ballots for this purpose shall be printed 
and distributed by the secretary. And in case said constitution be adopted, 
and there shall also be a majority of votes in favor of filling said blank with 
said word lolute^ the General Assembly shall cause the blank to be so filled, 
and the same shall be a part of said constitution, in the same manner as if 
originally inserted therein by this convention. But if there be a majority 
of votes against filling said blank as aforesaid, the constitution shall be 
printed without said blank. And if said constitution be not adopted, \h& 



Rep. No. 546. 233 

vote taken in relation to said word white shall be of no effect. And the 
town and ward clerks shall keep separate lists of the votes of all colored 
persons undt-r the second section of the article on the qualifications of elec- 
tors, who may vote on the question of the adoption of the constitution, and 
also on the question of the insertion of the word white in said section ; and 
these ballots shall be placed in separate parcels in the sealed packages of 
ballots, to be returned by the town and ward clerks to the General As- 
sembly. 

The ballots upon the adoption of said constitution, and also upon the 
question in relation to said word white, shall be returned to the next session 
of the General Assembly holden after the meetings herein appointed, in 
order that they may cause the votes to be counted, and the result declared. 

Read and adopted. 

THOS. A. JENCKES, Secretary. 



In Convention, November 5, 1S42. 
Resolved, That the town and city clerks give immediate notice of the 
time appointed by this convention for voting upon this constitution, and also 
of the time appointed for the completion of the registry of votes accordijig 
to the provisions of section second, article second, of said constitution ; and 
that the secretary of the convention cause copies of this resolution to be 
forwarded to all the town and city clerks in the State. 
Read and adopted, 

THOS. A. JENCKES, Secretary. 



State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

Jh General Asseinbly, June session, A. D. 1842. 

AN ACT to provide for calling a convention of the people of this State for the purpose of 
forming a new constiiuiiun or form of government for the people thereof. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows : 

Section 1. The people of the several towns in this State, and of the 
city of Providence, qualified to vote as hereinafter provided, are hereby 
requested, at the town or ward meetings holden on the last Tuesday of Au- 
gust next, to choose so many delegates as they will be severally entitled to, 
according to the provisions of this act, to attend a convention to be holden 
at Newport, on the secoi.d Monday of September next, to frame a new con- 
stitution for this State, either in whole or in part, with full powers for that 
purpose. 

Sec. 2. A majority of the whole number of delegates which all the 
towns and city of Providence are entitled to elect, shall constitute a quo- 
rum, who may elect a president, secretaries, and other officers, judge of the 
election and qualification of members, punish contempts, and establish such 
rules and proceedings as they may deem proper. Said convention may 
adjourn to any place they may think proper. Any town or city which may 
fail to elect its delegates at the time prescribed, may choose them at any 
time before the meeting of the convention ; and vacancies, from resigna- 
tions or otherwise, may be filled at any time by a new election. 



234 Rep. No. 546. 

Sec. 3. The constitution or articles agreed upon by the convention shall 
be submitted to those qualified to vote as hereinafter provided, in open town 
or ward meetings, to be held on such day or days, and in such time and 
manner as the convention shall direct. The constitution or articles shall 
be certified by the president and secretaries, and, with the journal and pa- 
pers of the convention, deposited in the office of the secretary of state, who 
shall immediately distribute to the several town and city clerks, in due pro- 
portion, five thousand printed copies of the constitution or articles, in pam- 
phlet form, and also thirty thousand ballots ; on one side of which shall be 
printed " Constitution, or articles proposed by the convention holden at 
Newport on the second Monday of September, A. D. 1842 ;" and on the 
other side thereof shall be written or printed the word " adopt" on one half 
of them, and the word " reject" on the other half He shall also cause said 
constitution or articles to be published in any other manner the convention 
may prescribe. 

Sec. 4. At said town or ward meetings, every person voting shall have 
his name written on the back of his ballot; and the ballots shall be sealed 
up in open town or ward meetings by the clerks, and, with lists of the 
voters, be returned to the General Assembly, at the next session thereof, 
who shall cause the vote? to be examined and counted ; and if said consti- 
tution or articles be adopted by a majority of the persons having a right to 
vote, the same shall go into operation at such time or limes, and in such 
manner, as shall be appointed by the convention. 

Sec. 5. The delegates to said convention shall be elected upon a basis of 
population according to the census of 1840, as follows : Every town of not 
more than 3.000 inhabitants may elect two delegates ; over 3,000, and not 
over 6,000. three delegates; over 6,000, and not over 10,000, four delegates; 
over 10,000, and not over 15,000, five delegates ; and over 15,000, six del- 
egates. 

Sec. 6. In the choice of delegates to said convention, the following de- 
scriptions of persons shall be admitted to vote : All those who are qualified 
to vote for general officers by existing laws, and all native male citizens 
of the United States, (except Narragansett Indians, convicts, paupers, per- 
sons under guardianship and non compos mejitis,) who are of the age of 21 
years and upwards, and who shall have had their permanent residence or 
home within this State for the period of three years next preceding their 
voting, and in the town or city wherein they offer to vote for the period of 
one year next preceding such voting, and who shall have had their names 
recorded with the town or city clerk of the town or city in which they shall 
offer to vote, in proper books, to be kept by said town or city clerk for that 
purpose, at least ten days before the day of voting. In voting upon the 
adoption or rejection of said constitution or articles, in addition to those 
who are qualified to vote for general officers by the existing laws, all those 
shall be admitted to vote who will be qualified to vote for general officers 
under the provisions of said constitution or articles, if in force ; but this 
provision shall not be construed to give to any person a right to vote at any 
town or ward meeting, held under and by virtue of this act, upon any other 
question or questions than the questions herein specifically named. 

Sec. 7. The delegates shall receive the same compensation for attend- 
ance as members of the General Assembly, payable upon the certificate of 
the secretary. 

Sec. 8. A sum, not exceeding five hundred dollars, is hereby appropri- 



Rep. No. 546. 235 

ated for defrayinof the expenses of said convention, to be paid out of the 
treasury to the order of the president thereof 

Skc. 9. It shall he the duty of the town, city, and ward clerks to warn, 
accordino: to law, the meetings hereby appointed, and those which may be 
ordered by said convention. 

Sec. 10. Any fourteen mpmbers of the convention, inchidinj^ the presi- 
dent, (if there be one,) shrdl have full power and authority to compel the at- 
tendance of absent members. If shall be the duty of the sheriff of tlie coun- 
ty where the convention shall be in session, to attend said convention, and 
execute the orders thereof 

Skc. U. Whenever in any town or ward meeting holden under this act, 
any dispute shall arise as to any person's residence, or other qualifications, 
the moderator or warden, or person presiding in snid meetings, shall have 
authority to examine, under oath, the person offering to vote, and other 
persons who may be present, respecting the same, and decide upon hisqn»d- 
ification, subject to review by the General Assembly. 
A true copy : — Witness, 

HENRY BO WEN, Secretary. 



State of Rhode Island and PnovrDENCR Plantations, 

In Convtnlion at Newport, September 29, 1642. 
Whereas, from the manifest impracticability of ascertaining the precise 
number of persons that might have a right to vote on the adoption of any 
constitution to be submitted for adoption under the provisions of the act 
calling this convention, it is inferrible that it is the true intent of said act that 
none but those actually voting should be counted: and whereas there is an 
ambiguity in said act in this particular: 'I'herefore, 

Resolved, That the General Assembly be requested to pass such declar- 
atory law as may be deemed necessary for the plainer expression of the in- 
tent and meaning of the act aforesaid. 
Read and adopted. 

THOMAS A. JENCKES, Secretary. 



State op Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

In General Assembly, October session, A. D. 1842. 

AN ACT to amend " An act to provide lor calling a convention of the people of this State for 
tiie purpose of forming a new constitution or form of governaient for the people tliereuf," 
passed at the June session, A. D. 1842. 

Whereas the convention which assembled at Newport on the second 
Monday of September last, in pursuance of the provisions of the act afore- 
said, have requested this General Assembly to declare the true intent and 
construction of a portion of the fourth section of said act: Therefore. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly asfollou)s: 

If the constitution or articles that may be framed and submitted to the 
peof)le under the provisions of said act, be adopted by a majority of the 
persons having a right to vote, and actually voting, upon the question of 
adopting the same, the said constitution or articles shall become the su- 



236 Rep. No. 546. 

prenie law of the State; and shall go into operation at such time or times, 
and in suchf manner, as shall be appointed by said convention. 
True copy: — Witness, 

HENRY ROVVEN, Secretary. 



Secretary's Office, 
Providence^ November 7, 1842. 
I certify the foregoing constitution and resolutions of the convention, and 
acts of the General Assembly, to be true copies of the records in my office. 
Witness, HEiNRY BO WEN, Secretary. 



No. 11.— (H.) 

Ratification of the constitution of the United States by the convention of 
the Stale of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

We, the delegates of the people of the State of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations, duly elected and met in convention, having maturely 
considered the constitution for the United States of America, agreed to on 
the seventeenth day of September, in the year one thousand seven hundred 
and eighty-seven, by the convention then assembled at Philadelphia, in the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, (a copy whereof precedes these presents,) 
and iiaving also seriously and deliberately considered the present situation 
of this State, do declare and make known — 

I. Tliat there are certain natural rights, of which men, when they form 
asocial compact, cannot deprive or divest their posterity; among which, 
are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring, possess 
ing, and protecting propert^y, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and 
safety, 

II. "^rhat all power is naturally vested in, and consequently derived from, 
the people ; that magistrates, therefore, are their trustees and agents, and 
at all times amenable to them. 

III. That the powers of government may be reassumed by the people 
whensoever, it shall become necessary to th* ir happiness; that the rights of 
the States, respectively, to nominate and appoint all State officers, and every 
other power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by the said constitution 
clearly delegated to the Congress of the United States, or to the departments 
of government thereof^ remain to the people of the several States, or their 
respective State governments, to whom they may have granted the same; 
and that those clauses of the constitution which declare that Congress 
shall not have or exercise certain powers, do not imply that Congress is en- 
titled to any powers not given by the said constitution, but such clauses 
are to be construed either as exceptions to certain specified powers, or as 
inserted nnerely fi>r greater caution 

IV. That religion, or the duty which , we owe to our Creator, and the 
manner of discharging it, can he directed only by reason and conviction, 
not by force or violence; and, therefore, all men have an equal, natural, 
and unalienable right to the free exercise of religion, according to the die- 



Rep. No 546. 287 

tates of conscience; and that no particnUir religion, sect, or society, ought 
to be favored or established by law, in preference to others. 

V. That the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government 
should be separate and distinct ; and that the members of the two first may 
be restrained from oppression, by feeling and participating the public bur- 
dens, they should at fixed periods be reduced to a private station, return 
into the mass of the people, and the vacancies be supplied by certain and 
regular elections, in which all or any part of the former members to be eli- 
gible, or ineligible, as the rules of the constitution of government and the 
laws shall direct. 

VI. That elections of representatives in the legislature ought to be free 
and frequent ; and all men having sufficient evidence of permanent com- 
mon interest with, and attachment to. the community, ought to have the 
right of sufiVage ; and no aid, charge, tax, or fee can be set, rated, or levied 
upon the people, without their own consent, or that of their representatives 
so elected ; nor can they be bound by any law to which they have not in 
like manner assented for the public good. 

VII. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by 
any authority, without the consent of the representatives of the people in 
the legislature, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised. 

VIII. That in all capital and criminal prosecutions, a man hath a right 
to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the 
accusers and witnesses, to call for evidence, and be allowed counsel in his 
favor, and to a fair and speedy trial by an impartial jury of his vicinage, 
without whose unanimous consent he cannot be found guilty, (except in 
the government of the land and naval forces,) nor can he be compelled to 
give evidence against himself. 

IX. That no freeman ought to be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his 
freehold, liberties, privileges, or franchises, or outlawed or exiled, or in any 
manner destroyed or deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the 
trial by jnry, or by the law of the land. 

X. That every freeman restrained of his liberty is entitled to a remedy, 
to inquire into the lawfulness thereof, and to remove the same if unlawful ; 
and that such remedy ought not to be denied or delayed. 

XL That in controversies respecting property, and in suits between man 
and man. the ancient trial by jury, as hath been exercised by us and our 
ancestors, from the time whereof the memory of man is not to the contrary, 
is one of the greatest securities to the rights of the people, and ought to re- 
raam sacred and inviolate. 

XII. That every freeman ought to obtain right and justice, freely and 
without sale, completely and without denial, promptly and without delay ; 
and that all establishments or regulations contravening these rights are 
oppressive and unjust. 

XIII. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted. 

XIV. That every person has a right to be secure from all unreasonable 
searches and seizures of his person, his papers, or his property ; and, there- 
fore, that all warrants to search suspected places, or to seize any person, his 
papers, or his property, without information upon oath, or affirmation of 
sufficient cause, are grievous and oppressive ; and that all general warrants 
(or such in which the place or person suspected is not particularly desig- 
nated) are dangerous, and ought not to be granted. 



238 Rep. No. 546. 

XV. That the people have a right to freedom of speech, and of writing 
and publishing; their sentiments. That the freedom of the press is one of 
the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and ought not to be violated. 

XVI. That the people have a right peaceably to assemble together to con- 
sult for their common good, or to instruct their representatives; and that 
every person has a right to petition or apply to the legislature for redress of 
grievances. 

XVII. That the people have a riglit to keep and bear arms; that a well- 
regulated militia, including the body of the people capable of bearing arms, 
is the proper, natural, and safe delience of a free State; that the militia shall 
not be subject to martial law, except in time of war, rebellion, or ii'isurrec- 
tion ; that standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, and 
ought not to be kept up, except in cases of nece.ssity ; and that at all times 
the military should be under strict subordination to the civil power : that, 
in time of peace, no soldier ought to be quartered in any house without the 
consent of the owner ; and in time of war, only by the civil magistrate, in 
such manner as the law directs. 

XVIII. That any person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms ought 
to be exempted upon payment of an equivalent to employ another to bear 
arms in his stead. 

Under these impressions, and declaring that the rights aforesaid cannot 
be abridged or violated, and that the explanations aforesaid are consistent 
with the said constitution, and in confidence that the amendments here- 
after mentioned will receive an early and mature consideration, and, con- 
formably to the fifth article of said constitution, speedily become a part 
thereof, — we, the said delegates, in the name and in the behalf of the people 
of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, do by these 
presents assent to and ratify the said constitution. In full confidence, never- 
theless, that until the amendments hereafter proposed shall be agreed to and 
ratified, pursuant to the aforesaid fifth article, the militia of this State will 
not be continued in service out of this State for a longer term than six weeks, 
without the consent of the legislature thereof; that the Congress will not 
make or alter any regulation in this State respecting the times, places, and 
manner of holding elections for Senators or Representatives, unless the 
legislature of this State shall neglect or refuse to make laws or regulations 
for the purpose, or from any circumstance be incapable of making the same ; 
and that in those cases, such power will only be exercised until the legisla- 
ture of this State shall make provision in the premises ; that the Congress 
will not lay direct taxes within this State, but when the moneys arising 
from impost, tonnage, and excise shall be insufficient for the public exigen- 
cies, nor until the Congress shall have first made a requisition upon this 
State to assess, levy, and pay the amount of such requisition, made agree- 
able to the census fixed in the said constitution, in such way and manner 
as the legislature of this State shall judge best, and that the Congress will 
not lay or make any capitation or poll tax. 

Done in convention, at Newport, in the county of Newport, in the State 
of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the twenty-ninth day of May, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and in the 
fourteenth year of the independence of the United States of America. 

By order : 

DANIEL OWEN, President, 

Attest: Daniel Updike. Secretary, 



Rep. No. 546. 239 

No. 12.— (K.) 
DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION. 

Tuesday Afternoon, December 20, 1842. 

The convention for the re organization of the democratic party of this 
State, re-assembled at Washington Hall in this city, pursuant to adjourn- 
ment. A large number of delegates were in attendance at an early hour. 

President VVilmarth N. Aldrich, esq., called the convention to order, 
and the secretary read the roll of members. 

The following gentlemen were added as delegates to the several towns, 
as follows: 

Glocester. — Wm. Luther, Horace Kimball. 
Tiverton. — Gilbert H. Evans. 

Cumberland. — David Whipple. 

Portsmouth. — Ptleg Thurston. 

Warioick.-~yAm.Qs Fisher, Wm. Carder. 

West Greenwich. — James Battey. (Not represented before.) 

Smithjic'ld. — Dr. Marsh, Elisha Smith. 

Newport. — Jeremiah Bliss. 

Providence. — Philip B. Stiness, Wm. B. Mann. 

Burrillville. — Stephen Vallet, t^astus Mathewson. 

Richmond. — Judge James, General Sisson. 

On motion, Henry Lord was appointed doorkeeper. 

A set of resolutions, lying on the table from last meeting, were called up; 
and after some discussion, the 1st and 2d sections were stricken out, and 
the following resolutions adopted in their stead : 

Resolved, That a State central committee of seven persons be appointed, 
whose duty it shall be to carry out the organization of the democratic party, 
according to the plan devised by this convention, and to call State conven- 
tions whenever they may deem it necessary for the purpose of organizino- a 
State ticket of general officers, or the choice of Representatives to Congress, 
or for other purposes. 

Resolved, Tliat a State committee to consist of thirty six persons, one 
from each town, and one from each ward of the city of Providence, be ap- 
pointed. 

The third resolution was amended and adopted, and is as follows : 

Resolved, That the State committee in the respective towns be individ- 
ually authorized to call a convention of the democracy and friends of equal 
rights in the town or city in whfch he resides, for the purpose of oro-anizmo' 
the democratic party, appointing committees, delegates to represent them 
in State conventions, and for ascertaining their views upon important sub- 
jects affecting their welfare. 

The fourth and last oi the resolutions was amended and adopted, and is 
as follows : 

Resolved, That the appointment of the State committees shall continue 
until otherwise ordered by a democratic convention. 

The following resolution was adopted: 

Resolved^ That a committee of twelve be appointed to prepare and pre- 
sent to this convention resolutions and such business as they may deem 
necessary. 



240 Rep. No. 546. 

The committee was appointed — four from the county of Providence, and 
two from each of the other counties, as follows: 

Newport county. — William Ennis, George Rowland. 

Providence county. — Dexter Randall, Dr. Ballou, John S. Harris, Jonah 
Titus. 

Kent county. — John R. Waterman, William Carder. 

Washington county. — Alfred Updike, Wm. B. Bliven. 

Bristol county. — Nathan Bardin, John K. Barney. 

A vote passed that the Ghair appoint a committee to nominate the State 
central committee. 

A vote passed appointing Burrington Anthony a committee to apply for 
the State house for the use of the convention. 

On motion, the towns were called in order, and the following persons 
were appointed the State committee : 
Providence — 

First ward. — David Burt. 

Second ward. — Benjamin Cowell. 

Third ward. — Edward S. Underwood. 

Fourth ward. — Walter R. Dan forth. 

Fifth ward. — Franklin Cooley. 

Sixth vmrd. — John S. Harris. 
Neiojwrt. — Robert R. Carr. 
Barring ton. — Wilmarth Heath. 
Portsmouth. — Isaac S. Corry. 
North Kingstoivn. — George T. Nichols. 
Smithjield — (Greenville) — Asa Winsor. 
East Greentcicli. — Silas Weaver. 
Foster — (South) — Henry Hopkins. 
Westerly. — Joseph Hiscox. 
Coventry. — James A. Fenner. 
Warwick — (Pawtuxet) — James Fisher. 
A^. Pr^ovidetice, (Pawtucket) — Joseph T. Sisson. 
Cranstoti. — Anson Potter. 
Cumberland. — Fenner Brown. 
Glocester. — Jesse S. Tour tel lot. 
Johnston. — Earl Knight. 
Bristol. — Nathan Bardin. 
Scituate — (South) — Horace S. Patterson. 
Warre7i. — Benjamin M. Bosworth. 
Exeter. — Henry B. Joslin. 
New Shoreham. — Samuel Dunn. 
S. Kingstown — (Wakefield) — Perry G. Underwood, 
Hopkinton. — Joseph Spicer, jr. 
Middletown. — Jonathan North up. 
Richmond. — Silas R. Kenyon. 
Charle.'itown. — Joseph Gavitt. 
Burrillville. — Eddy Keach. 
Tiverton. — Allen Durfee. 
W. Greenwich. — Amos Whitford. 
Little Compton. — Nathaniel Tompkins- 
Jamestown. — George Anthony. 



Rep. No. 546. 241 

The followins: resolution was offered, read, and passed : 

Resolved, That the State central committee shall have power to fill^Il 
vacancies that may occur in the State committee. ' 

The committee appointed to procure the State-house for the convention 
to sit in, reported that it could be had after 6^ o'clock, p. m. ; and a vote 
passed that when the convention do adjourn, it adjourn to meet in the 
State-house at half-past 6 o'clock, p. m. 

Mr. Pearce called foi; the reports of the committee of the several towns, 
appointed at the last session, to get the views of their constituents in re- 
lation to the registry of their names. 

The reports of the committee were generally favorable, and most of the 
towns had already taken the necessary steps to have a full registration. 

The convention then adjourned. 

Evening, 6.^- o'clock. — The convention met in the State-house, pur- 
suant to adjournment. 

The secretary read the roll, and the members took their seats by towns, 
as they were called. 

A vote passed that a letter from one of the members of this convention, 
Elisha R. Potter, published in a city paper this afternoon, relating to polit- 
ical affairs in this State, be read. 

After the reading of the letter, on motion of Mr. Pearce, a committee of 
five was appointed to whom were referred the letter, and a resolution lying 
on the table from the last session. 

The Chair appointed the following persons as a committee to noniinate 
the State central committee: 

D. J. Pearce, Wm. Ennis, T. F. Carpenter, David Burt, J. R. Waterman, 
Christopher Smith, Afred Updike, Ariel Ballon. 

The committee appointed to prepare resolutions and business of the con- 
vention, made the following report, and it was read and received. 

After a short discussion on one of the resolutions, the entire report was 
unanimously adopted as it came from the committee. 



REPORT. 

Resolved, That " the right of the people" to institute government, and 
to organize ."its powers in such forms as to them shall seem most likely to 
effect their safety and happiness," and " to alter or to abolish " that govern- 
ment, which has become either oppressive or "destructive of the ends" for 
which it was established, and to substitute in its stead " new government," 
is their unalienable right, and the only sure basis of all popular govern- 
ments. 

Resolved, That the democratic principles avowed by all the republicans 
in the convention which framed the federal constitution, and maintained 
by Jefferson and his republican successors in the presidential ofiie«, and by 
the entire democratic party in the Union, are the only principles on which 
republican government can be organized, and by which its administration 
can be safely and successfully conducted. 

Resolved, That as democrats and as citizens of this State, we may well 
differ upon the provisions of any fundamental law proposed or in force; 
but the original right of the neople to make or alter their fundamental law 
16 



242 I?ep. No. 546. 

at. any time, without authority or a request of the exisiin^ government, is 
an American right, which the democracy of this State and of the whole 
couniry will never surrender. 

Resolved, That tiie anti democratic docfrines avowed by John Adams, 
advocated by Hamilton and liis associates in the federal convention, and 
maintained by the elder Adams and his federal successors in the presiden- 
tial office, and by the federal or whig party throughout the country, are the 
doctrines of monarchies and aristocracies, and the- government of the few 
over the many. 

Resolved, That in the measures and policy pursued by the whig ma- 
jorities in the present Congress, v/e see again revived the favorite measures 
and policy by which the federal party have ever struggled to warp the 
government into the accomplishment of their plans, and to estrange it from 
the principles upon which it was founded, and to mar the purity which 
has ever marked the administration of every republican President. 

Resolved, That the necessary and obvious tendency of the doctrines and 
policy of the present Congress leads directly to enlarge the powers of the 
government, and to restrict and consolidate all powers of legislation to its 
legislative branches, wholly independent of the controlling negative of the 
executive department ; and that Henry Clay's proposition to procure an 
amendment to the constitution, which would abolish the veto power, is one 
of the avowed means by which this great scheme of mischief is sought to 
be accomplished. 

Resolved, That among the promised benefits and reform which were to 
follow the ascendency of the present whig adtninistration, are a treasury 
(received by them unembarrassed with debt, and with resources enough to 
meet all current demands) at the end of eighteen mouths exhausted ; bills 
protested on its counter; embarrassed with a debt of nearly thirty millions 
of dollars ; public credit prostrated ; the national character declining ; the 
public finances deranged ; perpetual sessions of Congress ; the fialls of 
legislation in confusion; riotous wrangling among the members; the dif- 
ferent departments of government at variance with each other; cabinets 
broken up and remodelled ; enactments made and rescinded ; the proceeds 
of the land sales distributed ; loans resorted to ; extravagant appropriations ; 
loose expenditures pernjitted ; bank charters granted and vetoed; a tariff' 
" q/" oio///!7<o^/on.s" established ; an odious and unjust bankrupt law ; the 
compromise act overturned : the constitutional rights of the States and of 
the people in the choice of representatives, violated and invaded ; alarming 
projects of assuming the State debts incurred by them for internal improve- 
ments; in fine, a revival of all the measures which it has ever been the 
policy and aim of the federal party to establish, for the purpose of moulding 
the government to their /ai;on7e model, and to warp it from its republican 
tack. 

Resolved, That to correct and check the further prosecution of the pro- 
posed measures of this administration, and to restore the government to 
the hands of the democratic party, it is the imperious duty of the entire 
and united democracy of the country to unite and organize its forces, and 
with energetic efforts to expel, through the ballot boxes, the present ad- 
ministration from the possession of the government. 

Whereas the democracy of other States have invited action on the 
expediency of holding a national democratic convention, to nominate 
candidates for President and Vice President at the next election — 



Rep. No. 546. 243 

Therefore resolved^ That to secure harmony, union, and concert of ac- 
tion in the repubhcan party throughout the Union, we approve the ex- 
pediency of such convention, to be composed of delci^ates elected accord- 
jna; to the usages of the repubhcan party in the several States; that we 
will take measures to elect delegates to such convention; and that we will 
support the candidates fairly made and selected by it for the next President 
and Vice President of the United States; and that we hereby request the 
republican members of Congress during the i)resent session to fix the time 
and place for holding such convention, as the best metliod of concentrating 
public opinion on the subject. 

Resolved^ That the public affairs of the State of Rhode Island are in a 
deranged state, brought about by the unjustifiable and arbitrary councils 
oi the present State administration, which seems to have been actuated by 
motives more calculated to perpetuate themselves in power, than for a 
proper regard for the lives, liberties, and equal rights of her citizens, and 
tlie security of property. 

Resolved^ That the public debt, and the means by which it has accu- 
mulated — the extravagant and profligate expenditures which have marked 
the course of the State administration — the conversion of the school fund 
to purposes foreign from its object — and the general system of management 
of its affairs, are subjects of deep interest to the people, and ought to be 
rigidly scrutinized and examined. 

Resolved, That as every government is more or less republican only in 
proportion as it embodies the popular will, and the free "consent of the 
governed," we view with feelings of anxiety for the future happiness and 
prosperity of the people of this State, the extraordinary measures and 
means adopted by its administration to impose upon the people the con- 
stitutional form of government, not "deriving its just powers from the 
consent" of the majority, but sanctioned and ratified by a minority only, 
as the reassertion of that aristocratic principle which holds "that the 
mass of mankind have not sufficient intelligence and virtue to participate 
in the management of public affairs," and teaches the abhorrent "right of 
the few to govern the many." 

Resolved, That, among the equal rights of man, are "the right and jus- 
tice" of equal suffrage and equal representation. That to obtain these 
freely, and without being obliged to purchase them, is one of the main 
pillars in the fi^ibric of civil liberty, and guarantied and protected by our 
bill of rights. We hold, therefore, that the provision in the new constitution, 
exacting the payment of the dollar tax at the registry of a name, is repug- 
nant to, and in violation of, this sacred principle. However repulsive to 
our feelings, and galling to our rights, this unjust requirement may be; 
yet, as citizens, desiring to preserve the public peace, we do hereby earnest- 
ly recommend to all democratic republicans, not otherwise qualified, to 
register their names, and pay this loathed price of liberty, and thus be pre- 
pared, at the ballot-box, to assert and vindicate their rights, which liave 
been so long denied to them by an arbitrary and despotic power. 

Resolved, Thai in recommending this course, and in order to avoid all 
doubt or misconstruction of our purposes, we explicitly avow our object to 
be, to accomplish in a satisfactory manner, and with the least delay, the 
establishment in fact, as well as in right, nf the people's constitution. 

Resolved, That we hold the late exposition of the whig pohcy, as indi- 
cated in the polluted columns of the Jqurnal, o/er the signature of " Nar- 



244 Rep, No. 546, 

ragansett," denouncino: the friends of damocracy and equal rights as in- 
surgents and French Jacobins, because they have resolved to redress their 
j.rievances and assert iheir rights, by complying peaceably with the steps 
prescribed by the government itself, as the phrenzied essays of an alarmed 
aristocrat, esconced in leisure and education, by an accidental acquisition 
of wealth, as insurrectionary in their tendency, and unworthy of imitation. 

Resolved^ That, in the new organization of the Rhode Island party, we 
see a change of whig organization, but do not see a change of principles ; 
and that it is only another attempt to preserve the power of the government 
in their own hands, and an artifice to decoy republicans from their political 
faith, and make them the instruments of promoting whig policy and carry- 
ing out whig measures. 

Resolved., That we hold the exercise of the power by the General Assem- 
bly to declare martial law, was an open unjustifiable usurpation of the 
power itself, in derogation of the rights and powers of the military com- 
manders duly appointed and commissioned, and in whom the right and 
power " to use and declare the law martiaF alone was vested by the char- 
ter; and that the appointment and commission of William Gibbs McNeit 
as major general by the governor and council, was without law and against 
law, nugatory and void — consequently, all the official acts of that officer 
were nugatory and void ; and that the united indignation of an outraged 
psople, whose lives, rights, and property were jeoparded by the military 
operations during the late difficulties, ought to and must rest upon the gov- 
ornor and council by whom he was so appointed. 

The above committee also gave notice that an address to the people had 
been prepared ; but, as it was of great length, it was not read. It was re- 
ceived and adopted, and ordered to be published. 

The committee ap{)ointed to nominate the State central committee re- 
ported the following gentlemen, and they were chosen ; 

STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE. 

Providence county. — Dexter Randall, John S. Harris, and David BurL 
Newport county. — William Ennis. 
Kent county. — James Fisher, 
Washington county. — George T. Nichols, 
Bristol county. — Nathan Bardin. 

On motion, it was ordered that the secretaries notify the standing com- 
miitee of their appointment. The following resolutions, oifered by Gen- 
eral Carpenter, were unanimously adopted : 

Resolved., That the thanks of this convention are due to. and are hereby- 
rendered to, Wilmarth N. Aldrich, for the fidelity and ability with which 
he has discharged the duties of their presiding officer. 

Resolved^ That the thanks of this convention be tendered to Peter W. 
Ferris, Levi Salisbury, and William J. Miller, the secretaries of the conven- 
tion, for their diligence and able discharge of the duties of their office. 

A vote passed that the committee to whom were referred the letter of Eli- 
sha R. Potter atid other matters, be discharged. 

The following resolution were read and passed, and the convention dis- 
solved : 



Rep. No 546. 245 

Resolved, That the proceedings of this convention be siorned by the pres- 
ident and secretaries, and published in the democratic papers. 

WILMARTH N. ALURICH, President, u 
Peter W. Ferris, ) 
Levi Salisbury, > Secretaries. 
Wm. J. Miller, ) 

The following preamble and resolution, offered by Dr. Ballon, of Cum- 
berland, was passed unanimously before the convention dissolved : 

Whereas certain leading and influential men, formerly acting with the 
democratic party, have allied themselves with those who are tlie foes of 
popular liberty, and denied the cardinal principles of democracy, and aided 
materially in the establisliing despotic power in this State : therefore. 

Resolved, That, by this course, they have forfeited all claims to demo- 
cratic principles, and to the confidence of that party in this State and of 
the Union. 



MEETING IN THE FIFTH WARD. 

A meeting of the friends of democracy and equal rights, belonging to 
the fifth ward, was held on Monday evening last, at Washington Hall. Mr. 
Benjamin Arnold, jr., was chosen to preside as chairman, and P. W. Ferris 
was appointed secretary. 

A commiltee of three, consisting of Messrs. Philip B. Stiness, P. W. Ferris, 
and David Parmenter, were chosen to draught resolutions for the meeting. 

Messrs. Bradley, Whipple, and Anthony, were appointed a committee to 
■canvass the ward and superintend the rejjistry of names. 

Col. F. Cooley, Adnah Sackett, and Epiirann Richmond were appointed 
a committee of finance. 

Messrs, Ferris, Stiness, and Arnold were appointed a committee of cor- 
respondence. 

'I'he following resolutions were then reported by the committee appointed 
for that purpose : 

Resolved, That the people of this State, in the free exercise of tlieir in- 
herent and leofitimate sovereignty, have formed for themselves a constitu- 
tion of government ; but that they have been prevented from carrying it 
into operation, by a lawless military force. 

Resolved, That we consider the thing termed a constitution, recently 
adopted hy a sutall though wealthy faction in this State, to be both illegal 
in its origni, and unequal and unjust in its provisions; and that therefore 
it is not of right the paramount law of the State. 

Resolved, That, in organizing a form of government under this consti- 
tution, we intend to do no more than to give the people an opportunity to 
carry out their own will, in opposition to that of the unprincipled despots 
who would control the free exercise of their unalienable rights. 

Resolved, That we recommend to the friends of the people's constitution 
to register their names, and otherwise qualify themselves to act at the com- 
ing election, and to hurl those petty tyrants from the offices which they 
unworthily fill. 

Resolved, That, in qualifying ourselves to act under the Algeriiie consti- 
totion, and in using such means as may be put in our power, through the 



246 Rep. No. 546. 

forms of" law and order," to cast aside this most odious firm of government, 
and to rear npon its ruins the constitution iegallv made and adopted by the 
people, we believe we are performing a solemn duty which we owe to our 
God, to our country, and-to our posterity. 

Resolved., That we have tlie utmost confidence in the honesty and integ- 
rity of Thomas Wilson Dorr, and that we believe him to be an incorrupti- 
ble patriot, a profiund statesman, as well as the champion of equal rights ; 
and that he fully deserves the esteem and confidence of the democracy of 
onr whole country. 

Resolved, That the conduct of John Tyh^r, acting President of the 
United States, in the part lie took in aiding the Algerines, and thus de- 
priving the honest mechanics and workingmen of thit> State of their just 
rights, has struck a blow at the vitals of our republican institutions, and 
that he is deserving the unqualified censure of the democracy of the whole 
Union. 

Resolved, That we cheerfully accept the challenge of our friends in the 
sixth ward, and that we will endeavor to show ihem that we can not only 
beat them, but any other ward or town in the State, in proportion to ous" 
population. 

BENJAMIN ARNOLD, Jr., Chairmaiu 

P. W. Ferris, Secretary. 



MEETING AT GLOCESTER. 

On Saturday evening last, the friends of democracy and equal rights 
held a meeting at the house of General Sprague, for the purpose of taking 
into consideration the expediency of registering preparatory to the spring 
election. 

'^I'he meeting was organized by the choice of Charles S. Slocum as 
chairman, and Ezra Hawkins, secretary. The meeting was then addressed 
by Dr. Brown and P. B. Siiness, of Providence, showing, in a clear and 
definite manner, the propriety of registering according to '■'■law and order. ''^ 

The following preamble and resolution were offered by Thomas O, 
Evans, esq. : 

Believing that some united and definite plan of operation should be 
agreed upon by the suffrag-e party of this State, and believing that the only 
practicable course now known is to register our names according to the 
provisions of ihe Algerine constitution r therefore, 

Rexolved, (as the sense of this meeting,) That it is the duty of every man., 
who is in favor of establishing the people's cause in this Slate;, and hurling 
from power those men who have so disgraced their station, to register their 
names, and be prepared to consign them to that oblivion to which they be- 
lons:. 

CHARLES S. SLOCUM, Chairman. 

EzLRA Hawkins, Secretary. 



Rep. Ao. 546. ^ 247 

No. 13. 
Testimony of Welcome B. Sayles. 

1. Question by the cotnmiltee. Were you a resident citizen of the Slate 
bf Rhode Island at the time of the decU\red adoption of the people's consti- 
tution, (so called,) and the organization of a government under the same? 
And it so, how long had you been such? 

Answer. I was a resident citizen of the State of Rhode Island, and a 
"freeman at the time of the adoption of the people's constitution, so culled," 
and also at the time of an organization of the government under the same; 
and had been a resident of said State iox more than ten years prior to 
said acts. 

2. Question by the committee. Did you take an active part in the pro- 
ceedings of the people, which resulted in the holding of a State convention, 
the (ramit]g of a constitution, and the declared adoption of the same? And 
if so, you will give some account of those proceedings, so far as they came 
under your personal observation, or are within your knowledge. 

Answer. I did take an active part in the proceedmgs of the people, from 
the commencement, which resulted in the holding of a State convention, 
which framed a constitution that was submitted to the people, in accordance 
with its provisions; and which constitution, upon the re-assembling of the 
convention for the purpose of examining and countincr the votes, was de- 
clared to be adopted ; so much so, at least, as to be flimiliar with those pro- 
ceedings in a considerable portion of the State, and which 1 will briefly 
state: 

In tlie fall of 1840, the subject of a written republican conslitution, se- 
curing an extension of suffrage and a more equal representation, with other 
reforms, was again ygitated in Rhode Island; and an association was form- 
ed in Providence, called the Rhode Island Suffrage Association, soon fol- 
lowed by similar associations throughout the State. Frequent meetings for 
discussion and lectures were holden,and united efforts made to diffuse gen- 
eral information upon the subject of equal rights and political liberty, and 
to concentrate public opinion upon the best mode of accomplishing the great 
objects in view, and which had so often been sought for in vain. The 
association with which I was immediately connected, and believed to be 
the secoiid formed in the State, from the nature of circumslancfs, took a 
very active part in these proceedings ; being greatly interested in the objects 
to be obtained, as will be seen by the following tacts. The village in which 
this (the " Woonsocket Sufi'rnge Association") was formed, lying partly in 
each of (he towns of Cumberland and Smithfield, and containing about 
3,000 population ; and the whole number of voters supposed, at most, not 
to exceed 1.50, or I to 20 of population. The said towns, containing about 
15.000 population — nearly one-seventh of the whole popnkition of the Slate 
— had but four representatives in the popular branch of the government, 
which body consisted of 72 members. This association was formed by, and 
consisted of, persons of both political parties, and avoided all political sub- 
jects, aside from the objects directly in view. The president of this associa- 
tion was Doctor Ariel IJallou, one of your m^emorialisis, and one of the most 
respectable, intelligent, and influential citizens of the State, and highly 
honored in his profession ; he was, and is, a democrat. Tiie secretary of 
Jhis association was an active whig. 1 speak of the politics of the officers 



248 Rep. No. 546. 

to show that we avoided the appearances of party in the orsanization. And 
as corresponding secretary of this association, and holding irequent cor- 
respondence with associations in various parts of the State, 1 feel that I am 
justified in declaring, as I do declare, tliat the great body of the people, 
ahnost destitute of party leaders, and above all party considerations, moved 
to the accomplishment of their purpose boldly set forth to the world. If 
such is not their position now, it may be easily accounted for, if desired. 
In November, 1840, a paper was established in the city of Providence, and 
devoted to the suffrage cau^e, or the "suffrage party," as we were termed 
from the commencement. This paper took sides with neither of the great 
political parties of the day — it w.is called the " New Age." The Provi- 
dence Herald, the leading democratic paper of the Slate, espoused our 
cause from the commencement; the Providence Journal standing uncom- 
mitted for some time, but admitting articles upon both sides of the question, 
for and against the principles contended for by the suffrage party. These 
primary movements were followed by the holding of a State mass conven- 
tion in the city of Providence, on the 17th day of April, and wiiich was 
very numerously attended, even beyond the most sanguine expectations of 
its friends, exhibiting a state of public feeling not to be mistaken. They 
paraded the streets of the city, and organized a convention upon the "Jef- 
ferson plan," so Called. 1 was present, and can without hesitation say that 
the proceedings of this immense meeting were marked with great propriety. 
Another State mass convention was holden at Newport on the 5th day of 
May following, at which resolutions declaratory of principles and mode of 
action were adopted ; a State committee appointed, who were instructed to 
issue an address to the people of the State, and to call a convention of dele- 
gates for framing a constitution. The proceedings of this State mass con- 
vention, under which the convention for framing the constitution was called,, 
are herewith submitted, (marked A.) The Newport convention adjourned 
to meet in the city of Providence on the 5th day of July following, (cele- 
brated for the 4th, which came on Sunday.) This adjourned conven- 
tion was very numerously attended, beyond all others ever holden in the 
State; every portion of the State represented ; it was organized upon Dexter 
Training Ground, so called ; an oration delivered by William S. Balcli. 
The State committee, appointed in May, made a report, and submitted ac- 
companying resolutions, which were adopted, and which, together with 
the proceedings of the convention, are herewith submitted, (marked B.) The 
State committee, of which I had the honor to be a member, and appointed 
by the State mass convention which convened at Newport May 5th, 1841, 
in pursuance of instructions from said convention, issued an address to the 
people on the 11th day of June following, in which the principles of the suf- 
frage party were set fort'n ; a copy of which is herewith submitted, (marked 
C.) The State committee, in the furilier perform;\nce of the duty assigned 
them, did issue on the 24th of July, 1841, a call to the people of tlie several 
towns of the State to hold meetings on the 28th day of August following, 
and to elect delegates to a State convention, to be holden at the Statt -house 
on the first Monday of October following. The call proportioned the dele- 
gates among the towns, based upon population, fixed the qualification of 
electors, &c. ; a copy of which is herewith submitted, (marked D.) These 
ore, in brief, the proceedings of the people to the time of holding said con- 
vention for framing a constitution, as they came under my personal obser- 
vation, or are within my knowledge. 



Rep No 546. 249 

3. Q-iiestion by the committee. Wliat were the leading; causes of com- 
plaint ill the government, as it existed under the charter, as set forth by the 
suffrage party in their early movements ; the objects to be obtained ; and the 
proposed plan of accomplishing these objects, so far as your knowledge ex- 
tends? 

Answer. Among the leading causes of complaint, it was urged by the suf- 
frage party that the government, as it existed and was exercised under the 
cfiarter, was anti-repubUcan, inconsistent with the fundamental principles 
of our institutions, and tlie rights and security of the people ; and that it was 
corrupting and deg^rading in its influences ; that whereas it deprived a large 
majority of the male adult citizens of the State of voice in the framitigof 
the laws by which they were ruled, and in the election of the officers by 
whom the laws were executed, or in disbursement of the money for which 
they were taxed ; that they were also called upon to do military and fire 
duty, and to bear their proportion of the burdens of government, both 
State and national, whilst they were deprived of all representation in each. 
They also complained that they did not derive the protection that belongs 
to every citizen in securing their property, as, without the assistance of a 
" freeholder," they could not collect a debt by law. They also declared that 
the sacred right guarantied to every citizen of the United States, of a trial by 
a jury of his •' peers," was denied them, as none but these favored "free- 
men" were admitted to the jury box ; every non freeholder going to trial by 
or before a jury raised above him. This was declared to be the condition 
of three fiitlis of the male adult citizens of the State, including nearly every 
revolutionary patriot in the State. 

They further complained of the great inequality of representation, 
whereby a small mnjority of those enjoying the franchise of electors elected 
a laroje majority of the popular branch of the government. For instance : 
Providence county, containing a large majority of the whole population of 
the State, had but 22 representatives in a house consisting of 72 members — 
this portion of the State paying a very large proportion of all the taxation 
of the State; Smithfield, with about 10,00(1 population, large in territory, 
had but two re[)resentatives ; whilst Jamestown, with 364, had two; Ports- 
mouth, with 1,700, had four; Providence, with 23,000, four; Newport, 
with 8,000, had six. 

But, above all, the government was professedly based upon a charter de- 
rived from Charles II, but which, in fact, did not restrain legislation at 
all — the l(^gislature making their own electors^ their will the only tenure by 
which any man enjoyed the right of suffrage, or any other right; that 
they were, in fact, without a written constitution deriving its authority from 
the '-consent of the governed," and controllino- and reo-nlatinof leaislation, 
as the happiness and security of the people required. It was such a con- 
stitution they Iiad long been seeking. These were the evils; this the rem- 
edy. In answer to that portion of the inquiry relating to the plan proposed 
for accomplishing the objects in view, it has been shadowed in my account 
of the early proceedings. That there was no hope of a satisfactory change 
through the existing authorities, was equally clear, as was contended l)y the 
suffrage party — whether we reasoned from the disposition of mankind to 
surrender advantages of political power, as all history taught ; or from the 
history of the efforts which had been made from time to time for half a 
century; and that there was nothing new in this movement, so far as the 



250 Eep. No. 546. 

objects to be obtained were concerned, or anything novel in the plan, as 
tliought by the suftVage party. I wish to call the attention of the commit- 
tee to the fact, that, as early as 1797, and soon after Rhode I.•^land gave her 
consetit to the federal constitution, the subject of a constitution was agi- 
tated, atid complaints were loud. It was then declared that we possessed 
nothing l>ut an " imtigindry constitution" a " crazy and comforlless man- 
sion^ shaken by the unnds and pervaded by the sto7-ni. f aiid the course 
urged upon the peoj)le was such as they decided on adoptiifg more than 40 
years after, although the evils increased every year; and not until it was 
believed that all other means had failed, did they seek redress through what 
they had learned to be the fundamental principh^s of our institutions as 
established by their fathers. For the doctrines contended for at that time, 
I submit an extract from an oration delivered by Col. George R. Burrill, in 
Providence, in 1797. He was the brother of tho late James Burrill, and. it 
has been said, possessed the best legal mind Rhode Island has ever pro- 
duced. That he was a ripe scholar, and a beautiful writer, is well known. 
The extract is marked E. 

In ISll an extension of suffrage was souL'ht for, and a bill was passed 
through the Senate, but was laid upon the table and lost in the House. [See 
journals of proceedings IS II.] 

Again, in 1820 the subject was agitated, particularly for a more equal 
division of power; and a convention was holden in the county of Provi- 
dence to further the object. In the editorial articles of the Manufacturers 
and F\armers' Journal of that time, it was declared, in relation to the state 
of things in Rhode Island, '^ that a free people have for 'more than forty 
years submitted to a s/iecics of government in f.heori/,if not always in 
practice, as despotic as that of the autocrat of (he Russias." 

Again, in speaking of the government : ^^ It was not establislied by the 
people of this iStafe, nor is it amenable to them ; it acknotoltdges no supe- 
rior or creating poioer, and claims to exist and act by i/s own oninipo- 
tenceP And again, speaking of the General Assembly: " TJiat omnipotent 
body sliould consider that the people are competent to form a convention 
for themselves, wilhout the authority of their high mightinesses ; and thai 
any longer dtlay of duty on the part of those who noui set up their title of 
'•legitimacy^ may produce such a result.'''' I make these extracts to show 
that the complaints of the suffrage party were not neu\ or their course novel. 
I submit further extracts from the same journal, then edited by William E. 
Richmond, and which appeared as editorials under the following dates: 
November 27, December 11 and IS, 1820, and January 11, 1821', mark- 
ed P. 

In 1824 the Legislature proceeded to call a ''freemen's" convention, 
which was liolden, and framed a constitution, and which, in some degree, 
equalized representation, or divi'^ion of unjust power; but a proposition to 
extend suffrage beyond landholders and their olde>t sons, received but ^Aree 
votes. This constitution was submitted to the "freemen" only, and by 
them rejected. 

Again, in 1829 the friends of suffrage and a republican constitution, pe- 
titioned the assembly; and for the manner in which the memorialists were 
treated at this time, although the peiiiion was numerously and respectably 
signed, I submit the report of the comujittee to whom tlie memorial was 
assigned. The chairman of the committee was the Hon. Benjamin Hazard, 



Rep. No. 546. ' 251 

of Newport. [Sve file of papers, Martin Luther vs. Luther M. Borden, el al. 
marked 79 in this appendix. 

There was another active movement in 1832, but without success. 

A constitutional party was organized in 1S34, which struggled for two 
or three years, and found the fate of all third parties in a warm political 
struggle; and, as has been asked, what could a party do without votes? 
But they secured a promise of a convention, which was called by the legis- 
latiirp, and holden during tliis time — another convention of " freemen" to 
draught a constitution to be submitted to "freemen," but to govern the peo- 
ple. During their discussions of two or three weeks, a proposition to extend 
suffrage received seven votes. This convention broke up in confusion, for 
want of a quorum. It was in view of these unsuccessful efforts, that a plan 
was proposed, and it was declared, from the conmiencen)ent, that the people 
were competent, in their sovereign capacity, and without the consent of the 
existing authorities, to establish a constitution which would, of right, be the 
paramotmt law ; and that a constitution which should receive the sup- 
port of a majority of the male adults, native or naturalized, would be, 
of right, the le^al constitution of the State. These were the doctrines de- 
clared in the first meetings of our association, and constantly adhered to. 
The following declaration, adopted by the Rhode Island Association, was 
generally adopted by the associations: 

"^4 declaratioH of principles of the Rhode Island Suffrage Association. 

'■ Bclievino: that all men are created free and equal, and that the posses- 
sion of property should create no political advantages for its holder; and be- 
lieving that all bodies pohtic should have for their foundation a bill of rights 
and a written constitution, wherein the rights of the people should be de- 
fined, and the duties of the people's servants strictly pointed out and limited; 
and believing that the State of Rhode Island is possessed of neither of those 
instruments, and that the charter under which she has her political exist- 
ence is not only aristocratic in its tendency, but tfiat it lost all its authority 
when the independence of the United States was declared : And further- 
more, believing that every State in the federal compact is entitled, by the 
terms of that compact, to a republican form of government: and that any 
form of government is anti-republican and aristocratic which precludes a 
majority of the people from participatin,'^ in its affairs; and that, by every 
right, human and divine, the majority in tlie State should govern: And 
furthermore, and finally, believing that the time has gone by when we are 
called upon to submit to the most unjust outrages upon our political and so- 
cial rights : therefore 

'•Resolvfd, That the power of the State should be vested in the hands of 
the peo[)le, and that the people have a right, from time to time, to assemble 
together, either by tliemselves or their representatives, for the establishment 
of a republican form of government. 

^^Resolvf^d, That whenever a majority of the citizens of this State, who 
are recognised as citizens of tlie United States, shall, by their delegates in 
convention asse-mhled, draught a constitution, and thesanie shall be accepted 
by their eonstituents. it will then be, to all intents and purposes, the law of 
the State." 

After the commencement of the present agitation, it has been said there 



252 Rep. No. 54G. 

was a disposition upon the part of the authorities to extend suffrage. This 
disposition the people tried, after they had proceeded to call a convention: 
a proposition to extend ?ufFrage in voting for the delegates was made by 
a friend of the people's cause in that legislature, (the Hon. Samuel Y. At- 
well.) which received but 10 votes. At^he first session of this landholders' 
convention in 1841, the committee on suffrage reported a restriction on the 
then existing suffrage ; but the convention, before adjourning, decided on a 
500-dollar personal property qualification for non freeholders and younger 
sons, 

4. Question by the committee. "Were you a member of the convention 
which assembled in the city of Providence on the first Monday in Octo- 
ber, 1841, which framed the people's constitution, so called? 

Answer. I was a member of said convention which framed the people's 
constituticm, so called, holden at Providence on the first Monday ui Octo- 
ber, in pursuance of a call from the State committee. 

5. Question by the committee. Are the files and documents presented to 
the committee by John S. Harris, as the original files and journals of the pro- 
ceedings of said convention, correct, so (ar as your knowledge extends? 

Answer. I have examined the files and journals of the proceedings of 
said convention, submitted by John S. Harris, and find them true and faith- 
ful records, so far as my knowledge extends. 

6. Question by the committee. Were you a member of the assembly 
under the people's constitution, which convened in Providence on tlie first 
Tuesday of May, 1842? Were you an officer of said assembly; and if so, 
what office did you fill ? Were you present at the organization of the gov- 
ernment under the said constitution; and if so, state to the committee such 
facts in relation to the organization of said government, as are within your 
personal knowledge? 

Answer. I was a member of the assembly under the people's constitution 
which convened at Providence on the first Tuesday of May, 1842, in ac- 
cordance with the provisions of said constitution. I was elected a member 
from the town of Smithfield. I was elected to the office of speaker of said 
assembly, and officiated in said capacity. I was present at the organiza- 
tion of said assembly. The members elect proceeded in the organization 
by calling the Hon. Dutee J. Pearce, of Newport to the chair; John S. 
Harris, by his invitation, officiating as secretary. The town and represen- 
tative districts were called, and the credentials of members presented ; sub- 
sequently I was elected to the office of 'sp aker, and proceeded to qualify 
myself as the constitution provided, by taking and subscribing the oath, 
as therein prescribed. I then proceeded to call the members as returned, and 
administered to them the oath, in the words and as required by said con- 
stitution. 

The House then proceeded to the election of clerks, and John S. Harris 
and Levi Salisbury were duly elected, and engaged by the speaker, as re- 
quired by the constitution; which completed the organization of the house. 

A committee was then appointed to count the votes for governor, 
lieutenant governor, and secrrUary of state, attorney general, and treasurer, 
and senators ; which officers were all duly qualified by me, as provided in 
the constitution, by administering the oath in the words, form, and manner 
therein prescribed; which completed the organization of the government, as 
appears from the original records, which, together with the proceedings of 
said legislature, have been submitted to the committee by John S. Harris, 



Rep. No. 546. 253 

and) having been examined by me. are found to be, so far as my knowledge 
extends, true and faithful journals of the proceedings. 

7. Question by the committee. Are you still a resident citizen of the State 
of Rhode Island? and if not, what are the causes which have induced you 
to leave that Slate? 

Answer. £ am not at the present time a resident citizen of the State of 
Rhode Island, having taken a temporary residence iti Massachusetts, I have 
absented myself from the State, with the exception of a few brief visits, since 
June, 1S42 ; my friends having been very anxious that I should be in a po- 
sition to act as circumstances might require, from the office which I held in 
the government, and not be placed within the power of the charter party, 
which had previously made an attempt to arrest me — a warrant having 
been issued against me under the act entitled "An act for punishing offences 
against the sovereign power of the State." A requisition was also made by 
the acting Governor of Rhode Island upon the Executive of Massachusetts, 
and a warrant issued by John Davis, then Governor of that Common- 
wealth ; whereby I found it necessary to leave this, my native Common- 
wealth, and sought security in New Hampshire and Connecticut for seven 
months, my family remaining in Rhode Island, where I retained my resi- 
dence until last May, when, supposing that I could be of no further service 
to the cause and party with which I had been associated, and believing 
that I should be subject to further persecutions, and my family to further 
anxiety, (from which they had suffered much) I reluctantly removed from 
the State into Massachusetts. But lei me be distinctly understood, that, al- 
though I have found it necessary to exile myself from my adopted State, to 
secure my personal freedom, to be charged by the reigning powers of that 
State with a high crime towards her institutions, to make great sacrifices, 
still I have felt none of the guilt which attaches itself to crime; and there 
has been no moment when I desired to retract a word that I had spoken, or a 
sentence that I had written, or an act that I had committed, touching the 
matter of which I was accused — feeling that 1 did nothing but what my 
duty demanded, but regretting that I could not have done more for the 
cause in which I was engaged. 

8. Question by the committee. What do you mean by the term ''freeman," 
as used in your answers to the committee, more than a freeholder, or the 
oldest son of a freeholder? 

Ansv/er. In the use of the term " freeman," I mean what the law con- 
sidered a freeman at the time of which I speak. A man might hold any 
amount of real estate, or be the oldest son of such landholder, and still be 
no " freeman," or voter. The charter was granted to such and such persons, 
together with those whom they (the grantees) might from time to time admit 
free; which power was finally placed in the grantees of the several towns; 
and it was required of one having the requisite qualification, that he should 
be propounded in open town meeting, and, so standing for a certain time, 
might, by said town, be admitted free, if a majority of the corporators so 
pleased ; in which case, he became a partner in the government of the 
State, and a freeman, 

9. Question by the committee. Had you any personal knowledge of the 
voting on the adoption of the people's constitution? and do you know of 
any fraudulent votes having been given for the same? 

Answer. I was present at the meetings for voting for the people's consti- 
tution in the town where I resided, (Smithfield,) and which cast more than 



254 Rep. No 546. 

1 ,300 votes for that constitution. Although not an officer of said meetings, 
I took nn active part therein, and can unhesitatingly say that the voting 
was carried on with the utmost good faith, and with a determination not 
to receive the votes of any persons not competent by the provisions under 
which they were voting. The subject of voting was one of frec|uent con- 
versation among leading men of the suffrage party; and I never heard but 
one opinion expressed among our friends, previous to or at the time of the 
voting — and that was, that great care should be taken lest, through inad- 
vertence or otherwise, the votes of incompetent persons should be admit- 
ted ; and, however few, would be used by our opponents to prejudice our 
cause. Believing that the voting would undergo the scrutmy and investi- 
gation at the hands of our opponents, which the friends of the constitution 
have at all times sought, if they had been governed by no higher motive 
than interest, they would have done as they did — refuse the votes of all in- 
competent persons; and I can also say, whilst I disclaim all knowledge of 
fraud in voting for that constitution, that, from an intimate acquaintance 
with the officers of the meetings for voting on the constitution in a large 
number of the towns, 1 know they would have spurned the idea of being 
cognizant of fraud in the receiving votes ; and I might also add, that no 
necessity was considered to exist to use any fraudulent means to obtain the 
support of a large majority of the male adult citizens of the State, compe- 
tent to act in its support. No doubt existed upon this point; and from all 
my knowledge of the voting at the time, with all 1 have since learned, I 
am very fully of opinion that a less number of illegal votes were polled 
for that constitution (the provisions of the constitution fixing the qualifi- 
cation) than in any contested election holden in the State for many years. 
Any doubt upon this point was entirely an after-thought vi^ith our oppo- 
nents, who have studiously avoided every opportunity of proving their 
charges, knowing that any attempt to do so would confirm the vote. Even 
anything like definite charges of fraud, so far as my knowledge extends, 
have been confined to one town, with some appearance of foundation, 
growing out of a construction of the provisions under which they were 
voting — a construction not approved or adopted anywhere else, but which 
is not sufficient to affect the case at all. 

10. duestion by the committee. Was there, at any time, any plan or plot 
proposed or entered into by the suflTrage party, of plundering or burning the 
city of Providence, or any other place, or to do violence to females, to your 
knowledge? 

Answer. 1 have no knowledge of any such plot, plan, or intention of the 
suffrage party to do violence to the persons or property of their opponents. 
Their object was not to invade any man's rights; they respected scru- 
pulously, to the best of my knowledge, every other man's rights, only anx- 
ious to maintain their own. To such an extent was this the case, that a 
declaration was drawn from a most distinguished opponent, (John Whipple, 
esq ,) during a recent trial in Rhode Island, who is reported to have said 
that the suffrage party manifested a respect to private rights and private 
property, unprecedented in the history of the world, when two parties stood 
hostilely arrayed towards each other, as in that State. 

I have perused the answers of Aaron White, jr., and John S. Harris, to a 
similar question of the committee ; and should I extend my reply, it would 
be substantially the same, being, to the best of my knowledge, true. 

The charge of an intention of the suffrage party to burn and pillage 



Rep. No 546. 255 

Woonsocket, my place of residence at the time, has been made; and, Hke all 
other charges of the same import, to the best of my knowledge, is entirely 
iinloiinded. And in confirmation of my opinion, 1 would state, that when 
I found it necessary, to secnre my personal freedom, to leave the State, I 
left my family, consisting entirely of females and children, having no fear 
of any such attack; also more than 1U,(JOO dollars of real and personal 
property, situated in said village, subject to destruction in case of any such 
attack upon the place — only endangered, as I thought, and as was threat- 
ened by the charter party, to confiscation. I received an invitation from a 
distinguished man of the charter party, (but a personal friend,) asking me 
to convey and assign my property to him, to prevent any such loss; to 
which, however, 1 did not co?isent. 

II. (Question by the committee. To what cause do you, or the suffrage 
party, attribute the final suppression of the people's constitution; and upon 
what ground is such allegation made? 

Answer. The suffrage party entertain but one opinion, to the best of my 
knowledge, us to the principal cause of the success of the charter party in 
suppressing the people's constitution ; and that is, the influence of the Gen- 
eral Government brought to bear upon them, through the President of the 
United States, 'I'his was visibly seen immediately upon the publication of 

President Tyler's letter of , in answer to an application of the charter 

party to him for assistance, producing fear in some, doubt in others, and a 
division as to the course to be pursued; being evident that they were to 
encounter the military forces of the United States, the effect was most dis- 
heartening and destructive to us, whilst new life was evidently given to the 
charter party, having professedly relied upon such aid, but which we could 
not suppose they would obtain, until the appearance of said letter from the 
President. 

It was expected that the tmusual forces of the United States arriving at 
Newport were only waiting for some overt act to be brought to bear upon 
the people ; which produced such an efi'^ct upon a portion of the members 
of the General Assembly which organized under the people's constitution, 
as to prevent them from taking possession, as they otherwise would, as is 
believed, of the public property, and becoming the government in fact as 
well as in law. 

Promised aid working the same effects, precisely, as would the bringing 
the force directly to bear upon them, as is supposed it was subsequently; 
but at a time when the suffrage party were in no condition to maintain 
themselves against any considerable force from any quarter — having been 
divided and distracted, by the course of the President, from united action, 
which had characterized their former movements. 

It is to be remembered, also, that the President of the United States held 
no direct communication with the people of Rhode Island, by proclamation 
or otherwise, but through a gentleman whom he was pleased to style Gov- 
ernoi' King ; being all, if not so marked, " private and confidential," only so 
far as he (Governor King) or his party chose to make it public; giving to 
the charter party the power of making such interpretations and declarations 
from the President, and of his course, as might best promote their objects; 
which advantage they did not fail to use most successfully, 

I will mention one other fact, to show the effect of the aid of the General 
Government upon the charter pprty ; and that is. 

That the act entitled " Ari act for punishing offences against the sovereign 



256 Rep. No. 546. 

power of the State," and intended, as was declared, to prevent the election 
of officers and the organization of a govern nnent under the people's consti- 
tniion, although disregarded and violated openly and boldly for a long 
while, still no arrests were made, or attempts made to enforce the same, 
until after a successful application to the President, and its consequences 
fully seen throughout the State, 

This law was believed by the suffrage party to have no binding force. 

I herewith submit answers to the several questions submitted by the com- 
mittee, being a true statement of facts, to the best of my knowledge ; together 
with such historical matter as the questions involved, which were well 
authenticated and believed to be true. 

WELCOME B. SA.YLES. 



Washington, May 3, 1844. 
Then the above-named Welcome B. Sayles made solemn oath that the 
foregoing testimony, by him subscribed, is, in his belief, true. Before me, 

EDMUND BURKE, 
Chairman of the Select Comtnittee 

on the Rhode Island Memorial. 



No. 14.— (A.) 

Proceedings of the mass convention held at Neioyort, R. L, May 5, 1841. 

Whereas it is the undeniable right of the people, at all times, peaceably to 
assemble for consultation and conference touching the government under 
which they live, and which they assist in supporting ; and independently to 
utter and set forth, on such occasions of meeting together, their views, sen- 
timents, and plans relative to the correction, as well of defects in the organ- 
ization of government, as of faults in the administration of the same : We, 
a portion of the people of this State, now assembled at Newport in mass con- 
vention, from all parts of the State, and acting on behalf of the great body 
of our unenfranchised fellow-citizens, do declare their and our opinions and 
purposes in the following 

RESOLUTIONS: 

1. Resolved^ That it is repugnant to the spirit of the declaration of 
American independence, and derogatory to the character of Rhode Island 
republicans, to acknowledge the charter of a British king as a constitution 
of political government. While we venerate the illustrious names of Roger 
Williams and John Clarke, to whose untiring ability and perseverance the 
colony of Rhode Island was indebted for this grant from the throne of Eng- 
land, so well adapted at the time to the wants of his Majesty's subjects, and 
so liberal in its concessions, — we are at the same time aware that in almost 
all respects, excepting the immortal declaration and guaranty of religious 
freedom, it has become insufficient and obsolete ; that it should be laid aside 
in the archives of the State, and no longer be permitted to subsist as a bar- 
rier against the rights and liberties of the people. 

2. Resolved, That, in the opinion of this convention, on the occurrence 



Rep. No. 546. 257 

of the American Revolution, when the ties of allegiance which hound the 
subjects of this colony to the throne of England were dissolved, the rights 
of sov<'reignty, in accordance with the principles of republican government, 
passed to the whole body of the people of this State, and not to any special 
or fcwored portion of the same ; that the whole people were and are the just 
and riijhifitl successors of tlie British king, and as such were and are enti- 
tled to alter, amend, or annul the form and provisions of government ihen 
and now subsisting, with the sole restriction imposed by the constitution of 
the United States; and, in their original and sovereign capacity, to devise 
and substitute such a constitution as they may deem to be best adapted to 
the general welfare. 

3. Resolved, That no lapse of time can bar the sovereignty inherent in 
the people of this State; and that their omission to form a constitution, and 
their toleration of the abuses under which they have so long labored, are to 
he regarded as proof of their lona: suffering and forbearance, rather than as ar- 
guments against their power and their capacity to right themselves, wtien- 
ever, in their opinion, redress from the governments at present subsisting is 
hopeless, 

4. Resolved, That the time has now fiilly arrived for a vigorous and con- 
centrated effort to accomplish a thorough and permanent reform in the po- 
litical institutions of this State. 

5. Resolved, That a system of government under which the legislative 
body exercise power undefined and uncontrolled by fundamental laws, ac- 
cording to its own "especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion," 
and limits and restricts, and makes and unmakes the people at its pleasure, 
is anti-republican, and odious in its character and operations, at war with 
the spirit of the age, and repugnant to the feelings of every right minded 
Rhode Island man, and ought to be abated. 

6. Res'ilved, That the public good imperatively requires that the powers 
of the legislature, and rights of the citizens, should be defined and fixed by 
a written State constitution. 

7. Resolved, That the representation of the towns in the General Assem- 
bly, as originally established by the provisions of the charter of King Charles 
II, had reference to the then existing population of the same, and was at that 
time not unfairly adjusted to it; but that, by the great increase of popula- 
tion in the towns, the existing apportionment has become exceedingly une- 
qual and unjust in its operations ; and that a new assignment of representa- 
tives among the towns, according to population, will be an indispensable ar- 
ticle in a constitution for this State. A majority of the representatives to 
the General Assembly are now elected by towns containing less than one- 
third of the population of the State; and some of the towns, from twice to 
twenty times what they are entitled to, under the just principles of distribu- 
tion above named — an inequality not uncommon in the monarchies of Eu- 
rope, but, with the single exception of Rhode Island, unknown in the Uni- 
ted States. 

8. Resolved^ That, at the foundation of this State, and long after, property 
in land was not only the principal property of the citizens, but was so easily 
attainable, that a landed qualification for voters (first definitely established 
in the colony by the legislature in 1724) excluded only a small portion of 
the people from political power ; but that the circumstances of the people 
have since greatly changed, and the existing qualification for voting has 
the effect, contrary to the designs of those who first established it, of exclu- 

17 



258 Rep. No. 546. 

ding the great majority of 16,000, or 25,000 over the age of twenty one 
years, from all political privileges and participation in the aflairs of govern- 
ment ; and that, although we entertain a high and becoming respect for 
farmers, and their just njfiuence in the State, we are not insensible to the 
merits of their younger sons — of the mechanics, the merchants, the working 
men, and others — who own no land ; and that we are of opinion that the 
longer continuance of a landed qualification for voters is a great injustice, 
and is contrary to the spirit and principles of a republican government ; and 
that a constitution for this State will be altogether insufficient, unsatisfac- 
tory, and impracticable, that does not restore to the body of the people of 
this State the rights and principles of American citizens. 

9. Resolved, That a continuance of the provisions of the charter relating 
to representation, and of the act of the legislature requiring a freehold es- 
tate to entitle a citizen to vote for public officers, has the effect not only to 
vest the control of the General Assembly, as we have before seen, in less 
than one-third of the population, but, as the voters in this third are only a 
third part of the whole number of male adult citizens, this further effect 
also — the most odious of all — of placing the control of the Assembly and the 
State in one ninth part of its adult population; or, in other words, in the 
hands of less than three thousand men out of twenty five thousand, who are 
over twenty-one years of age. 

10. Resolved, That such a state of things is a bold and hardy defiance of 
all popular rights, and is a total departure from the principles advanced at 
the first session of the General Assembly in the year 1647, who then sol- 
emnly declared and voted that the government of this State should be a 
democracy. 

11. Resolved, That the American system of government is a government 
of men, and not of property ; and that while it provides for the ample protec- 
tion and safe enjoyment and transmission of property, it confers upon it no 
political advantages, but regards all men as free and equal, and exacts from 
them no price for the exercise of their birthright ; and that, therefore, the un- 
doubted rights and privileges of the people, as well as the true honor and pros- 
perity of the State, can only be completely obtained and permanently insured 
iby a written constitution, whose framers shall be chosen from the people of 
•Uie towns, in proportion to population, and which shall be approved and rati- 
fied by the people at large ; and that, in the exercise of this high act ol sover- 
eignty, every American citizen, whose actual permanent residence or home 
is in this State, has a right to participate. And we accordingly pledge our- 
selves individually to each other, and collectively to the public, that we will 
use our unremitting exertions for such a constitution, in the way that has 
been described. 

12. Resolved, That we disclaim all action with or for any political party 
in this great question of State rights, reserving to ourselves individually our 
own opinions on all matters of State or national politics, which we call upon 
no man to sacrifice; and that we heartily invite tlie earnest co-operation of 
men of all political parties in the cause which we have at heart, and which 
we believe to be the cause of liberty, equality, and justice to all men. 

13. Resolved, That the General Assembly should have called the con- 
vention to frame a constitution in such a manner as to apportion the dele- 
gates to the convention among the several towns, according to population, 
and to give to every American citizen as aforesaid the right of voting for 



Rep. No. 546. 259 

?le]egates and for the constitution which may be proposed for the ratifica- 
iHiu of the people. 

14. Resolved, That the friends of reform in each town be requested forth- 
witlj to establish an association for the ^nrpose of a better organization for 
correspondence, and generally for the promotion of the objects of this con- 
vention. 

15. lit^solvcd, That a State committee of eleven persons be appointed by 
this convention to correspond with the associations of the several towns, and 
to carry forward the cause of reform and equal rights, and to call a conven- 
tion of delegates to drauglit a constitution at as early a day as possible. 

16. Resolved, That the State committee be requested to obtain, witliotit 
delay, a list of all the citizens m the several towns who are ready to vote for 
and sustain a constitution based on the principles hereinbefore declared, and 
to present the same at the adjourned meeting. 

17. Resolved^ That the State comtriittee be requested to prepare and send 
forth an address to th^people of this State on the subjects contained in the 
foregoing resoltitions, and to report proceeditigs at an adjourned meeting. 

18. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to the gov- 
ernor, to the lieutenant governor, and to each member of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, whose attention is especially and respectfully 
asked to the resolution relative to the call of the convention for framing u 
constitution. 

19. Resolved^ That the support and patronage of all the friends of reform 
are urgently requested in behalf of the " New Age," a newspaper exclusively 
devoted to the cause which we have this day assembled to promote. 

20. Resolved, That these resolutions be signed by the president and sec- 
retaries of the convention, and published in the several newspapers through- 
out the State, and that the publishers be requested to give them a gratuitous 
insertion in their respective papers. 

21. Resolved, That this convention, when it adjourns, will adjourn to 
meet at Providence on the 5lh day of July next. 

The following gentlemen were then appointed a State committee, in ac- 
cordance with the loth resolution : 

Newport county. — Hon. Charles Collins and Hon. Dutee J. Pearce. 
Providence county. — Samuel H. Wales and Benjamin Arnold, jr. 
Washington county.— Wm. S. Peckham and Sylvester Himes. 
Kent con?ity. — Silas Weaver and Emanuel Rice. 
Bristol county. — Samuel Allen and Benjamin M. Bosworth. 



No. 15.— (B.) 
Resolutions of the mass convention held at Providence., R. I., July 5, 1841. 

Resohed, That on this, (he anniversary {5(h July, 1841) of our nation- 
al independence, we recur, with emotions of deep and patriotic gratitude, 
to the principles, the measures, and the men of the American Revolution. 

Resolved, That the doctrines of liberty and equality, first promulgated 
in modern times by the immortal founders of our Slate, and re asserted by 



260 Rep. No. 546. 

tlie illnslrions author of the declaration of independence, lie at the founds, 
tion of all that is just and free in our political institutions; and that the 
vindication of these doctrines, when impaired, and the development of 
them in all their force and effect, are duties of the most sacred and impera- 
tive obligations, and enjoined upon us by the venerable fathers, who, being 
dead, yet speak to us, by our character as republicans and as men, and by 
our regard to the rights and interests of our succe^-sors. 

Resolved, That, in the language of Jefferson, '-It is not only the right, 
but the duty, of tliose now on the stage of action, to change the laws and 
institutions of government, to keep pace with the progress of knowledge, 
the lights of science, and the amelioration of the condition of society;" — 
and that " nothing is to be considered unchangeable, but the inherent and 
unalienable rights of man." 

Resolved, That the political institutions of this State have long since 
lost their character of liberty and equality, which belong to a republic; 
and that, inasujuch as in the words of Washingtoi^ " the basis of our po- 
litical institutions is the right of the people to make and to alter their con- 
stitutions," it has now become the duty of the people of Rhode Island, act- 
ing upon the principles which have been recited, and animated by the ex- 
ample of their patriotic ancestors, to apply with a firm hand, without un- 
necessary delay, and in their original and sovereign capacity, the necessary 
corrective to existing political evils, by the formation and adoption of a 
written republican State constitution. 

Resolved, "That we unanimously and cordially re-affirm the views, sen- 
timents, and plans" set forth in their resolutions by the convention of the 
friends of equal rights, held at Newport on the 5th day of May last ; and 
that, inasmuch as the General Assembly of this State, at their last session, 
m June, have finally decided that the freeholders are exclusively the people 
of Rhode Island, and have denied to the great majority of the people, so 
far as it is in their power thus to deny, any participation in the convention 
to be held in November next, the time has now fully arrived for the peo- 
ple, in their original and sovereign capacity, to exercise their reserved 
rights; and that we hereby approve the call by the State committee of the 
people's convention, on the basis of the resolutions aforesaid, at an early 
day, for the formation of a constitution. 

Resolved, That when the constitution, so framed, shall be adopted by 
a majority of the whole people of the State, by their signatures or other- 
wise, as the convention may provide, we will sustain and carry itito effect 
said constitution, by all necessary means; and that, so far as in us lies, we 
will remove all obstacles to its successful establishment and operation : and 
we hereunto solemnly pledge ourselves to each other and the public. 

Resolved, That we hail with pleasure the presence among us of the 
venerable remnants of our revolutionary worthies; and entertain the hope 
that they may be spared to witness another anniversary, when they will 
be deemed not only worthy of shedding their blood for the defence of their 
country, but of voting for their rulers, and of taking an equal share of the 
concerns of government. 

Resolved, That we enter our solemn protest against the principles upon 
which the landholders' constitution is called, as by that call a large ma- 
jority of the people of this State are excluded from a participation in the 
choice of deh^gates to frame a constitution, by the provisions of which 
they are to be governs d. 



Rep. No 546. 261 

Resolved, That we deny the authority of the legislature to proscribe or 
prevent any portion of our fellow-citizens, who are permanent residents 
of this State, from a participation in the organization of the government, 
which is to affect the rights and privileges of all. 

Resolved, That it is contrary to the spirit of a republican government 
for a minority to make laws that shall bind the majority ; and that we will 
resist, to the utmost of our ability, a government that shall not acknowledge 
the just rights of the whole people. 

Resolved, That we will use all honorable means within our power to 
have every American citizen, who is a permanent resident in this State, 
represented in the convention for framing a constitution that shall define 
the powers of the legislature, and secure to the people the free exercise of 
their rights and privileges. 

By a vote of said mass convention, the following gentlemen were added 
to the State committee, viz: 

Nbicport county. — Silas Sisson. 

Providence county. — Henry L. Webster, Philip B. Stiness, and Metcalf 

Marsh. 
Bristol county. — Abijah Luce. 
Kent county. — John Brown and John B. Sheldon. 
Washington county. — Wager Weeden and Charles Allen. 



No. 16.— (C.) 

Address of the State suffrage connnittee, settitif^ forth the principles of the 

suffrage movement. 

Fellow CITIZENS : The undersigned, a committee of those friendly to 
the formation of a State constitution, and to the extension of suffrage in this 
State, beg leave to address you on the important subject, and to call your 
attention to some of the considerations which actuate the friends of reform, 
as well as to the means considered by them best calculated to effect the ul- 
timate object in view. In doing this, it is neither our intention nor dispo- 
sition to create feelings of hostility between our fellow-citizens who may 
honestly differ from each other on the question of expediency or political 
right, but to excite the public mind to calm discussion and rational inves- 
tigation ; being morally certain that such a course will fully develop the 
justice of our cause, and lead to the consummation of our wishes in a njan- 
ner that shall give universal satisfaction. 

To all who are acquainted with human character and human passions, 
it is well known that power and pre eminence cnistitute darling objects of 
ambition ; and that human ingenuity, aided by interest and prepossession, 
and more especially sanctioned by custom, habit, and the forpe of edtica- 
tion, is seldom at a loss lor ifie semblance of argument to satisfy us of our 
right to that which we hold in possession. 

For these reasons, we can readily account for the hostility hitherto man- 
ifested by a great proportion of the landholders of Rhode Island against re- 
form in o\jr State government, and an extension of the right of suffrage. 



262 Rep. No. 546. 

without attributing to them the unqualified determination to act with iojtis- 
tire towards others. The muiiner in which the territory of the State wa» 
oriCTiiialiy acquired, the form of government estabhshed under the auspices 
of the British crown, the quiet submission of the people to that form of gov- 
ernment since the American revolution, the principles in accordance with 
it, handed down from generation to generation, and the firm convictions of 
the friends of the present system that it is most conducive to the best inter- 
ests of the State, — all operate on the landholders ; and honestly, in most ia- 
stances, we have reason to believe, they are thus induced to act against what 
we deem to be the rights of others. 

That the original colonists of Rhode Island, settling on lands they had 
purchased as a company, had the incontrovertible right, as proprietors un- 
der the crown, to institute such rules and regulations for the management 
of their affairs as they pleased, and as the grant from the crown permitted 
them to do, it is believed no one will deny. And as, at the period of the 
Revolution, no measures were instituted to change the iorm, to conform to 
the change of circumstances; and as, also, they have hitherto neglected to 
effect such a change, the impression has come down to the present period, 
that the original form of government still continues in ftiU force, by virtue 
of the right of the original colonists to institute it; and that it cannot right- 
fully be changed, but either by the voluntary act, or at least the consent, 
of tlieir successors in possession. As we ask for nothing but the right, per- 
mit us to examine this point. 

It must be recollected that the original settlers of Rhode Island neither 
claimed nor exercised any other rights than were granted and guarantied by 
the British crown. Their jurisdiction, therefore, was neither original nor 
independent, but was boih derived and subordinate ; and its entire force 
was the royal sanction un^uaranty. And even their right to the soil, by 
purchase of the natives, could have given them no exclusive right of pos- 
session, but by force of the royal patent. 13id the same or similar circum- 
stances now exist, it is readily acknowledged that the non-freeholders 
could set forth no legal claim to participation in the government, and but 
two events (one or both) could occur to extend to them that privilege, or to 
legalize the claim. In the first instance, the freemen might grant it ; in the 
second place, the royal charter might be revoked, or be rendered null and 
void by the destruction of the royal autliority. 

It cannot be doubted that, had the entire British realm been revolution- 
ized, instead of only her American colonies, and the declaration of the uni- 
versal national equality of man been adopted as the basis of government, 
the people of Rhode Island, in common with all their fellow-citizens of the 
nation, would have been thrown back on their natural rights, and released 
from their subjection to the royal will, claimed and exercised the right to. 
frame and adopt a government in obedience to the will of a majority only. 
In no other way could a legitimate government have been formed; for the 
only governmental power and authority, except what originally resided in 
the people themselves, would thus have been annihilated. 

Such principles would have been the cliaracter and effect of the revolu- 
tion under Oliver Cromwell, had he and his associates proceeded on the 
principles adopted by our revolutionary fathers ; and such also the French 
revolutions of 1792-93, and of 1830. But the American revolution produced 
precisely the state of affairs in the revolted colonies as though the king 



Rep. No. 546. 263 

had been dri\ren from the throne, royalty proscribed, monarchy abohshed, 
all ranks and distinctions amono^ men obliterated, the government dissolved, 
and its powers restored, to be exercised of right by the whole people. 

As to the colonies, all ibis did take place ; and no statesman who values 
his reputation as such, will hazard the assertion, that the slightest claim of 
force in our government can be erected on the grant and sanction of 
our former sovereign or his successors. On what, ihen, does the claim 
rest? First, on the ownership of the soil. Did our landholders still con- 
tinue simply a body corporate, permitted to regulate their company affairs 
under a former jurisdiction, that ground would be valid. But circum- 
stances have changed. The body corporate has merged into a sovereign 
and independent State. The very acts by which that sovereignty and in- 
dependence were declared and established, created freeholders and non-free- 
holders a body of political equals. It recognised the original rights^ and 
not the acquired privilege of the "governed," without discrimination, to ex- 
ercise powers inherent in them, and ^^ indefeasible^' as well as " unalienable,^^ 
to be conj-ulttd and heard, and altio to act on the question how they should 
or would be governed. Tfie freemen or landholders of Rhode Island 
consented to this act and to these principles. On that condition the State 
was incorporated into the American Union. From that moment she placed 
herself under a new jurisdiction — the government of tlie people. And from 
that moment, also, the people — all the people — whom the American revo- 
lutionary and constitutional principles recognised as the original source and 
rigfitful possessors of all political power, resumed, and might have expe- 
rienced, the ritfht to erect a government for themselves. 

But, in the second place, it is confidently asserted, that the people having 
quietly submitted to th« govt-rnment as it is, that government has become 
prescriptive; and that thus the not) freeholders have lost their right to de- 
mand or effect a change, even if they possessecfit. We do not ihus view 
the suliject ; and we believe those who assert this principle are altogether 
in error, i'hat our government is prescriptive, we admit ; but we do not 
admit that it can invalidate an original right. A government by prescrip- 
tion, or by custom, certainly cannot claim the force of one that has receiv- 
ed the formal satiction of the people ; and if it could, we. as republicans, 
assert, without fear of contradiction, that a majority of the '■'■governed'^ 
have, at any time, and on any occasion, a right to change their govern- 
ment — a right which, being inherent, unalienable, and indefeasible, not 
even they can part wiih by their free and voluntary act ; much less can it 
be taken from them by prescription, or by precedent, or by any act of their 
predecessors. We declare it, therefore, as our solemn conviction — a convic- 
tion strengthened and confirmed by the principles and acts of the most em- 
inent statesmen — that a majority of the citizens of this, or of any other State, 
have ihe incontrovertible right, at any time they may choose, to assemble 
together, and, eitlier by themselves or by their delegates, lo alter, amend, 
annul, or reform their government, at pleasure; always controlled by the 
dictates of natural law, that the legitimate end of government is the good of 
the whole in general, and of each individual in particular. To suppose 
that, under such a political system as that of tb.e American Union, the fun- 
damental principle of which is the sovereignty of the people, one generation 
can bind those who succeed it to any principles or form of government, or 
that prescription or custom should divest them of their right of change, is 



264 Kep. No. 546. 

preposterous. Tt is, moreover, the doctrine of tyranny ; and, once estab- 
lished, the sovereignty of the people is destroyed. 

Without fear of contradiction, therefore, we aver that, even had the pres- 
ent form of govt:rnment been formally sanctioned by the people of Rhode 
Island, (which it never was,) they could be bound to its provisions no 
long^er than during their own pleasure. The original power and sove- 
reignty of the people are never relinquished. Tliey cannot be ; for they 
are unalienable and indefeasible. They are merely delegated, to be exer 
cised for certain purposes ) and whenever those who delegated them become 
satisfied that the contemplated object has not been, and will not be, given 
by their exercise, they have the right to resume them, and to use them 
as they please. Such is the doctrine of natural law, and such also is the 
doctrine of the declaration of American independence, which has been en- 
grafted on the American constitution. 

It is in vain that the portion of Rhode Ishmd citizens called freemen, or 
a part of them, assert that a change in the form and principles of our gov- 
ernment is inexpedient, inasmuch as it is asserted by them that a change 
could not benefit the State. This is an assertion only, and rests on mere 
speculative conjecture. Riglit claiujs precedence of expediency. It is enough 
for us to know (and on this point we are certain) that a majority of the cit- 
izens of the State are deprived, by the existing government, of the rights 
which their Creator bestowed on them, and which the principles tiiat con- 
stituted the very basis of the national government sanction and guaranty. 
A participation in the government of the State they have a right to demand 
and assume. It is not a question whether the minority are willing to iti- 
trust the exercise of the political power in the hands of a majority, or pre- 
fer to retain it themselves; the question is not. Will the State be better or 
worse governed in consequence of the change? It is a simpli^ question of 
individual riijht ; imd the%laim is one .which cannot be successfully de- 
nied. The disfranchised citizens among the '•'• governed'''* — among those, 
therefore, for whose benefit government is, or should be, instituted — among 
those from whom the powers of government are, or should be, derived. Hence 
their right is unquestionable to a voice as to the disposition of tliose pow- 
ers and their exercise, and the fitness of the government and its adaptation 
to the end proposed — the good of the governed. This is their right. This 
right they claim. They constitute tlie majority. With thetn, therefore, is 
the right to decide. And they presume themselves to be, and will be found 
to be, as ctipal^le of jud^^ing correctly, and acting as wisely, as to the true 
ends of government, as are the minority, who now exercise all its functions. 
It will be time enough to talk of the result, after the cfiange has been effect- 
ed. If it be evil, the people will not long submit to it: if good, riijht will 
liave been done, and the welfare of the State secured. 

But why talk of the present system of government? We have no fixed 
system. Every system of government, or anything else, is made up of 
certain fundamental rules and principles, from which those who act upon 
it are not at liberty to depart. Every science and art has its fixed rules and 
principles, and these constitute their system ; the constitution — the uork 
of the people — of the governed — fixing metes and bounds to the power and 
authority of the several departments, prescribing definite principles of ac- 
tion, and eiroumscribing the legi.'>lative, executive, and judicial servants of 
the nation, by limits tliey dare not overstep. Such is the case with all the 
States, except our own. These are the only legal barriers against usurpa- 



Rep. No. 546. 265 

tion, misrule, and deception. When these are violated, at the expense of 
official perjury, the people have their remedy under those systems of gov- 
ernment ; but, without them, tlie minority, and even the disfranchised ma- 
jority, have no other security for their dtjarest rights than force and arms — • 
always precarious, and frequently resulting in violence and blood. The 
only guarantee of rights to the people of Rhode Island is the constitution of 
the United States. We have no constitution — nosystem of government. Kven 
the right of franchise, the " basis of every free elective government," and the 
most valuable privilege of the free citizen, is in the liands of the legislative 
body, unguarded by any popular barrier, to be moulded to any form the 
mujoriiy of the legislature may think proper, to gratify their ambition, or 
to promote party objects. Thus the right of suffrage is the subject of con- 
tinual fluctuation and change at the hand of parties, as one or the other 
may obtain the power, and as may appear best calculated to perpetuate its 
hold on power, and to baffle the efforts of opponents. It is a solemn fact, 
and one that admits of no denial, tliat the General y\ssembly may, if a ma- 
jority of that body choose, at its very next session, and without a moment's 
warning to the people of the State, repeal every syllable of law relative to 
the elective francliise, and enact another law as entirely different from it as 
possible— and, indeed, effect one entire change in the policy of the State ; 
and there is neither constitution, law, nor precedent to the contrary. Should 
such abuses occur, where is the remedy of the people? No constitulional 
principles are violated, because we have none to violate. Precedents could 
not be appealed to, because all precedent in Rhode Island is but a contin- 
ual exhibition of the exercise of unqualified and unlimited legislative 
power. Laws could not be resorted to, because all former ones having been 
repealed, new ones would have been enacted to suit the occasion. An ap- 
peal to the legislature would, of course, bt; fruitless, as that body would not 
sit as judges to condemn themselves. Resort to courts of law would be 
useless, as they have no constitutional principles to guide them. Their 
criterion is the legislative action. And, except when provisions of the con- 
stitution of the United Suites are involved, or questions of common law, the 
courts of Rhode Island, the creatures of legislative power, exist, sit, and act, 
only to carry out the legislative will ; vvherea-;, in other States, the people 
can always appeal from that will, through the courts themselves, to the 
constitution which they have adopted: thus, by means of the action of 
their own original power, compelling both courts and legislative bodies to 
act within the limits (he people themselves have marked out. 

Bat, we repeat it, the people of Rhode Island have no one of the above 
safeguards. Prom the town council to the chief justice of tbe highest 
court ; from the voter in the House of Representatives, to the Governor 
who presides at the Senate body— all are free from constitutional restraint, 
all free from popular restraint. The sole power centres in the General As- 
sembly; and that power is independent, and politically omnipotent. To 
what resort, then, can the people flee for redress, when that power shall 
have been grossly abused? There are but two modes left them: 1. The 
ballot-box. 2. 'I'he resumption and exercise of their original and natural 
rights and powers. 

l-'irst, then, to the ballot box. And now let us turn our attention to this 
subject for a moment, and see how far that resort would be available. 

Suppose, then, the advocates of right and justice, or the friends of the 
present government and laws, should come forward with sufficient strength 



266 Rep. No. 546. 

at the polls to eject from the seat of power men who had rendered themselves 
obnoxious by acts of usurpation and misrule : what stronger guarantee would 
you receive from their successors that they would reform abuses, than the in- 
dividual pledges of (perhaps) ambitious and interested political partisans? 
And even should pledt^es be redeemed, what assurance c^nld you have that 
another body, in another year, would not revisit you with greater evils than 
those which had been removed ? Each General Assembly, the State being 
destitute of constitutional provisions, is an independent body, acting solely on 
its own responsibility, guided only by its own principles of action, and its own 
rules ; and the people have no other means of restraint upon their actions, than 
the distant view of the ballot box, and which each General Assembly might 
previously regulate, by changing the tenure and qualifications of the elec- 
tive fratichise to suit themselves. The committee would appeal to every 
reflecting, high-minded, and honorable man, and ask, in all candor and sin- 
cerity, if the rights and privileges free by nature, and free by the laws and 
constitution of our common country, should be thus intrusted to chance, or 
to fortune, or (what is still worse) to the hands of political partisans, to be 
manufactured, at pleasure, into political capital, to aid the cause of aspirmg 
ambition? Can any people be safe under such circumstances? Under 
them, what man that is free to day, can have the assurance that he will not 
be a slave to-morrow? Whut, then, remains, but for the people to resume 
and exercise their original ris^hts, and to frame for themselves a constitu- 
tion of government, which shall guard and protect them against the exer- 
cise of arbitrary power, by prescrit)ing limits to legislative action. 

We feel certain that the freemen, (or, in other words, the present voters 
of the State,) would spontaneously, and without legal formality, assemble 
and institute means of redress, in case their ov/n rights were thus invaded. 
Thus have the rights of our disfrancliised citizens been invaded, without in- 
termission, from the period of the American Revolution. As far as they are 
concerned, they have been the subjects of continual usurpation and misrule ; 
and so far have even their civil rights been trampled on, that, without the 
sanction o( a freeman, or landholder's name, as a master vouches for his 
slave, they are not known in law, or permitted to appear as parties, to ask 
for justice at the hands of a judicial tribunal ; and all this in the very face 
of the fundamental political doctrine of our nation, that the power is in the 
governed, and that from them all the just powers of government are derived. 

Thus circumstanced, it is quite apparent that the disfranchised citizens 
of Rhode Island, and who constitute a majority of the whole people, can 
find no redress tlirough the ballot box, from which, by law, they are ex- 
cluded. Nor is it much more likely that they will derive it from legislative 
aid ; the members of the legislature being exclusively the representatives of 
the minority, who wield the power. INor yet is there niore to hope from 
the freemen or landholders themselves at the polls, unless, contrary to what 
has heretofore happened, a majority of them liave become willing that right 
and justice should supersede the lust of power. 

The conunittee are happy to believe that a very considerable change has 
taken place, in this respect, within a short period; and that a very respect- 
able body of the landholders are now advocates for a written constitution, 
to be framed and adopted by the people, and a liberal and permanent sys- 
tem of suffrage filaced beyond the reach of legislative control and interfe- 
rence. The committee congratulate the friends of the cause on this auspi- 



Rep. No. 546. 267 

cious circumstance; still it must not be disguised that nincii yet remains to 
be done. 

'i'lie friends of reform must depend on their own active energies. The 
laws of the State are against them ; the legislative authority is against them ; 
the custom of more tiian half a century is against them ; and, no doubt, the 
opinions, interests, political aspirations, and the prejudices and prepossessions 
of a majority of the landed interest are against them. To the timid mind, 
and to the mind that has not investigated the subject, all these may present 
a powerful hostile array; but were they ten thousand times more powerful 
even than they appear, the rights and privileges of a sohtary American citi- 
zen are fully worthy of the struggle. However forbidding the obstacles 
that may present themselves — however dark and frowning the aspect of the 
opposition— however threatening the arm of power suspended over us, — 
they are mere shadowy and unsubstantial forms, and a single act of the ma 
jority of the whole people of Rhode Island will be found sufficient to sweep 
them all away. The people — the '■'■ n inner i calf or ce'^ — have but to proclaim 
their will, to resume their original powers, and assert their original rights. 
It is but for the people to arouse themselves to action, to array themselves 
in the majesty of their strength, and to speak with imited voice. " VVe, 
THE PEOPLE," decree it, is a legitimate sanction to the warrant that cop- 
signs an unequal government to the grave. " We, the people," the para- 
mount power of a free elective government; have but to speak, and their 
voice must be obeyed, for their will is the fountain of government and laws. 

" We, the people," are the original depositary of power, and the only 
source whence government derives its sanction, its strength, and its sup- 
port; and government thus fran)ed and adopted, must be legitimate — must 
rise superior to all others, and must be sanctioned and sustained by our 
national councils. For. under the auspices of a free, elective republic, 
based on the great principles of natural equality and of the popular sover- 
eignty, what authority shall interpose to defeat the will of the popular ma- 
jority, expressed in the formation of a government on similar principles? 
We repeat it, therefore, the people have but to put forth their energies to 
resume and exert their original rights and powers, and to speak and act; 
to assemble of their own accord ; to repudiate the existing government of 
the State ; to frame and adopt another more congenial to human rights, 
and to organize themselves under it as a body politic, which a free people 
have at all times the right to do; and demand the fulfilment of the con- 
stitutional pledge which guaranties to every State in the Union a republi- 
can form of government. To do this, fellow citizens, is your only availa- 
ble and certain course. To do this, unanimity, at least, of action must 
mark your conduct. Among a great body of men contending for their 
rights, some conflicting feelings and opinions on minor points must exist. 
Of these, amoncr ourselves, probably the most prominent and important is, 
on what shall be the final extent of the elective franchise, or who shall be 
admitted to vote at elections? This question is frequently put, and by it 
your opponents hope to scatter dissension in your ranks, and to defeat your 
purpose. But be it borne in mind that this is a question which now is not 
the time to answer; nor does it belong tons to answer it. We cannot 
hope to attain our object without mutual concessions. As the friends of 
popular rights, it becomes us individually to abide content by the will of 
the majority ; and it is confidently believed that no one has united himself 
with us, and espoused our cause, who will not cheerfully give his sanction 



268 Rep. No. 546. 

to such provisions for the government and well-being of the State as a ma- 
jority may approve. To the final decision of the majority, then, let the 
above question be referred, and not permitted to disturb onr harmony, or 
prevent the cordial union and exercise of all our energies to promote the 
forward progress of our great and just cause. Be firm ; be united ; press 
forward with zeal and alacrity; use all honorable means to insure success, 
and you cannot fail to obtain it. 

In due time, the committee, lo whom the duty has been intrusted, will 
issue the call for primary meetings, preliminary to the call of a State con- 
vention. Meanwhile, we would urge it on every one engaged in the cause, 
to use his efforts to harmonize the views and feelings of its friends, to 
awaken their zeal, and arouse them to action ; that thus, when the period 
shall have arrived when it shall be deemed expedient to attempt the con- 
summation of the grand object, there may be no faltering; and that all, 
like one man, with one body, one heart, one soul, and one object in view, 
to be gained by one means, may come forth at the call, and practically 
manifest the indomitable resolution to rescue, preserve, and perpetuate the 
rights of freemen. 

On you, fellow-citizens, under God, depends the issue. If you are re- 
solved, firm, and immovable, you must succeed ; and you will thus trans- 
mit to your posterity an invaluable legacy, for which they will bless you. 
If, through supineness and neglect, you should fail of the object, you leave 
yourselves — and it niay be also your descendants — demi-slaves, subject to 
the exercise of arbitrary power, and destitute of a constitutional guaranty 
for a solitary right, political or civil. Your aid, one and all, is confidently 
expected. Let not the friends of freedom in Rhode Island and our sister 
States be disappointed. Let " God and the right" be your motto. Let 
us remember that " in union there is strength." Move with energy 
and act with vigor, and your efforts will and must be crowned with success. 

State committee. 

Newport — Charles Collins, Dutee J, Pearce. 

Providence — Samuel H. Wales, W. B. Sayles, Bt njamin Arnold, jr. 

Bristol — Benjamin M. Bosworth, Samuel S. Allen. 

Kent — Emanuel llice, Silas Weaver. 

Washington— William S. Peckham, Sylvester Hmies. 



At a meeting of the above committee, June 11, 1841, on motion, 
Voted, That the secretary be directed to transmit a copy of this address 
to each of the editors of the newspapers in this State, and request them 
to give it a gratuitous insertion in their respective journals. 

BENJAMIN ARNOLD, Jr., Secretary, 



Rep. No. 540. 269 

i\o. 17.— (D.) 

Address of the State suffrage committee, culling upon the people to elect 
delegates to a convention for the purpose of forming a constitnlion. 

At a mass convention of the friends of equal ria^hts and of a loritten repub- 
lican constliutioa for this State, held at Newport on (he 5th day of May, 
1841, tlie follovvino^ persons were appointed a State committer, for the 
furtherance of the cause which tlie convention had assembled to promote, 
viz: 

Newport county. Bristol county. 

Benjamin M. Bosvvorth, 
Charles Collins, Samuel S. Allen, 

Dutee J. Pearce, Abijaii Luce. 

Silas Sisson. 

Kent county. 

Providence county. hjmanuel nice, 

Silas Weaver, 

Samuel H. Wales, John B. Sheldon. 
Benjamin Arnold, jr., 

Welcome B. Sayles, Washington county. 

Henry L. Webster, Sylvester Himes, 

Pliilip B. Stiness, Wager W^eeden, 

Metcalf Marsh. Charles Allen. 

The State commiltee were directed to " carry forward the cause of reform 
and equal rights, and to call a convention of delegates to draught a constitu- 
tion at as Ccirly a day as possible." 

At an adjourned meeting of said mass convention, held at Providence on 
the .oth day of July, the instructions before given were reaffirmed, and the 
committee were directed to call a convention of the people, on the basis of 
the resolutions passed at Newport, "at an early day, for the formation of a 
constitution." 

Pursuing these instructions, the committee held a meeting at Providence 
on the 2Uth of .Inly; and, in conformity with the eleventh resolution adopted 
at Newport, which prescribes the call of a convention of the people at large, 
to be represented in proportion to population, passed, unanimously, the fol- 
lowing resolution for the call of a popular convention : 

Voted., That we proceed to issue a call for the election of delegates to 
take place on the last Saturday in August, (the 2Sth day,) to attend a con- 
vention to be holden at the State-house in Providence, on the first Monday 
in October, (the 4th day,) for framing a constitution to be laid before the 
people for their adoption. 

Voted, That every American male citizen, of twenty-one years of age and 
upwards, v/ho has resided in this State one year preceding the election of 
delegates, shall vote for delegates to the convention called by the State 
committee, to be held at the State-house in Providence on the first Monday 
in October next. 

Voted, That every meeting holden for the election of delegates to the 
State convention shall be organized by the election of a chairman and 
secretary, whose certificate shall be required of the delegates. 

Voted, That each town of one thousand inhabitants, or less, shall be en- 



270 . Rep. No. 546. 

titled to one delegate; and for every additional thousand, one deleo^ale 
shall be appointed; and the city of Providence shall elect three delegates 
from each ward in the city. 

Voted, That the chairman and secretary be directed to cause one thou- 
sand handbills to be printed and distributed through the State, containing 
the call for a convention of deleo;ates. 

Voted, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the chairman 
and secretary, and be published. 

On ino/ioH, voted, That this meeting stand adjourned, to meet at this 
place on the 1st day of September, at 11 o'clock, a. m. 

Fellow citizens : We have discharged our duty in a call of a conven- 
tion of the whole people, to provide for the attainment and security of those 
invaluable rights which have been so long withheld from them, and without 
which they are but subjects and slaves in a state only nominally republican. 

Depend upon it that a spirit has been aroused in this State, which can- 
not be intimidated nor repressed : which has suffered long, until patience 
has ceased to be a virtue ; and which, regarding the republican institutions 
everywhere else enjoyed but here, and prompted by our venerable and 
patriotic ancestors, the first to assert the true principles of religious and po- 
litical freedom, will brook no further delay ; and which cannot be more ap- 
propriately expressed than when we say, in behalf of the great majority of 
the people — Give lis our rights, or we will take them. 

We ask for nothing that is not clearly right, and we are determined to 
submit to nothing so manifestly wrong as the corrupt and anti-republican 
system of government which has so long subsisted in Rhode Island by the 
forbearance of the people. 

Bear in mind that there is no constitutional mode of amending our gov- 
ernment, except by the people at large, in whom, as the successors of the 
king of England, the sovereign power resides and remains unimpaired by 
any lapse of time, or toleration of past abuses. 

That there is no bill of rights in this State, except that granted by the 
legislature, and which they can at any moment resume and annul. 

That the General Assembly is a body irresponsible to the majority of the 
people, restricted by no constitutional rule of action, virtually omnipotent, 
making and unmaking the people, doing and undoing what it pleases, ac- 
cording to its " especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion," in imi- 
tation, upon a smaller scale, of the monarchy of Great Britain. 

That the system of representation to this Assembly is also the rotten 
borough system of Great Britain, now partially reformed ; by which system, 
in this State, a third of the freemen and one ninth of the people command 
the House of Representatives. 

That, by reason of the landed qualification, which it is impossible for the 
great majority to obtain, two-thirds of the people are ousted of the birthright 
acquired for them by their fathers ; and are governed, taxed, compelled to 
do military duty, and subjected in all respects to the will and pleasure of 
one-third, with the sole restriction imposed by the constitution of the United 
States. 

Instead of enumerating other particulars, we only say, look at the history 
of Rhode Island legislation. 

Fellow citizens, it is these evils to which the great unenfranchised ma- 
jority, acting in their original, sovereign capacity, propose and intend to 



Bep. No; 546. 271 

apply an effectual remedy. We ask your aid and assistance in this good 
work. We respectfully urge upon you to assist in the election of delegates 
to the popular convention to be held in October next — not as the friends or 
opponents of any political party now existing in this State, but as the friends 
of justice, of humanity, of liberty, of equal rights, of well regulated consti- 
tutional government. 

Do not be deceived by the freeholders' convention called for November 
next. It is a gross fraud upon the people. The designs of its originators 
was to clirystalize, in a stronger form, the present statute provisions relative 
to suffrage, and to place them beyond the reach of amendment, except by 
the hand of force. 

Once more, we say to the unenfranchised mass of our brethren and fellow- 
citizens, — "Vour rights are in your own hands. Assert and vindicate them 
like men determined to be free. See to it that a meeting for the choice of 
delegates is duly held in every town, and that its proportional number is 
regularly elected. Summon your friends and neighbors to the work ; and, 
rely upon it, that a constitution framed by such a convention, and signed 
by a majority of the people, will be promptly acquiesced in by the minority; 
will be vigorously sustained ; and will become, without delay, the undisputed, 
paramount law of our State. 

By order, and in behalf of the State committee. 

SAMUEf. H. WALES, Chairman. 
Benjamin Arnold, Secretary. 

Providence, July 24, 1841. 



No. 18.— (E.) 

Extracts from the oration of George R. Bitrrill, delivered in Providence 
in 1797, in favor of a republican constitution. 

"Something better than a void, or at most an imaginary constitution, was 
to have been expected from the State of Rhode Island. We inhabit a crazy 
and comfortless mansion, shaken by the winds, and pervaded by the storm. 
The materials are around us of a stable, commodious, and magnificent edi- 
fice — such a one as might invite the stranger to dwell in it, and be honored 
and imitated by distant people. The foundation is laid in the independence 
of our country ; let the superstructure, the constitution, perfected from the 
models of our fifteen States, and the experience of our own numberless 
necessities, be raised and fixed upon it. The final extent of a territory in 
tlje State will render unnecessary that complexity which is found in the 
constitutions of most States. In fine, we might enjoy a constitution more 
simple, efficacious, and cheap, than that of any other free government. 

" But if, in a representative government, the greater number of the peo- 
ple choose only the minority, and the smaller number choose the majority 
of the legislature, how shall a constitution, or a change in the constitution, 
be eftected ? Equal representation in such a case will be the consequence 
of a constitution, and will deprive this majority of that precious power, of 
which men are so tenacious, and which, when they are once in possession 
of it, they will strive to render perpetual. To petition this legislature for 
equal representation, is to require the majority to surrender their power — a 



272 Rep. No. 546. 

requisition which it is not in human nature to s^rant. But is this evil to be 
perpetual? Is there not in every free jj^overntnent the principle of amend- 
ment and accoajtnodation — a radical health-givino: principle — a natural con- 
stitution, paramount to all positive institutions ? If there is not, there may 
then be, in a given case, a free people, who neither are nor ever can be 
governed by their representative ; and the government, thus corrupt and 
absurd, may exist with all its errors and abuses forever, exhibiting this 
paradox — a free, sovereign, and independent people, desirous of changing 
their form of government, without the power of doing it. Such a perpe 
tuity is absurd and repugnant ; the power exists in the State, and in every 
free State; and that of necessity, and mdependently of any human provision. 
Representation always supposes proportion. A hundred inhabitants in one 
place cannot be represented by one man, while an equal nunjber in another 
place are represented by ten men. Either, in the first instance, there are 
ninety who are not represented ; or there are, in the second instance, nine 
persons in the legislature who represent nobody. Such a disproportion 
always constitutes a tyranny, active or dormant, and severe or not, accord- 
ing as the disproportion is great or small. Tiie minority and their con- 
stituents are absolutely in the power of the majority. If this disproportion 
may consistently exist in any degree, however small, the principle is admit- 
ted, and it may exist in any degree, however great. It is certainly impossible 
to justify such a government in the understandings of that minority or their 
constituents. It is absurd to maintain that the people are free in a despotic 
government, or that the government may be so constrncted as that it never 
can alter or improve, and that its errors and abuses must be perpetual. Yet 
this doctrine, so absurd, so repugnant and contradictory, has found its ad- 
vocates. If there is any convenience or advantage in equal representation, 
it becomes a right ; and rights are equally sacred, and to withhold them is 
equal injustice, whatever may be the subject to which they relate, whether 
pecuniary or political. To withhold this right, may be the triumph of 
petty ambition, the jest of those who trifle with justice, and indifferent to 
those waxen consciences which may be moulded to every feature of cir- 
cumstance ; but to the upright and liberal mind, and public s[)irit, it is 
matter of serious concern, and, measured on the scale of moral justice, it is 
a high handed wrong. 

" 'The whole constitution of a free government is not a positive institution ; 
neither is it or can it be written upon paper. No machinery can destroy 
the force of gravity, neither is there need of machinery to precipitate bodies 
to the earth. No law can make that right, which is morally wrong. As 
in natural philosophy and in morals, so also in government, there are 
certain fixed and unchangeable maxims, which enter into the very essence 
of it, which no written constitution can vary, or needs or ought to explain 
or declare. The existence of this constitution paramount is so true, that 
there can be no free government where it is not acknowledged. It is the 
rectifying principle, which enables government to effect the purposes of its 
institution. It is like the operations of nature, which, in the natural body, 
repair the waste of age, disorder, and injurious impressions. When these 
operations are weakened, the body decays; when they cease, the body is dead. 
It is the standard and regulator of every function, continually correcting 
and improving. Whenever any authority supersedes the constitution para- 
mount, that authority becomes absolute power. In a free government, no 
majority, even among the people, who alone are the makers of the written 



Rep No. 546. 273 

constitution, can prevail ag-ainst it. The power of such a majority is but 
the power of the strons-est, and not a legitimate or consliiutinnal po^uer. 
Much less can the legislature^ to wliich even the written constitution gives 
law, control the constitulioii pftramount , to which all other authority is 
subordinate. Whenever a court of law exceeds its jurisdiction, the judg- 
ment is illegal and void, and the ministerial oificer executes it at his peril. 
All laws enacted by the legislature contrary to the constitution, are also 
void, and not binding upon the courts of law or the citizen. In like manner, 
whenever the written constitution contravenes the constitution paramount — 
or, in other words, the principles and mimutable maxims of free government — 
it is void. Rebellion, therefore^ or resistance to law and, order, is not to be 
imputed to those who maintain this supreme anlhoriiy, ulthongh they act 
in opposiLion to a written constitution; because, wherever the two authorities 
interfere, the subordinate is void, and must give place to the supreme au- 
thority. Still less can, the charge be alleged, where there is no wrilten 
constitution, or where it was never ratified by the people, but imposed on 
them by an authority which they haoe in the most solemn manner re- 
nounced. Equal representation is involved in the very idea of a free gov- 
ernment ; it IS accordingly and consequently provided by the constitution 
paramount, that every citizen shall be represented. When and how this 
equal representation sfiall operate, is left to the written constitution to pro- 
vide ; but that it shall operate, is alrendy provided for by the constitution 
paramount. Resistance to this supreme authority, is that act of domestic 
violence, against ivhich the government of the United States is to protect 
the ifidividual States. 

"There are three principal branches in government — that is to say, the 
makers of the written constuution, the law-makers , and the administrators 
of the law; or, in other words, the people, the legislature, and the courts 
of law. All other branches are collateral and ministerial. The maki?ig 
of the constitution paramoimt is no act of govern/meid; it always exists: 
it is the immediate work of Goil, and a part of nature itself. These three 
branches are distinct and separate. A court of justice cannot create a legis- 
lature, or enact a law; since it exists after the law, is created by the law^ 
and acts under it. Neither can the legislature create a. constitution; since 
the legislature itself is the creature of the written c<mslitntion, is posterior 
and subordinate to it. The court of justice cannot judge of the necessity 
of passing a law, or dictate when or how it shall be made. Neither can 
the legislature judge of the necessity of forming a constitution, or dictate 
lohen or how it shall be formed. To the court is referred to pronounce 
judgment; to the legislature, the enacting of laws; and to the people, the 
forming of a constitution ; and to each distinct branch, every question ap- 
pertaining to its respective function. In petitioning the legislature, there- 
fore, for a constitution, we are guilty of deserting from principle, and of 
abandoning our rights. We might as well petition the superior court for 
a law. The question is referred to an incompetent tribunal. It is coram 
nonjudice. The determination of it rests with the people. It is that sole 
and transcendent act of authority which resides in the people — and that, not 
by representation, but personally and numerically. The convention which 
forms the constitution, is but a commiitee of the people. This is a juris- 
diction which cannot be transferred. The exercise of it is the resumption 
of delegated power, and a recurrence to the elements of government. 

" From every light in which we can view a free republican government, 
18 



274 Rep. No. 546. 

it seems to follow, incontestably, that an inherent perpetuity in the form of 
it is abhorrent and repngnant ; that it must contain within itself the prin- 
ciples and means of anieiidnient and accommodation ; and that these pur- 
poses are effected by an acknovvledj^ment of the existence of the constitution 
paramount, and of the exclusive jurisdiction of the people in all questions 
relating: to a constitution." 



No. 19.— (F.) 

Extracts from tJtP Manufacturers and FreeineiUs Journal^ ur,der dates of \ 
November 27, December 11 and 18, 1820, and January 11, 1821. i 

" The late adoption of a written constitution of government by the peo- 
ple of Connecticut, and the convention of deleo^ates of the people of Mas- 
sachusetts t • revise their written constitution of that commonwealth, after 
a trial of its efficacy during forty years, ought naturally to recall the atten- 
tion of the people o( Rhode Island to their own peculiar situation, with 
respect to the present possession and exercise of the political power of their 
small community ; and as the discussion of a subject of such general im- 
portance comes fairly within the propounded limits of our duty, we shall, 
as occasion may offer* and convenience permit, deliver our sentiments on 
it, with that deference which becomes an individual, zealous, indeed, for 
the prosperity of his fellow-citizens and the honor of his native State, but 
conscious of his utter inability to do it ju^stice. If we can, by our feeble 
endeavors, succeed in calling our fellow-citizens to an attentive considera- 
tion of their political state, we have .no doubt that older and abler pens 
will be drawn into the discussion. The glaring defects of our present 
miserable system, and its utter Inconsistency in principle with all our re- 
ceived notions of republican government, will thus be fully laid before the 
people ; and we doubt not, when Rhode Island applies herself to the work 
of regeneration, she will, though last in the course, adopt a system of gov- 
ernment as well devised to secure to her citizens the rights of person and 
of property, as any which has heretofore been produced. 

"If an utter stranger to our lav/s should undertake to acquaint himself 
with them by a perusal of our statute book, he would be greatly surprised 
and perplexed by what he would find in it. The declaration of independ- 
ence, the articles of confederation, the constitution of the Union, and the 
farewell address of the father of his country, would undoubtedly convey to 
him very clear perceptions of what we have gained in theoretical and prac- 
tical politics from our connexion with our sister States. He might read our 
bill of rights, and pronounce the principles which it asserts to be purely 
republican ; might admire the regard which it pays to the freedom of per- 
son and opinion — the assurance which it professes to extend to the rights of 
property, &.c. But what would he — what could he say, when, looking for 
the platform of government on which our freedom and rights are supposed 
to depend, he should find nothing but the charter of a king — a despicable 
king, too — given one hundred and sixty years ago to twenty four planters, 
by which they are armed with the corporation powers which are usually 
given to trading, charitable, and literary associations, and allowed to hold 
an assembly for the enactment of bye laws, subject to the revision of this 



Rep. No. 5A6. 275 

kinj in !iis council. Supposing this stranger to be well acquainted with 
the Riiglish common law, the nature of the feudal tenures, of the English 
laws with regard to corporations, of the responsibility ol corporations be- 
fore the Enghsh courts of law,*iind the modes of proceeding against them 
in those courts. — what, we ask, must he this person'.s estimate of the origin 
of our primary laws, and the deo;ree of legal security which our ancestors 
enjoyed under them? If he considers this charter in reference to the dec- 
laration of independence, by which the supreme and controlhng power 
which the Enfjhsh king in council and his courts of law exercised over the 
proceedings of the General Assembly, was abolished, and that body left 
without any superior or controlling power to check its attempts upon indi- 
vidual rights or general freedom, he must be astonished that a free people 
have, for more than forty years, submitted to a species of government, in 
theory, if not always in practice, as despotic as is that of the autocrat of all 
the Russias. That the General Assembly, vvliich now pretends to a legiti- 
male right to govern us, exists and acts by its own authority alune ; that 
the bill of rights, which was lately a theme of his admiration, flowed from 
the mere good will and pleasure of that assembly, and may be revoked at 
its will and pleasure ; that the people of this State elect their Representa- 
tives to this assembly only by its permission — a permission which it may 
withdraw at pleasure ; that this assembly does not acknowledge its de- 
pendence on the people, but, on the contrary, considers itself as existing 
by its own mere will, without check, balance, or control, exercising the 
whole government, legislative, judicial, and executive ; — any man, born in 
a free country, and educated with clear and precise perceptions of the true 
attributes of a representative and popular government, will be astonished 
that the people of this State have so long submitted to a platform of gov- 
ernment which is devoid of all authority from tlie people, and which, 
though it gives the whole supreme power to eighty-four despots instead of 
one, is not the less arbitrary and despotic on that account. 

" Now, the principles upon which rest the liberties of America, and all 
the systems of government which the several States have established for 
their security, are so simple and comprehensive, that no two men in the 
cotmtry will be found to dispute upon them. 

" The people of every political community are, under God, the only 
legitimate source of political power. To them, and to them only, belongs 
the rioht of establishing governments; and, without their assent, express 
or implied, no government has any legal force or binding authority. They 
may create, modify, or entirely alter governments, at their pleasure; they 
may, if they choose, establish a government of the few or the many — 
monarchical, aristocratic, or oligarchical ; and they may grant to any gov- 
ernment so by them established such powers, limited or unlimited, as are 
not inconsistent with the immutable laws of nature and of nature's God. 

" Is the government under which we live consistent with any of the 
principles which we have laid down ? It was not established by the peo- 
ple of this State, nor is it amenable to them; it acknowledges no superior 
or creating power, and claims to exist and act by its own omnipotence ; it 
answers to our ideas of a pure despotism, because the General Assembly 
engrosses and exercises, in person or by substitution, all the powers of sov- 
ereiiriity. 

" On these several points, it is our purpose hereafter to enter into a full 
discussion of t!ie question whether it is expedient for the people of this 



276 Rep. No. 546. 

State to assemble in convention, and to establish a government of their own„ 
In the conrse of the discussion, we shall endeavor to draw the outlines of 
such a government as would be consistewit vviih our republican principles, 
highly auspicious to the rights and immunities of the people, and proujotive 
of their best interests. 

" We are aware that many of our most distinguished fellow citizens are, 
for various reasons, opposed to the adoption of a written constitution, and 
that they will exert all their talents and influence to prevent such a meas- 
ure. But, whatever respect we may entertain for these gentlemen, we shall 
not remit our feeble endeavors in a cause which, in our apprehension, is 
the cause of the people. To promote the general good, we sliould disre- 
gard the suggestions of self-interest, and the local and sectional jealousies 
which stand in our way; for, certainly, the common will ought to prevail 
over all such considerations." ' 

In a subsequent address, it is said : " We would seriously ask these gen- 
tlemen by what authority, or permission, the free people of this State 
assemble in April and August to choose their representatives ? Is it 
not solely by the permission of this tremendous oligarchy — this nonde- 
script monster in politics — which may, at its own pleasure, repeal the laws 
which give this permission, declare itself perpetual, and supply all vacan- 
cies in Its own body by its own election? 

" If the people of this State wish to secure these inestimable liberties which 
every freeman knows to be his unalienable right, they must make the ordi- 
nary legislative power what it ought to be, and in every other State is — the 
creature, instead of the creator, of the laws ; the work of the people in con- 
vention assembled." 

Again it is said : " It is a subject well worthy of the consideration of 
legislators, whether oaths ought not to be dispensed with ; or, if retained, 
be reserved for the most solemn occasions." 

And again : "That omnipotent body (speaking of the General Assem- 
bly) should consider that the people are competent to form a convention 
for themselves, without the authority of their high mightinesses; and that 
a longer delay of duty on the part of those who now set up the title of legit- 
imacyy may produce such a result." 



No. 20. 
Testimony of Aaron White, jr. 

1. Question by the committee. Were you a citizen and resident of the 
State of Rhode Island during the difficulties growing out of the late attempt 
by the people of that State to establish a free constitution ? and how long 
have you been a citizen of that State? 

Answer. I became a resident in Rhode Island in the year 1820, and con- 
tinued such, without interruption, until June, 1842. 

2. Question by the committee. Were you what is termed a " freeman '' 
in the State of Rhode Island, and entitled to the right of suffrage under 
the charter ? 

Answer. I was admitted a freeman of Rhode Island about the year 1822, 
and continued such, with a short interruption by sale of freehold, until 
June, 1842. 



Rep. No 546. 277 

3. dtiestion by the committee. Were you conversant with the causes 
which led to the suffrage movement / and if so, please to state them. 

Answer. As a citizen of Rhode Island, I took part in the late suffrage 
movements, and have an opinion concerning its causes. These causes 
were various, and differeiit classes were actuated by different motives. By 
far the largest class were itiffueneed by a desire to extend the rights of suf- 
frage ; and from this class the suffrage party derive their name. With 
the freeholders, in the earlier stages of the suffrage movement, there was 
another cause which had great influence; and this was, the notorious frauds 
in qnahtyiuij voters, which were supposed to be practised mostly in the 
maruifaciuring villages. Under the charter government, a freehold quali- 
fication was requisite for an elector. In villages, small tracts of land were 
divided into house lots, (as these were called,) and these lots were conveyed 
to individuals, who would vote as the grantor desired; the grantor retain- 
ing the grantee's note for a stnn above the actual worth of the land, for his 
security. As a conveyancer, I have often examined deeds of this character, 
nor have I any doubt of their being extensively used. 

The extent to which this system of fraud was carried in 1840, so irri- 
tated the freeliolders, or a laroje portion of them, that they preferred living 
up their freehold privilege directly, rather than to be defrauded in this 
manner, in the present constitution now in operation in Rhode Island, 
the same opportunity for practising fraud is retained, in regard to foreigners, 
who reside mostly in villages; and I believe that this is the sole reason of 
the difference made between native and naturalized citizens in said con- 
stitution. 

4. Question by the committee. Did you take any part in the late suf- 
frage movement; and if so. what part did you take? 

Answer. In the early part of the suffrage movements, I joined a suffrage 
association formed in my neighborhood, but did not lake much interest ui 
the matter until a later period. I never attended any of the preliminary 
mass conventions, or participated in their doings; was not a member of 
the people's convention, or present at their sessions, except one evening 
when I addressed the convention in behalf of the colored citizens. I was 
.knf)wn to be friendly to the suffrage party, but I v/as a member of an 
abolition society. This society was controlled by the charter party, and 
Was uspd as a chief aijent to stop the movements of the suffrage party. 
From a very natural jealousy in the minds of the suffrage men against a 
body of men for the most part active opponents, I was not called upon to 
take a very prominent part until a late period, when, from my active zeal 
in their cause, the suffrage men became satisfied that, though an aboli- 
tionist, I was never' heless their sincere friend — as I truly was, and always 
regretted the course taken by my abolitionist brethren, which I imputed 
solely to the donations which the wealihy charter men made to tiie funds 
of the society. 

About the beginning of 1842, while the quesiion of adopting the land- 
holders' cousiiiutioii was before the people, I was frequently invited to ad- 
dress ^uffraire meetings, and did so, On these occasions, while other topics 
were noiieed, my leadiiii; aro;ument was "our duty to defend the common 
right of the citizens of the United States to make their own constitutions 
of their own free will ; that, without the couservative principle of popular 
sovt'reii{iity, always ready and free to act, the best constitution that lan- 
^n.] ige call express would soon be expounded into a useless instrument by 



278 Rep. No. 546. 

the power of construction. It was on this ground, luaiiily, that ihe land- 
holders' constitution was opposed, so far as my cominunicalions with the 
suffrage men extended. The huidholders' constitution, in itself, would 
have been, so far as it concerned siitfVaofe, 1 think, acceptable ; and its 
adoption would have given peace to the State, and power, as was generally 
believed, to the sufiVage party in Rhode Island, for some years to come; 
but coming forth as it did, coupkd with an implied surrender of an invalu- 
able right, the suffrage men freely (and, I believe, from a clear and strong 
sense of duty) omitted all present,. personal, and local advantages, rejected 
the offered constitution, and, by so doing, incurred calamiiies too numerous 
to be here related. In all our sufferings, 1 have never yet found a single 
suffrage man wlio regretted the rejection of this constitution. It has been 
my chance to meet, since that period, individuals of the suffrage parly suf- 
fering under all the various forms of oppression that a most iniiuman per- 
secution could devise and dare inflict. I have met them fleeing from their 
homes before an infuriated banditti called law and-order soldiers. J have 
found them in prison and in exile, i have seen them suffering from the 
derangement of their business, from the loss of property, and from the loss 
of employment. In all these situations, I have always found them buoyed 
up by one common consolation —and this was, that tlie principle which they 
deemed the ark of their country's freedonj, they had never surrendered. 

The landholders' constitution was rejected in March, lcS42. At the next 
session of the charter assembly was enacted the well-known Algerine act, 
as it is usually called. Soon after its passage, I called on Mr. Samuel 
Ames, of Providence, (an active partisan of the charter party, and holding, 
I believe, the office of quartermaster under the charter assembly at that 
time,) for the purpose of ascertaining the use intended to be made of this 
act. Mr. Ames informed me that he either drauohted said act, or was con- 
sulted concerning the same before its passage — I forget which. He en- 
tered into explanations respecting the design of said act, very fully. He 
stated that the charter party were resolved never to submit to the people's 
constitution; that they v^rere ai»ie to defend the charter government; that 
the charter party were apprehensive of raising the question of legality be- 
fore a foreign tribunal ; and that if the people were permitted to organize a 
government under the people's constitution, the question as to the validity of 
that constitution might come before ( 'on^ress or the United States court — • 
but that, until such government v;as organized, no such question could be 
raised ; that the design of this act was simply to prevent our raising this 
question. He then proceeded to explain the intended mode of operation ;. 
which was, to arrest the moderators and clerks of our primary meetings as 
fast as they were elected. 

I called on Mr. Richard W. Greene, the United States district attorney, 
about the same time, and found his ideas in regard to said act coincided 
with those expressed by Mr. Ames. From the access which these two in- 
dividuals had to the councils of the charier parly, 1 have no doiibt of the 
correctness of their information. At this crisis, the part [ took was to ad- 
vise, excite, and promote, on all occasions, and by all means in my power,, 
disobedience to the aforesaid Algerine act, in all its injunctions. 

The first elections under the [people's constitution were held v/ithoul 
molestation. 

On the first Tuesday in May, 1842. a government, under the people's 
constitution, was organized in the city of Providence — peaceably, inas- 



Rep. No. 546. 279 

much as it was done without interruption — and forcibly, if acting under 
the protection of a body of men so numerous and well armed as to render 
all interruption folly, is to be called forcibly. 

5. Q,uestion by the committee. Were yt)u a candidate for any office 
under the government established by the people's constitution? were you 
elected to the same? and did you accept and serve in the office to which 
you were elected ? 

Answer. No. 

6. Question by the committee. Are you now n resident of Rhode Is- 
land ? if not, when did you leave that State, and what were the causes of 
your leavnig? 

Answer. I am now a citizen of the State of Connecticut. I left Rhode 
Island in June, 1842. The causes of my leaving are, briefly, as follows: 
Soon afier it was understood that the national Executive would interfere 
in our aff.iirs wuh the nnHtary arm of the LTiiiou, on the side of the ciiar- 
ter party, the idea occurred to the leaders of tiie charter party that such in- 
terference might answer a double purpose: first, to sustain the charter 
government 3 and, secondly, to put down the suffrage party, and put an 
end to tlie mischievous and dangerous agitation then going on. The first 
point was easily gained, as the suffrage party, for the most part, determined 
to use no force after the Orsfanization of their orovernment. The second 
point required some effort. An apology would be necessary before such 
strong measures were adopted; and, to my mind at that time, and now, the 
charter party determined to find one, by driving, if possible, the suffrage party 
into a position that might be called rebellious; and then, by strong military- 
demonstrations, to be followed by other measures of prescriptive and legal 
oppression, to crush and destroy tha suflVage party. Foreseeing, as I 
thought, this series of operations, — while I determined, on the one hand, 
never to own the power of tyrants by submission, I also took measures to 
escape their fury. In May, 1842, 1 sent off my most valuable papers to 
Worcester, Massachusetts, and commenced arranging my affairs to meet 
(he crisis. Iti June, 1 removed my library and other properly from my 
house; and before the assemblage of the snffrao;e men at Chepatchet, 1 was 
ready. As soon as my neighbors started for Chepatchet, I left my home in 
the full expectation that in a few days it would be exposed to the insults of 
Algerine marauders. When I left, I did not intend to return until military 
vengeance should liave ceased its operations. 

7. Question by the committee. Were you at any time charged with the 
crime of treason under the charter govermnent (so called) of Rhode Island, 
or its laws, rebellion, other crime, or misdemeanor growing out of your ap- 
probation or support of the people's constitution and go^vernment? Were 
any attempts made to arrest yon, by or under the authority of said charter 
government, for political offences against the State; and if so, for what 
offence? And were requisitions, to your knowledge, made by the charter 
authorities ot Rhode Island, upon the executives of other States, for your 
apprehension and delivery to said charter authorities; and if so, on the ex- 
ecutives of what States were such requisitions made? 

Answer. On the I4th of .Inly, 1842, a warrant, foimded upon a charo-e of 
treason, was issued for my apprehension in Rhode Island, by Henry L. 
Bowen, a justice of the peace under the chartpr government. On this war- 
rant, after a return of "not found in Rhode Island," application was made 
to the executive of Massachusetts fjr my arrest in said Stale: and on the 



280 Rep. No. 546. 

15th of July Governor Davis issued his warrant for my apprehension and 
surrender to the charter authorities of Rhode Island. This warrant I have 
seen and read ; and 1 have in my possession a copy of the Rhode Island 
papers in said case, furnished by the order of Governor Davis. This war- 
rant was placed for service in the hands of Mr. Sullivan Thayer, a sheriff 
in the town of Uxbridge, Massachusetts. After it was out by lapse of time, 
I called on Mr. Thayer, and examined it, and found that the restrictions 
and hmitations promised had all been faithfully inserted ; and, at the request 
of Mr. Thayer, I dictated a return of ^'- aon est inventus'^ on said warrant, 
in due form of law. 

I have heard by report, through the medium of Lemuel H. Arnold, one 
of Governor King's council, that a similar warrant was obtained from the 
executive of New York, but know nothing further respecting it. 

These warrants were obtained against a number of mdividuals in differ- 
ent States, by the charter authorities of Rhode Island — whereof I have seen 
eleven in the whole, I believe, at different times. In general, they were 
harmless things out of Rhode Island. I never heard of but one instance 
where a warrant of this character was served. In that case, the Algerines 
secured an arrest, by making a previous contract with the person to be ar- 
rested. Out of Rhode Island, the charter auihor-ities were universally dis- 
liked—not to say detested ; and in their eflbrts to bring back offtmders for 
political offences, were cheated, betrayed, and thwarted on all sides, without 
regard to party or station, from the highest functionaries abroad, to the 
lowest minions in their own employment. 

8, Q,iu^stion by the committee. Do you know of any acts of violence to 
the persons or property of individuals of the suffrage party, committed by 
any person acting under the authority of the charter government ; and if so, 
please name them ? 

Answer. During the infliction of martial law, as it was called, I was not 
within the State of Rhode Island, and, of course, could not be a witness of 
what was there done. To relate tlie history of the wrongs and outrages 
perpetrated by the agents and emissaries of the Algerines, as related to me 
by (he sufferers themselves, would require volumes Some account of these 
doings found their way info the newspapers, but none equalling the reality 
of those reported lo me by persons on whose veracity I thought I could 
depend. 

In my own case, I visited my house in Rhode Island some time after the 
withdrawal of the charter troops from that quarter. I found doors forced 
in, windows broken, chests and boxes dashed to pieces, and some small ar- 
ticles, of no great value, carried off — enouijh to show what was their ob- 
ject, and to denote ihe character of the "law and order" military, by whom 
I was told that my house had been visited. 

It has been said, as I have understood, that these entrances into our 
dwelling houses were for the purpose of recovering stolen property — a 
■statement which, I believe, has neither truth for its origin, nor sincerity in 
its utterance. During the continuance of martial law, I think some four 
or five hundred dwelling houses must have been entered, and, in many in- 
stances, plundered by the charter troops; a large amount of property was 
taken and carried off; and though much of this property may have been 
appropriated by the charter soldiers to thi ir own private use, still I should 
infer, from the notices 1 saw in the Providence papers, that a considerable 
portion was lodged in the Algerine depositories, where it could be exam- 
ined. Out of all this property, I have never heard or seen it alleged that a 



Kep No. 546. 281 

sinoie article of stolen property was ever discovered. Nor do I believe that 
the Aljreriiie troops ever entered a single house with any intent or expect- 
ation of finding stolon goods. 

9. Question by the comn:]iitee. Do you know of any personal partici- 
pation in the late difficulties in Rhode Island, of John Pitman, United 
Stales judge for the district of Rhode Island ; John S. Piinian, clt^rk of the 
United States district court for said State; Richard VV. Greene, United 
States district attorney for said Slate; WiHiam R. Watson, collector of the 
port of Providence; Sylvester Hartsiiorn, United States marshal for said 
State; and Edward J. Mallet, postmaster at Providence, on either side? and 
if so, please state what you know in relation to the subject of tliis inquiry. 

Answer. With all the persons named in this interrogatory lam acquaint- 
ed, and with some of them intimately so. 

Of the part taken by Judge Puman I have no knowledge, excepting by 
hearsay. If that is to be relied on, he must have been an active partisan of 
tiie charter government. I have understood tliat his son, John S. Pitman^ 
bore, arras in tlie charter ranks. 

I have no knowledge of anything done for the Algerines by said Harts- 
horn. In Mayor June, 1S42, I was informed that the charter government 
were using the United States custom house in Providence, as a place of de- 
posite for arms, and I called at the custom-house to find out. At the ciistom- 
house 1 found Mr. Ames, the Ali^erine quartermaster, and with Mr. Wat- 
son superintending the storage of sotne boxes. I inquired of Mr. Watson 
what were the contents of said boxes? to which he made an indirect re- 
ply ; so that I thought then, and think still, that said boxes contained arms- 
or mnnitions of war. 

During the winter and spring of 1S42, and up to the time of my leaving 
Rhode Island, I had frequent conversations with Mr, Richard W . Greene 
in relation to our Rhode Island difliciilties ; and the information and inti- 
mations derived from this source proved to me of great value, as I was 
thereby enabled to anticipate the movements of the Algerines, and escape 
that derangement of my affairs, pud loss of property, which proved so dis- 
astrous to many of my suffrage friends. How far Mr. Greene advised and 
promoted the operations of the Algerines, I cannot say; that he was con- 
versant in their counsels,! am sure, from the accuracy of his intelligence. 
At times in the spring of 1842 I saw him in military equipments, but al- 
ways supposed that his assuming the dress nf a soldier was more to win 
the favors of a profitable class of clients, than to win the laurels of a war- 
rior. Tlie last time I saw him was in Connecticut, soon after Governor 
Dorr's return from Chepatchet, He was then inquiring for Governor Dorr. 

I never knew much of Mr. Mallet's doings in these times. By report, he 
was sometimes on one side, and sometimes on the odier — evidently wishing 
to bo on both sides if he could, and to keep on the strongest at all events. 

10. Q.uestion by the committee. Was there, during the existence of the 
iate difficulties in Rhode Island, growing out of the suffrage movements, to 
your knowledge, any plot or design formed by the suffrage party, or any 
individual of that party, or any supposed confederates of that party out of 
the Slate of Rliode Island, to plunder the banks and violate the women of 
the city of Providence? And have any circumstancis or facts ever come 
to your knowledu:e, which induce you to believe that such a plot was form- 
ed ? and were you in a situation to obtain the knowledge of such plot, if 
.any had been formed? 



282 Rep. No. 546. 

Answer. I have never lieard of any such plot or design, except in the 
Algeriiie newspapers. I do not beheve that any such intent, design, or wish, 
ever entered the liead of Governor Dorr, or a single individual of his asso- 
ciates and confederates. If it had, my situation was sucli, that no man 
would have sooner found it out tlinn myself. I would further stale, that a 
very large j)roportion of the men who assembled on Acote's Hill were from 
my own immediate neighborhood, and had been my acquaintance for years. 
If any judgment can be formed from their previous conduct and standing 
in society, ihey were a class of men morally incapable of entertaining any 
such designs. 1 have ever considered that this charge of plunder and vio- 
lence in regard to the banks and beauty of Providi lice, as an utterly groim'd- 
less accusation, invetited to apologize for the inhuman cruelty and out- 
rageous indecency of ilie Algerine officers and soldiers. The city of Provi- 
dence was one of the strongest suffrage places in the S'ate. as can be seen 
by the votes. The women of that city were on the suffrage side, almost en 
masse, as can be seen by the papers. The chief value of bank plunder 
depends on the credit of their bills, whicfi every one knows is worthless as 
soon as plundered by civil violence. Indeed, I know not which is most to 
be wondered at — the unblushing effrontery of this falsehood, or the utter 
want of probability in its construction. I cannot believe that this charge, 
often as it has been repeated, has ever obtained a moment's credence in a 
single head of common understanding in all Rhode Island. 

II. (Question by the commiitee. Do you know of any persons now in 
prison, or under indictment, or under arrest, or, having been arrested, are 
now at large on bail, or in voluntary exile, for political offences committed 
against the charier government? and if so, please to name the persons and 
the offences of which they stand charged. 

Answer. My means of finding an answer to this question must be mainly 
hearsay testimony, and accounts publislied in the new.^papers, as I was 
obliged to flee from Algerine persecution very near its commencement. 
The only persons whom I saw under arrest, and in tlie cells of the prison, for 
political offences, were Messrs. Benjaujin Arnold, jr., and Hezekiah \Villard. 
I have understood that Messrs. Daniel Brown, Jos(!ph .Toslin, and Dutee 
J. Pearce, of Newport, William H. Smith, Franklin Cooley, Bnrrington 
Anthony, and David Parmenter, of Providence, are, or recently were, un- 
der indictment for political offences, and under bail; and that Messrs. Bowen 
and Slocnm, of Glocester, W(^re in a like situation. Mr. Martin LiUther, of 
Bristol county, is said to be in prison, under sentence for offences created 
by tlie Algerine act. Thomas W. Dorr is now in prison at Newport, under 
an indictment for treason. The number in exile I cannot state with cer- 
tainty, as they are now scattered in different parts of the country. 

Vi. Question by the committee. Do you know that Thomas W. Dorr, at 
any time during the late difficulties in Rhode Island, enlisted troops out of 
the State of Rhode Island; or that any person out of said State volunteered, 
in a military capacity, to aid him in establishing the government elected 
under the people's constitution ? 

Answer. I never knew or heard that any such enlistment was made, or 
attempted, or intended to be made by Governor Dorr, or any of his friends 
or adherents — that is, from him or tliem ; and further, I know tliat (Gover- 
nor Dorr was, at this time, utterly destitute of the means necessary for the 
very commencement of such attempt. He could hardly find means for the 
movement of his person, much less for the movement of armies. As to 



Hep. No. 546 283 

volunteers from abroad, I believe tbcre was some military politeness to that 
effect proffered in New Yoik; and Governor Dorr, in his proclamation of 
May 16, speaks (I have no doubt snicerely) of help that might be expected 
from abroad ; bnt my opinion at tlie lime, and I believe tliat of the suffrage 
party generally, concerning this foreign aid, was, that it was what it turned 
out to be — to wit, all fancy. 

13. Question by the committee. Is the book herewitii exhibited, purport- 
ing to be a copy of the names of all the persons who voted on the question 
of the adoption of the people's constitution, in your handwiiiing? and is it 
a true copy of the registers of the voters who voted for and against said 
constitution ? 

Answer. The book is in my liandwriiing, and is, as 1 lielieve, a true 
copy of said registers of the voters' names. The fret holders' votes in some 
towns were kept iii separate packets, and in others were' distitiguished from 
the non freeholders' by separate lists. 

AARON WHITE, Jr. 

April 2'.>, IS44. 

Then the above testimony was subscribed and sworn to before me, 

EDMUND BUKKE, 
Chairman of the Select CommiUee 

oil the Rhode Island wenioiial. 



No. 21. 

Test'unoiiy of Colom-l James B'lnkhettd. 

1. (Question by the committee. Are you an officer of the army of the 
United States, and what rank in it do you hold? 

Answer. I am an officer of the United Siat-'S army, and am the colonel 
of tlie 2d regmient of artillery. 

2, Question by the committee. Were you, in the spring of 1842, during 
the late dijEficulties in Rhode Island, growing out of an attempt by the 
people to esiablish a constituiion. directed by the President of the United 
Stales, the Secretary of War, or the cotnmanderin-chief of the army, to 
proceed to the State of Rhode ishind and take command of the military 
forces there assembled ; and if so, what was the substance and purport of 
the orders und<^r which you acted / 

Answer. 1 was directed, by letter from the Adjutant General's otfice, dated 
May 5, 1842, to "repair to iS'ewport, Rlmde Island, and there remaui until 
all appeanuices of domestic violetice shall have disappeared." — (See letter 
of JMay 5, 1842, from Adjntani General's office.) 

'd. Question by the committee. Did you, at any time, in pursuance oj the 
orders under which you acted, hold communicjiiion wnh (k).vernor King, 
or any of the acliisg authorities of that State; and did yon, during the 
pending of said diificuliies, advise with Governor King, or any of said 
authorities, in relation to ;lie action or movement of the troops under the 
direction of said governor and authorities, or the uoops of the United States 
under your command, against that portion of tiie people, of said State who 
were attempting to esiabiisli a government under the con.>t!i!it:on they pro- 



28-1 Rep. No. 546. 

fessed to have adopted ; and if so, what was the purport of your cidvice to 
said authorities? 

Answer. I conferred with Governor King- to obtain information of the 
state of affairs in Rhode Island, that, if important, I miijht communicate 
such information to the Government. 

1 had no orders or authority to advise with Governor King-, or any of the 
authorities of tfie State, in relation to the action or movement of the troops 
under the direction of the said governor and authorities, or of the troops of 
the United Slate? under my command, against any portion of the people of 
the State of Rhode Island. 

4. Question by the committee. Do you know that troops of the United 
States were ordered froui otiier posts at which tiiey were stationed, to Rhode 
Island, during the pending of the difiicuhies before referred to; and if so, 
what corps and what nunjber; and did any of said troops enter the limits 
of the territory of Rhode Island? 

Answer. On the 2d of May, 1842, the garrison of Fort Adams was rein- 
forced by two companies of artillery from Fort Columbus, New York, 
making the a^^regnte force there 3(l2. 

June 17, 1842, two of the companies left Fort Adams, and one company 
of mounted artillerv joined, reducing the as^gregate force in Rhode Island 
to 190. 

July 2, one company of mounted artillery joined the post, making the 
aiigrcL^ate force 269. 

5. (Question by the committee. Were there, to yonx knowledge, at any 
time during the pending of the difficulties before mentioned, arms, ammu- 
nition, and other munitions of war belonging to the United States, delivered 
to, or in any manner placed at ihe disposal of, the acting authorities of the 
State of Rhode Island, or any of their officers or agents, or troops in their 
service, to be used against that portion of the people of that State who were 
attempting to establish a free constitution? Were any of the officers of the \ 
United States army, acting under your orders or not, engaged personally in ■ 
connsening- »nd advising the acting authorities of said State, or in drilling • 
and disciplining troops acting under the orders of said authorities? 

Answer. No ammunition, or any munitions of war bi^ongiiig to the 
United States, were delivered to, or in any manner jilaced at the disposal 
of, the acting authorities of the State of Rhode Island, or any of their officers 
or agents, or troops in their service, for any purpose whatever, by my 
authority or to my knowledge — except that a few musket cartridges were 
loaned to a volunteer company in Newport, by a subordinate officer, in my 
absence, but which were rein rued. 

No officer of the United States army under my orders, or the orders of 
the Government of the United States, was engaged in commandiuL'-, drill- 
ing:, f^f disciplining the troops of the State of tihode Island. I was not 
authorized to counsel or advise the authorities of the State on any subject. 

6. Q,uesiion by the committee. Were there at any time during the pt'iid- 
ing ol the difficulties before referred to, arms, ammtmition, lations, and 
camp or other etpiipa^re, for active service in the field, delivered to the 
troops of the United Stati'S under your command ; and were they ordered to 
hold themselves in readiness to act instantly against that portion of the 
people of Rhode Island who were then attempting to establish a govern- 
ment under tlie constituiion professed to have b^en adopted by them? 

Answer. No orders were given to the irottps to hold themselves in readi- 



Rep. No 546. 285 

ness to act instantiv oo;ainst that portion of (he people of Rhode Ishuid who 
were then atteiDpting to establish a new s^ovcru merit, or any other portion 
of the people, by any authority emanatino; from the Government. 1 may 
possibly have given instructions to tlie troops of my command lo be in 
readiness for any service they migiit l)e called on to perform ; but of this I 
am not certain, for the troops are always ready, and prepared tor any sei vice 
they may be called on to perform. 

No extra supply of arms, ammunition, rations, camp or other equipage 
for active service in the field, was delivered to the troops of the United 
States at tjie time referred to above. Some defective muskets were ex- 
changed, by my order, for effective ones ; and a battery of field artillery, and 
equipments and ammunition, were sent to Fort Adams ; but thev were 
necessary, and required for tlie ordinary practice and instruction of the 
artillery companies ; the field battery which had been iu the service of the 
companies tiien at Fort Adams, hnvmg been left at Buffalo. 

Two companies of artillery were ordered from Fort Monroe to Fort Co- 
lumbus, under the command of Lieut. Col. Fanning, with instructions that 
he should report their arrival at Port Columbus to Colonel Bankhead. 

7. Question by the committee. Were yon at Chepatchet during the lime 
of the military demonstration of Governor Dorr at that place; and did you 
counsel with and advise the acting authorities of (he State of Rhode Island, 
civil or military, in relation to the best plan of attacking Governor Dorr's 
position ? 

Answer. J was not at Chepatchet during the time of the military demon 
stration of Governor Dorr at that place. 1 visited it after he and most of 
his followers had fled, 

1 had no authority to counsel with or advise the authorities of tlie Slate 
of Rhode Island, civil or military, in relation to the best plan of attacking 
Dorr's position. 

8. (Question by the committee. Had you any other orders from the Pres- 
ident of the United States, or other superior officer, written or verbal, in 
relation to your military conduct in Rhode Island, during the pending of 
the late difficulties in that State, other than those communicated to the 
House of Representatives by the President with his late message ; and. if so, 
what were their substance and purport? " 

Answer, I received no orders from the President of the United States, 
or other superior officer, in relation to my military conduct in Rhode Island, 
during the pending of the late difliculties in that State, except to obtain the 
most correct information of the then ^tate of things, and to communicate it 
to the proper authority. 

JAS. BANKHEAD, 
Colonel 2d regiment artillery. 

May 3, 1844. 
Then the said James Bankhead made solemn oath that the foregoing 
testimony by him subscribed is, in his belief, true. Before me, 

EDMUND BURKE, 
ChairnKin of the Select Committee 
on tlie Rhode Island memorial. 



286 Krp. No. 546. 

No. 22. 

Testimony of John, It. Vinlon, esq., captain ?>d artillery, United States 

army. 

1. Question by the committee. Are you an officer of the United States 
army; aiid if so, what r.uik do yon fill 7 

Answer, i am a cafitain in the 3d leg^iment United States artillery. 

2. Question hy the committee. Were you in Rhode Island, in 1842, du- 
ring the difficulties growing out of an iittempt by a portion of the people of 
that State to organize a govern n)ent under a constitution alleged to have 
been adopted by them ? And if yon answer in the affirmative, were you at 
that time connected with the military force of the United Slates quartered 
in that State 1 

• Answer. I was on leave of absence for several months in 1842, and for 
a portion of the time was in Rhode Island. 1 had not arrived there, how- 
ever, so early in May as to witness the first outbreak, (on the 17th of May, 
I believe;) and I happened to be absent at New York at the time of the 
second, (in June, I believe.) Application was made to me by some of my 
fellow-citizens, in the meanwhile, to lend my professional aid in furtherance 
of tlieir cause; but, feeling myself bound as an officer of the army to observe 
the neutral policy known to be entertained by the General Government, I 
reluctantly declined to act. When I heard afterwards, however, that my 
native State had been invaded by a force from abroad, I inmiediately re- 
paired to Washington, to signify "to the Pri^sident my strong desire to act, 
and to claim the firivilege, as a citizen of Rhode Island, to be exempted for 
the time from my responsibilities as an officer of the Utiited States army. 
The President seemed decidedly averse from any interference by the army 
with the affairs of Rhode Island, and declined to give any official sanction 
in the case. I returned to Providence, resolved to be i^overned by circum- 
stances ; but, before I arrived there, the forces under Mr. Dorr had been dis- 
persed, and the contest was over. 

I was not at that time connected wi!h the military force of the United 
States quartered in the liarbor of Newport. 

3. Question by the" committee. Did you at any time during the existence 
of the difficulties growing out of the attempt of a portion of the people of 
Rhode Island to organize a government under their constitution before 
mentioned, aid and assist the charter authorities of said State, by drilling 
and disciplimng troops under the command and direction of said authorities, 
or instrucliug them, by lectures or otherwise, in tactics and strateiiy? And 
did you at any lime during the said difficulties, bear arins on the side of the 
charter government against that portion of the people who were attempting 
to establish a counter constitution and government? 

Answer. " During the existence of the difficulties" I did not. After the 
difficulties were all over — namely, as late as August and September — I under- 
took', in pursuance of an invitation I'rom Ihe city regiment of Providence, 
to carry that regiment through a course of instruction in tactics and strat- 
egy, by drills and lectures. I believe all the organized companies attended 
these drills. If there were others disaffected to ilie actual government of 
the State, I was not aware of it. At no time did 1 bear nruis during the 
controversy between the two parlies, for, as 1 have before shown, I had no 
opportunity to do so. 



Rep. No. 546. 287 

4, Question by iho committee. Did you ^nve ai.y military aid or conn- 
sel to lieueral McNeil, then commanding the foices of the charter trovern- 
mt nt, during ?aid difficulties, or to any officer or agent acting in hehalf o! 
the charter government; and if so, wliat aid or counsel did you give? 

Answer. I gave no such aid or counseh 

5. Question by the committee. Do you know of any arms, anuTJunition, 
or other munitions of war belonging to the United States, being delivered 
to, or used by, the troops in the service of the charter government ; and if so, 
by whom were they delivered, and of what description and quantiiy were 
tiiey? 

Answer. 1 have no knowledge of anything of the kind. 

0. (inestion by the committee. Do you know of arms, ammunition, camp 
equipage, and other articles and instruments of warfare, being delivered to 
the troops of the United ^States in Khode Island, with a view to prepTro 
tliem for service against the suffrage party of said State / and if so, state 
what you know touching the subject of this interrogatory. 

Answer. I know nothing in reference to this subject. 

7, Question by the conunitiee. Is the following a true copy of a letter, 
bearing date January 12, 1813, addressed by you to Col. \Vm. W. Brown, 
and others, viz : 

"PiLATKA. \:. v., January \2, 1843. 

" Gkntlemen : I have had the honor to receive to-day your letter, dated 
October 22d, 1842, conveying to me an expression of the approbation of a 
large portion of my fr-llow-citizens for the humble service it was iny happi- 
ness to render, in obedience to their wishes, during the last summer, when 
the public mind in Rhode Island was more than usually directed to milita- 
ry affairs. 1 have also received the very beautiful pieces of plate which ac- 
companied that letter. 

" Por any service rendered to my native State, I could desire nothiiig as 
a recompense beyond the assurance of having discharged, in proper part, 
that duty which I shall never cease to owe as one of her sons. Not as a 
recompense, therefore, could I receive the present you have so obligingly 
proffered ; but as a token of the good will and kindly feeling of my fellow- 
citizens, I regard it as beyond all price, and receive it with emotions of 
grateful satisfaction. 

"Permit me to say, also, that, in view of my relations a* an oflicer of the 
United States army, this gratifying testimonial comes to me charged with 
an additional value; for.it serves to prove that, even in a season of peace 
with foreign powers, occasions may arise when the professional abilities of 
the graduates of our Military Academy may be made acceptable to their 
countrymen constituting the great militia arm of our national defence, at 
any time when it may seem good to call such abilities in requisition. 

" Accept, gentlemen, for yourselves, and for the members of the military 
companies whom you represent, the homage of my profound respect and 
grateful regard. 

"JOHN R. VINTON, 

" Cnptain 'id regiment United States artillery, 

" Col. Wm. VV^ Brown, and others, 

" Providence, Rhode LlandJ' 

Answer. It is a true copy of the letter. 



288 Rep. No. 546. 

8. duestion by the committee. When, and of what character, were the 
services by you performed, to which the foregoing letter relates ; and what 
pay, compensation, reward, or acknowledgment, did you receive for the 
same 7 

Answer. The services rendered were simply those I have recited in an- 
swer to the 3d interrogatory. No pay or compensation was ever received 
or desired by me. I should have scorned the very suggestion. My fellow- 
citizens requested some instruction in the art of war. 1 had been educated 
at the Military Academy, and was supposed to be able to give it. I felt it to 
be a grateful duty then, as now, and always, to bestow myself freely at the 
call of my countrymen, whenever my services might be required. The let 
ter above quoted shows that the idea of a recompense, beyond the assurance 
of having discharged my duty, was utterly repudiated by me. The military 
companies of Providence, however, were intent upon expressing their thanks 
by a token more substantial than words, and they presented me with seve- 
ral articles of plate, each bearing a flattering inscription. It was in ac- 
knowledgment of this mark of their kindness and good will that the forego- 
ing letti^r was written, 

9. Gluestion by the committee. Do you know of any other persons be- 
longing to the army of the United States, commissioned, non commissioned, 
or privates, who [(articipated actively and personally on the side of the 
charter government, or heW any communication with said government, du- 
ring the pending of the difficulties before meniioued ? If so, please name 
the persons, and describe the acts which they did. 

Answer. I am not aware that any persons of tlie army so participated. 

10. Question by the committee. Do you know, from any source of knowl- 
edge w. your possession, other than hearsay and rumor, of the existence of 
any plot or design on the part of the suffrage party of Rhode Island, or of 
their friends and confederates, in or out of the State of Rhode Island, to 
plunder the city of Providence, rob the banks of said city, and subject its 
women to brutal violence? And if so, name the facts within your knowl- 
edge, and the persons implicated, or in any way concerned in said plot. 

Answer. I have no positive knowledge of any of these things. 

J. R. VINTON, 
Captain 'Sd regiment artillery. 

May U, 1844. 
Then the said J, R. Vinton made solemn oath that the testimony above 
written, by him subscribed, is true. Before me, 

EDMUND BURKK, 
Chairman of the Select Committee 
on the Rhode Island memorial. 



No. 22 a. 
Caption and return of commission to Benjamin P. Hallett, esq. 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 



Suffolk and Bristol., ^ ^"^ 

By direction and authority of the commission hereto annexed, requiring 

the depositions of the persons therein named to be taken, in a mutter now 

pending before the House of Representatives of the United Stat^'S upon the 



Rep. No. 546. 289 

memorial of certain members of the legislature of Rhode Island, and as 
a justice of the peace throughout tlie Commonwealth, having first taken 
the oaih required by said commission, before the Hon. Pliny Merrick, one 
of the associate justices of the court of common pleas, which oath is ap- 
pended to said commission, I caused Oluey Ballou, esq., of Cumberland, 
Rhode Island, and also his excellency James Fenner, esq., as the executive 
of the State of Rhode Island, to be duly and seasonably notified of the times 
and places of holding the examination required by said commission; which 
several notices, with the returns of service thereon, are hereunto appended ; 
and at such times and places, and by adjournuient from day to day, I pro- 
ceeded to take the examination and depositions of the several persons whose 
names are inserted in said commission, having first appointed Robert Sher- 
man, esq., a deputy slierilf for the county of Bristol, as officer in attendance 
upon the commission sitting in Pawtucket, and caused proclamation to be 
made that all persons duly authorized by the executive of the State of 
Rhode Island, or by the memorialists, would be heard and allowed to put 
interrogatories. Olney Ballou, esq., one of the memorialists, was present 
on the two first days of the examination; and Benjamin Cowell, esq., coun- 
sel for the memorialists, was present on eiich day of said examination at 
Pawtucket. No person authorized by the executive of the State of Rhode 
Island was present. Previous to the taking of each deposition, the respec- 
tive v/itnesses were duly cautioned and sworn to testify the truth, and 
nothing but the truth, touching the subject matter of the examination, as 
will appear from the jurat affixed to each deposition, which, with the ex- 
ception of the depositions of Samuel Low and Walter R. Dan forth, were 
reduced to writing by me, in the ))resence of the respective deponents ; and 
the same are herewith transmitted (comprising the depositions of forty-five 
deponents) to the " Hon. Edmund Burke, chairman oi the select committee 
appointed by the United States House of Representatives, on the memorial 
of certain members of the legislature of Rhode Island." And I fiirther 
certify that the memorialists suggested and proposed the examination of 
other witnesses, whose depositions there was not time to take during the 
sittings ; but the commissioner did not feel at liberty to extend the inquiry, 
and thereby delay his report. 

BENJAMIN F. HALLETT, 

Commissioner. tVc. 



No. 22 b. 



House of Representativks of the U. S., 
Washington, Aprils, 1844. 
To Benjamin F. Hallett, Esq., 

of Boston^ ill the county of Suffolk,, 

and Cominonwealth of Massachusetts. 

The select committee, appointed by the House of Representatives on the 
memorial of certain members of the legislature of Rhode Island, have di- 
rected me to authorize and empower you to make inquiry into the following 
matters, touching said memorial ; and for that purpose you are requested 
to cause to be summoned before you, for examination, under oath or affirma- 
tion, the witn,esses hereinafter named, viz: 
19 



290 Rep. No. 546. 

First. Yoii will proceed lo make inquiry into the fact of the personal par- 
ticipation of John T. Pitman, clerk of the United States district conrt for 
the district of Rhode Island, in the suppression of the people's constitution ; 
for wliich purpose you will summon and examine the tollowing persons, 
viz : 

Joseph Holbrook and William Mitchell, of Boston. 

Second. You will make inquiries uiio alleged aggravated cases of vio- 
lence to the persons and property of the suffrage citizens of Rhode Island, 
or to the citizens of Massachusetts ; for this purpose you will summon and 
examine the following persons, viz : 

Widow Sarah Kelby, Draper Carpenter, M. I)., Ellis B. Pitcher, William 
Sullaway, Robert Abell, Freeman Berry, Samuel W. Miller, Joseph Fletcher, 
David F. Cutting, Thomas V. Medbery, Asa E. Carpenter, Lamed Scott, 
Samuel Low, William J. Miller, Walter R. Danforth, Aaron Simons, Leon- 
ard Wakefield, Eliab Whipple, Henry Lord, Mehitable Howard, Nathaniel 
Knight, Ann Maria Buffington, Elizabeth Nutter, Otis Holmes, Walter S. 
Burges, George S. Reed, Thomas Reid, Peter Norton, Albion N. Olney, 
Simeon Sherman, jr., Abel Oaks, William Coleman, Stephen G. Coleman, 
William Haswell, Thomas Greene, Isaiah Barriey, Lyman A. Taft, Ariel 
Ballou, John S. Dispean, Harney Chaffee, Wm. C. Thayer, Amos Ide, and 
John L. Johnson. 

Before commencing the inquiries and examination which you are herein 
authorized and directed to make, you will qualify yourself by oath, or 
affirmation, to the faithful discharge of the duties here assigned to you, be- 
fore some competent magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
You will then give due notice to Olney Ballou, esq., of Cumberland, in the 
State of Rhode Island, one of the signers of the memorial above mentioned, 
and also to the executive of the State of Rhode Island, of the times and 
places when and where such inquiry and examination will be had. And 
you will also permit to be present at said inquiry and examination any per- 
son duly atithorized by the respective parties to appear as counsel, and will 
permit such persons so appearing as counsel to be heard on all questions 
arising in said examination, and to put to the witnesses in writing all per- 
tinent and proper interrogatories. 

It is desired that you proceed with all convenient despatch in the execu- 
tion of this commission, which, when completed, you will forthwith return 
to me, with your doings thereon. 

EDiMUND BURKE, 
Chairman of the select committee appointed by the 
United States House of Representatires, o?i the memorial 
■ of certain members of the Legislature of Rhode Island. 



Commonwealth of Massachusetts, ) 
County of Suffolk, \ 

On this 1st day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-four, personally appeared Benjamin F. Hallett, and 
made oath that he would faithfully discharge the duties assigned to and 
devolving on him, by and under the foreo-oins: commission. Before me, 

PLINY MERRICK, 
Judge of the Court of Coninion Pleas. 



» 



Rep. No. 546. 291 

COMMONWKALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, Suffolk, SS : 

Boston, April 26, 1844. 
Sir : Yon will please take notice, that, by virtue of a commission from a 
select committee of the House of Representatives of the United States, to 
take depositions concorninj; alleged ao;o-ravated cases of violence to the 
persons and property of the suffrage citizens of Rhode Island, or to the cit- 
rzens of Massachusetts, in relation to matters of inquiry now before said 
committee, 1 shall be present for that purpose at the inn of Robert Abell, in 
Pawtucket, on Thursday, the 2d day of May, at 10 o'clock, a. m., and at 
my office, No. 20 Court street, in Boston, on Saturday, the 4th day of said 
May, at 10 o'clock, a. m. ; at which places you are notified to be present, if 
you shall see fit, by yourself or counsel. 

Respectfully, 

B. F. HALLE TT, Commissioner, (^'c. 
To Olney Ballou, Esq., 

Cumberland, R. /. 

Pkovidence. April 27, 1844. 

I made service of the within notice, by leaving with the within-named 
Olney Ballon a true and certified copy hereof. 

BURRINGTON ANTHONY. 

COMMONWEALTFT OF MASSACHUSETTS, Suffolk, SS : 

Boston, April 26, 1844. 

Whereas a select committee of the House of Representatives of the 
United States, now sitting at W ashington, in the District of Columbia, upon 
tlie memorial of Oiney Ballou and others, members of the legislature of 
Rhode Island, have requested and authorized me to take the depositions of 
sundry persons, to be used in the investigation now pending before said 
committee, and have directed me " to give due notice to the executive of 
the State of Rhode Island of the times and places when and where such 
examination will be had, and to permit to be present any person duly au- 
thorized to appear as counsel, and to be heard on all questions arising in 
said examination, and to put to the witnesses in writing all pertinent and 
jiroper niterrogatories," — you will please take notice that, in pursuance 
thereof, I shall be present at the inn of Robert Abell, in Pawtucket, on 
Thursday, the 2d day of May next, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon ; and at 
my office. No. 20 Court street, in Boston, on Saturday, the 4th day of said 
May ; at which times and places such person or persons as may be author- 
ized by you to appear as counsel, will be heard, and may put such interrog- 
atories as they may think fit. 

[l. s.] Given under my hand and seal, the date and place aforesaid. 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissio?ier, and Justice of the Peace 
through the Commonwealth. 

To his Excellency James Fenner, Esq. 

Providence, (R. I.,) 
April 27, 1844, half -past 6 o'clock, p. m. 
I.made service of the within notice to James Fenner, by leaving a true 
and attested copy hereof, at the usual place of his abode. 

BURRINGTON ANTHONY. 



292 Rep. No. 546. 

PEPOSITIONS TAKEN BY BENJAMIN F. HALLETT, ESQ. 

I. — Deposit ions relating to transactions in Paiofncket, the outrages of the 
charter troops. <ind the homicide of Alexander Kelby. 

No. 23. 

Deposition, of Draper Carpenter. 

I, Draper Carpenter^ of Pawtucket, in tlie State of Massachusetts, phy- 
sician, filty years of age and upwards, depose and say: That on the day 
on which Alexander Kelby was shot, I was in Pawtucket, on the Massa- 
chusetts side. In the evening there were a number of discharges of mus- 
kets from the bridge, which is the dividing line between Massaciiuselts and 
Rhode Island. The firing appeared to be in volleys. There were troops 
stationed on the bridge, said to be the Kentish Guards — Rhode Jsland 
troops. 1 did not see a suflVage man in arms that day or evening; and I 
have no doubt these troops were the Rhode Island cliarter troops. Soon 
after the firing commenced, a woman was brought into my office, supposed 
to be wounded ; but it appeared that she had fainted from fright. At thai 
time the firing ceased, but soon after commenced again, after an interval 
of about ten or fifteen minutes. Soon after the firing began the second 
time, a man came into my office, slightly wounded in the knee from a 
musket shot; but it was a slight wound, and 1 did not dress it. I did not 
know the person, and cannot name him; 1 was standing at the front win- 
dow of my otfice, with a view to see or hear what was transpiring at the 
bridge. The distance from the bridge was about twenty rods, on Main 
street, leading from the bridge. While standing in this position, a musket 
ball passed through two panes of glass in the two sashes forming the show 
window of the shop, passing near my head, and lodging in the shelf, which 
it penetrated about lour inches from the edge where it entered. [The wit- 
ness produces the ball, which he says he took from its lodgment, and it ap 
pears to be a musket ball of the size used for United Slates muskets, and 
not a rifle ball.] A few minutes after this. I was called on to go and see a 
man, Alexander Kelby, wlio was reported to have been shot. I directed 
them to bring him directly to the office, as it was no place for an examina- 
tion there. They went away for that purpose ; but immediately informa- 
tion came that he was dead. I was well acquainted with Alexander Kelby, 
and had generally been his family physician. Pie had a wife and five or 
six children, and had resided in Pawtucket, on the Massachusetts side, for 
some nine or ten years. He worked in the factory, and was rather an in- 
tellectual man, and read a great deal. 1 often loaned him books. He was 
a man of good character, and always peaceable and inoffensive. Other 
buildings, not in the direction of my office, on another street leading from 
the bridge, were fired into, as appears from the marks of the balls lodged 
therein, or having bounded from the brick walls. The bridge is the most 
central part of the village, and the two streets leading from it the most 
populous on this side. 

DRAPER CARPENTER. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss. 

Pawtucket, May 2, 1844. 
Then the said Draper Carpenter, being duly cautioned and sworn, made 



Rep. No. 546. 293 

?,!id siih?crihed tlie foregoing, reduced to writing in his presence, by and 
before aie, 

13. F. HALLRTT, 
Com miss i 07 1 er^ and Jitstice of tlie Peace 

ihroasrh the ConiiaonweaWt. 



i\o. 24. 
Deposition of Samuel TV. Miller. 

Pawtucket, North Providence, R. L, April 10, 1844. 

I, Samuel W. jMilIer, a resident of North Providence, R. 1., near the 
Massachusetts Hue, now lying on a sick bed, and my life in a precarious 
state, make the following statement : — On Monday evening, June 27th, 
1842, about dusk, 1 crossed over the bridge from the Rhode Island to the 
JMassachu setts side, at Pawtucket, there being a guard of armed men sta- 
tioned on the bridge at that lime 5 I went up to Mr. R. Abell's hotel, and 
remained there until about 8h o'clock, p. m., when a person came in and 
stated that a woman had been killed on the bridge. I had previously heard 
discharges of musketry, but, supposino: them to be bhuik cartridges, did not 
talie any notice of them. 1 immediately started for the bridge, to learn if 
the report was correct ; and had proceeded as far as the corner of Mr. Wil- 
liam Sweet's shop, within eighteen yards of tlie soldiers on the bridge, 
when I was siccosted by Mr. Alexander Kelby, who put out his hand and 
asked when I was going down the river. At that moment I saw two of 
ilie soldiers on the bridge takinij: di^liberaie aim at us, and heard Nehemiah 
Potter, of Pawtucket, then in conmiand of the soldiers, and whom 1 knew 
well, give the order to fire. I know that he was the person wfio gave the 
order to fire, i grasped Kelby's iiand to pull him one side; hut before I 
could succeed, one of the guns went off, and he fell dead at my feet; the 
■other missed fire, wiiich probably saved my own life. I left Kelby on the 
ground, and hurried back to Abell's hotel — ^the soldiers continuingr to fire — 
the eflt'Cts of v/liich may be seen in a number of ball holes on the build- 
ings in the vicinity of the bridge on the Massachusetts side. About eleven 
o'clock, p. m., 1 started, in company with Mr. John Campbell, to return to 
my home, on the Rhode Island side. When we had got about half-way 
over the bridge, we were both stopped by the guard, eight or nine in num- 
ber, who presented their bayonets to our breasts, and commanded us to halt, 
and demanded our names. We o:ove our names, and Mr. Potter, the com- 
mander, alluding to me, said — "We have got the ftllow now that we want." 
This was the same Mr. Potter who had given the order to fire. He then 
ordered four of tiie guard to take me in custody, who conveyed me to the 
hotel on the Rhode Island side, v/hich was occupied at that time as a guard- 
iiouse by the charter troops. I remained there about one hour, when, 
through the intervention of 'rhoaui.'-. Lefaver and Robert Wilcox, law and 
order men, 1 was released., and Mr. Wilcox appointed a guard to wait on 
me home. I know of no reason why I was pursued with such deadly 
iio.Ntility, (as I was to work in my shop all that day, and bad not participated 
ni any hostile movemenls agaui.st t!ie charter iroops.) other than that. I was 
a deaiocrut. and an iardeiit friend of the suffrage cause. The next morning, 



294 Rep No. 546. 

(28tli,) I went to my shop, and worked until noon, when I returned to my 
home, ate dinner, and changed my clothes to att(Mid the funeral of Kelby. 
I returned to my shop, and remained there until about three o'clock, (the 
hour of the funeral,) when I locked ui> my shop, took the key with me, 
and went to the funeral. 1 followed the remains of Kelby to t!ie grave, 
and, when returning in the procession, w;is stopped by a friend, who nd- 
vised me not to go over into Rhode Island, ns tny shop had been broken 
open by the charter troops, who threatened that they would have me, dead 
or alive. I did not attempt to return itjto Rhode iNland that afternoon, 
but the same evening went to Rehoboth, Mass., where 1 remained two- 
days. On Friday evening following, I returned to my home in Pawtucket, 
and learned from my wife that my house had also been visited and searched 
by a gang of charter troops, who carried ofi' a valuable rifle, powder horn, 
flask, &,c., belonging to me. The next morninof, when 1 went into my shop, 
I found the contents piled in a heap in the middle of the floor, and that it 
had been completely ransacked, and everything overhauled. A musket, 
cartridge box, belts, &c., were taken by the troops who broke into it, which, 
together with the articles taken from my house, have never been returned 
to me. Kelby, at the time he was shot, was doing nothmg to as^sail or pro- 
voke the soldiers, nor had 1 seen him do anything. 1 had just shook 
hands with liim when the gun fired. We often went down the river fish- 
ing and clamming, and Kelby and I had thought of going about that time. 
I never knew nor saw Kelby take any part in the suffrage cause. I saw 
no persons assailing or insulting the soldiers when Kelby was killed, and 
knew no reason why they should have fixed on us. 

SAMUEL W. MILLER. 
Signed in presence of — 

Wm. J. Miller. 

BURRINGTON AnTHONY. 

North Providence, R. L, May 9, 1 844. 
Then, in the presence of the within named Samuel VV. Miller, who is 
feeble in body, but clear in mind, and of sound understaiiding, and after 
cautioning him as to the importance of slating the truth and the whole 
truth, as in the expectation of never recovering from his present sickness,. 
J carefully read to him the foregoing statement, and made the corrections 
therein at his request, which are interlined, and appended after his signa- 
ture. And the said Miller now solemnly declares that the foregoing facts 
are correct and true in all respects, and such as he would testify to if under 
oath, and which he declares with the same solemnity as if under oath, and 
that his signature is to have the same effect as if it were now made in my 
presence. The reason of not administering the oath to the said Miller is, 
that his residence is over the Massachusetts line in Rhode Island, and he 
could not, without danger to life, be removed within my jurisdiction. 

B. F. HALLET'r, Co mviiss loner. 



No. 25. 
Deposition oj Fieeinav Berry. 

I, Freeman Berry, of Paw-tucket, in the State of Mas^achusetis, iuaruit;c. 



Rep. No. 546. 295 

thirty six years of age, depose and say: That on the 27th day of June, 
1842, about half-past five in the afternooi), in said Pawtuci<et, I heard music, 
and with a number of persons, men, women, and children, with which the 
streets were full, went over the bridge, to the Rhode Island side, to see the 
soldiers. They came into Pawtucket, and halted at the hotel on the Rhode 
Island side. They stopped a few minutes, and all but twenty-four of them 
went into the hotel. The others marched down within three rods of the 
bridge, and halted with their guns to the shoulder. Everything was 
quiet at that tmie. There was then some hallooing from persons near the 
bridge, on tiie Rhode Island side, and some hissing. I saw no stone or any 
missile thrown during the whole time the soldiers were here. The soldiers 
were then ordered to close and level tht ir muskets, which they did. One 
man went up, and took off a bayonet from one of the guns. He took hold 
of the gun, and turned the bayonet off; the man appeared to be intoxicated. 
When the bayonet was taken off, I heard the word given, "fire," and saw 
one man cock his gun. The bridge, directly in front of the soldiers, was 
then filled with men, women, and children — more women and children than 
men. When the word was given to fire, the crowd were rushing to get off 
the bridge from the soldiers. No person was advancing toward the soldiers, 
and no one had interfered with them, except this man. 1 was standing 
near the soldier who had cocked his gun, and I said to Neliemiah A. Potter, 
who appeared to have the command of the soldiers, " for God's sake, don't 
fire; don't you see the men, women, and children !" He told me to mind 
my own business. I then put my hand under the gun which I had seen 
the man cock, and raised it up, and said to him "don't fire." They did not 
fire. The crowd came over the bridge, and the soldiers took their position 
on the bridge, about the middle, and from there well on the Massachusetts 
line. After that, things appeared to be quiet. "^Fhe first firing was at a 
carriage of Mr. Robert Abell's, which went over the bridge, as I understood ; 
I heard the reports of several muskets, I was then at my sister's house, 
near the bridge, and at her request went out to see where my brother Ebe- 
nez^r was. I went down to Sweet's store, and found my brother standing 
in the door of the barber's shop, which is the corner building on the east 
side of the bridge, on the Massacliusetts side ; Samuel VV. Miller stood 
leaning against the barber's shop, by the pole, which is at the corner ; 
Alexander Kelby stood nearly opposite Miller, further in, on the sidewalk; 
he was facing north, not toward the bridge, but facing the building; he 
was standing quiet, doing nothing. "^I'here were not many people out then ; 
at that time 1 could see all that was passing in front of the bridge. There 
were no signs of any mob or violence at that time, or any attacks upon the 
soldiers, nor any hissing or insult. It wns more quiet then, than it had 
been any time since the soldiers had come out. I stopped and stood in 
Sweet's doorway, (the door being closed.) and began to speak to my brother, 
who was there. At that instant two guns went oft' in quick succes- 
sion, and I saw Kelby fall; he settled on his knees, and fell his head to- 
wards the east, face downwards ; he fell within four feet of where I stood. I 
stepped out, and put my hand under his head, and held him so till a lan- 
tern came, and then rolled him over, and found he was dead, and I left 
him. There was no more firing after that ; 1 saw no persons retreating 
from the soldiers, or pressing upon them, nor could I discover any reason 



296 Rep. No. 546. 

or cause for firing: upon Kelby. In my opinion, the nnen who fired upon 
Kelby must have been in Massachusetts, to have hit him where he stood. 

FREEMAN BERRY. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, May 3, 1844. 

Then said Freeman Berry, being duly cautioned and sworn, made and 
subscribed the foregoing, which was reduced to writing in his presence by 
me, 

B. F. HALLE TT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Convnionwealth, 



Pawtucket, May 11, 1844. 
And now the said Freeman Berry, in addition to the foregoing, appears 
and testifies as follows : I was before the grand jury at Taunton, in Septem- 
ber, 1842. in relation to the homicide of Alexander Kelby. 1 testified sub- 
stantially to what I have above stated about Kelby. The statement of 
Joseph Fletcher, in his deposition, as to what took place in reoard to the 
inquiry at Taunton, is correct. I thought there was no disposition what- 
ever to investigate the matter. There was no coroner's inquest held over 
the body of Alexander Kelby. 1 attended his funeral ; the procession 
passed the bridge, on the Massachusetts side, to the grave; and, when re- 
turning, the cannun at tlie other end of the bridge wen; manned and point- 
ed, with matches lighted. There was not the slightest indication of inter- 
ference with the soldiers. 

FREEMAN BERRY. 



Sworn to before me, 



B. F. HALLETT, Commissioner, cj-c. 



No. 26. 

Deposition of Joseph Fletcher. 

I, Joseph Fletcher, of Pawtucket, in the State of Massachtisetts, dresser 
tender, thirty nine years of age. depose and say: 1 knew Alexander Kelby 
well ; worked with him five years. He was a man of good moral charac- 
ter, and of very peaceable deportment ; I never knew him in any broil or 
difficulty, or the means of violating any law. He was an industrious man, 
and kind to his family. 1 was worlcing with him at the time of his death. 
The last time I saw him alive was about six o'clock on the afternoon of 
June 27th, 1842 — the day he was shot ; he was in the street, on the Rhode 
Island side of the bridge. This was when the troops first came out from 
Providence, and before any guard was on the bridge. I stopped near 
Kelby for ten or fifteen minutes, and could see what he did ; he had noth- 
ing in his hands, and was engaged in no trouble; nor did I hear him talk 
disrespectful of any one, nor in any way insult the soldiers. He did not 



Rep. No. 546. 297 

seem to act as if lie took much interest in what was goinCT on — appeared 
more as an idle spectator. He did not a|)pear excited at the time. Occa- 
sionally I had known him nnder t!ie inflnence of liquor; he might have 
been then, bnt did not act so. When 1 had seen him in liqnor, I never 
knew him to be quarrelsome. I did not see Kelby a<i:ain that niwht. About 
eight o'clock in the evening, there were guns fired by tlie guards, and it 
was rumored that a woman was shot. I saw no stones thrown, and no in- 
sults to the soldiers. Many people talked freely. There was considerable 
excitement on account of the soldiers coming into the village; there was 
supposed to be no occasion for it. There was no indication of any attempt 
to form bodies of men to go into Rhode Island, or to interfere in the con- 
t(^st ; 1 saw no gathering, and no arms lor any such purpose. There was a 
company of citizen guards in the village on the Rhode Island side ; their 
presence caused no irritation, and there was no "gathering nor excitement 
till the Kentish Guards made iheir appearance from Providence. A wagon 
with muskets drove up to the hotel on the Rhode Island side. The people 
gathered around, and t'lere was some hooting and hissing at tlie soldiers. 
There was nothino" of this kind before they carne. I saw one young man 
flourish a club, but no missile was thrown, and no appearance of an attack. 
The excitement was 01) account of the guards makino' their appearance; 
this subsided, and the people gradually dispersed. About eight o'clock it 
was rutijored that a woman was shot: there was firing, and it turned out 
a woman had fainted on tlie bridije from fright. This caused some excite- 
njent, and a collection came together. There was some call for guns, but 
I saw no arms or offensive weapons anywhere, except what the soldiers 
had. When it was found that the woman was not shot, the matter seemed 
to subside. I passed over the bridge a quarter past nine o'clock, to bring 
home my two daughters, who were on the Rhode Island side. They had 
ijone over to get a dress made, about seven o'clock, and, I afterwards 
learned, had attempted to return, and were stopped by the guards from 
crossing the bridge, and obliged to go back. I accordingly went over after 
them, and, giving my name, was allowed to pass, and returned with my 
daughters in about ten mmutes; the clo k had struck nine while I was on 
the Massachusetts side, and before I went for my daughters. After I heard 
the clock strike nine. I went home, and there learned that my daughters 
had not got back, and then went after them. I think it must have been all 
of half past nine when I came back over the bridge with niy daughters. I 
then saw no commotion or disturbance. The soldiers were on the Rhode 
Island side, close to the bridiJ;e ; wone on the bridge; on the Massachusetts 
side a few people were standing with umbrellas; it rained a little; some 
were standing near the barber's shop, at the corner, where Kelby was shot. 
It was all quiet. I went home, (a distance of about forty-five rods from the 
brido^e,) and a few minutes after getting into the house, heard firina:. Im- 
mediately after this, Isaac Baxter came in and told me Kelby was shot ; he 
told me he stood withm six feet of Kelby when he fell. I asked him if 
Kelby threw any stones, or did anything, and he said no. He said he saw 
him stop boys twice. Baxter has since moved away ; I do not know where 
he IS. There are no other occurrences of that evening to which I can tes- 
tify. 

Tlie next day after Kelby was shot, a meeting of citizens was held, and 
a committee raised to collect subscriptions for Mr, Kelby's family. At the 
request of Mr. Elias B. Pitcher, (the chairman,) 1 took his paper to get sub- 



298 Rep. No. 546. 

scriptions, I called on Samuel Greene, who resides on the Rhode Island 
side, to subscril)e. I read part of the paper, and he the rest. It stated that 
the subscription was for Mrs. Kelby, whose husband had been shot. "When 
he finished reading, Mr. Greene said, " I don't know but I shot the man;" 
he couldn't tell ; he did not know as he should like to know if he had. 
However, he had done nothing but he would do again, when called upon 
lo defend the laws of tlie State. He said he was there, and fired. Mr. 
Daniel Greene then came in, and there was a conversation about the occur- 
rences of the evening when Kelby was shot. Mr. Samuel Greene said he 
went on the south side of the bridge, on the foot passage, and he rested his 
gun on the railing, and aimed for the legs. Daniel Greene said that it 
was singular the balls went in such difterent directions. Samuel Greene 
replied "they (referring to the Kentish Guards) not knowing the location, 
did not know where to fire; we, knowing it, knew where to fire." The 
''•^^Je" I supposed referred to the citizens' guard, of which Mr. Greene was 
one. Daniel Greene said tliey njust have had pretty smart powder. He 
replied tliat it was as good as No. 1. Mr. S. Greene gave five dollars on 
the subscription. 

I was before the grand jury at Taunton, Bristol county, in September, 
1842, and, to the best of my recollection, stated substantially the above 
facts as lo the conversation with Mr. Greene. I was subpoenaed in relation 
to the homicide of Kelby. Freeman Berry, Samuel W. Miller, and Asa E. 
Carpenter were also subpoenaed, and were there and testified. The inquiry 
did noi appear to be at all prt^ssed before the grand' jury; the witnesses 
were at Taunton all day, and in the court house. It was the last case called 
in the evening. When the witnesses were called, it was just before candle- 
light, and no lights were brought. There was no other examination of the 
case that night, and another case was taken up the next niorninof, as I un- 
derstood. The foreman of the grand jury was Ira D. Ellis of Pawtucket ; 
he was opposed to the suffrage party, 

JOSEPH FLETCHER 

Commonwealth of Massacrusetts, Bristol^ ss. 

Pawtucket, May 10, 1844. 

Personally afpeared Joseph Fletcher and made oath to and subscribed 
the foregoing, winch was reduced to writing by me in his presence. Before 
me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 

Commissioner, 6f'c. 



No. 27. 

Deposition of Tliomas V. Medbery. 

I, Thomas V. Medbery, of Seekonk, in the State of Massachusetts, thirty 
years of age, carpenter, depose and say : On the "iTth of June, 1842, I was 
working on the Rhode Island side of Pawtucket bridge, and boarded on the 
Massachusetts side. I went to supper just before dark, and was stop()ed 
by one of the soldiers, who were then close to the bridge on the Rhode 



Rep. No. 546. 29^ 

Island sidt^ ; there appeared to be thirty or forty. Mr. Sherman vouched 
for lue to the (officer, and 1 was allowed to pass. After supper, 1 passed back 
again: there were then two soldiers station d on each of the sidewalks; 
it was then ahout dark, or nearly so. There were a nniiiher of people in 
the streets on both sides, but I saw none armed except the soldiers, and no 
violence. 1 then went up to Central Falls, and on my return I heard a 
number of guns fired — I cannot tell how niany ; this was the last time ihey 
fired, as I heard no firing afterward. I was some twelve rods from the 
bridge when I heard the firing, and came directly on the bridge, and was 
stopped by two soldiers, and, on my explaining, they let me pass; there 
were only four soldiers on llie bridge, the rest were either in tlie hotel or 
on the Rhode Island side, I met some soldiers before 1 came to the bridge, 
but saw none after I passed the fi'.w that were on thti bridge; they told me 
nothing about any one's being shot, nor did I know it at the time. 1 walked 
on across the bridge, and when 1 turned the corner at the left, on the Mas- 
sachusetts side, round the barber's shop, I came upon a body, which proved 
to be that of Alexander Kelby. The body lay with the head towards the 
east, and nearly opposite the door of the barber's shop, within about a fool 
of the building. No person was there when I came up, nor do 1 know that 
the body had been moved. Standing where the body lay, it would not, 1 
think, iiave been possible for a person to have shot liim, standing on the 
bridge, unless the ball passed through tlie IjuiMinuf, which was not the case. 
I took hold of him, and found he was dea i,and then went across the street 
to Mr. Crane's store, to get a ligfit. Mr. Sherman and three or four oilier 
persons then came up, and myself, Ebenezer Berry, Robert Sherman, and 
one other person, carried him to his home on the Massachusetts side. I 
assisted in laying out the corpse. There was a gunshot wound, the bail 
having entered on one side nearly under the arm, just below the pap, and 
came out on the other sde opposite, a little lower down. When I found 
him, one of his hands was in the iiocket of his pantaloons, and it did not 
appear to have been moved after he fell. There was blood on the side- 
walk wliere he lay when I first f)und him, and there was no blood any 
nearer the bridge. The bridge was not then planked so far on tfie Mas- 
sachusetts side as it is now. There has been a new bridge built since. 
If Kelby fell on the spot where I found bin), he could not have been shot 
unless the person who fired came on the land from the bridiie, on tlie Mas- 
sachusetts side. Before we carried the body home, it was removed from 
the spot where I found it, under the piazza, ten or twelve feet further from 
the bridge. 

THOMAS V. MEDBERY. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, May 2, 1844, 

Then said Tiiomas V. Medbery, being duly cautioned and sworn, made 
and subscnl)ed the foregoing, which was reduced to writing in his presence 
by me, 

B. F. HALLirrT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

throitifk the Comtnoiiwealth. 



300 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 28. 

Deposition vf Williajii R. Sullaway. 

I, William R. Suilaway, of Pawtucket, in the State of Massachusetts, 
hostler, twenty one years of age, depose and s;iy : On the night that Alex- 
ander Kelby was shot, I went over the bridge to the Rhode Island side, for 
a inm her wagon which belonged toonr stable ; tliis was about snnset. Wlien 
I came back, I found the Rhode Island charter troops stationed near the 
bridge on the Rhode Island side. A part of the company had gone into 
the hotel. They questioned me, hut allowed me to pass. There were a 
numl)er of f»ersons on the Massaclmsetts side of the bridge, but no anrjs, and 
no appearance of any liostility. 1 went to the stable, and, in about ten 
minutes after this, heard firing from the other side of the bridge. I then 
went to the bridge, and met several persons bringing a woUian along, who, 
it was said, had been shot; she appeared to be lifeless. She was taken to 
Doctor Carpenter's shop ; I did not go in, the door being shut, but after- 
wards understood that the wonian had fainted from fright. It was tlien 
alter dusk. I went back to the stable, which was thirty to thirty five rods 
from the bridge, and heard tiie firing commence again. Thinking they 
were firmg blank cartridges, 1 went down near tlie biidge, at the corner of 
the brick block that the bank is m. The firing came from the troops who 
were then on tlie bridge, and either on the Massachusetts side or very near 
it, Tliey continued firing singly and in volleys, and while standing, I felt 
a concuss'on below the knee, and found a f)iece cut from my pantaloons, 
which 1 have no doubt was by a musket ball. 1 then ran otf. and could 
hear, the l)alls sinking the brick block all around me as I went off. There 
were a number of tenements occujji.'d in the upper stories of the brick 
block. A number of bullets struck' the building near which I stood, and 
some lodged in the wood and signs. While 1 was starting otf, after I felt 
the concussion of tlie bullet, 1 heard some one down towards the bridge ex- 
clauTi that a man was shot, and soon after 1 learned that Alexander Kelby 
was shot. During this time there were a number of persons on the Mas- 
sachusetts side. The firing over the ojher side of the bridge, in the first 
part of the evening, had caused considerable excitement on the Massa- 
chusetts side, and drew people out into the streets on that side. I saw no 
person armed on this side, and no violence; and tliey appeared to be there 
from the same motive I was, viz: curiosity to see what was going on. I 
knew Alexander Kelby; he was always a peaceable and well behaved man, 
and a good citizen. I saw the body of Mr. Kelby after he was shot ; a ball 
had struck him in the side, and come out at the other side. 

WILiJAM R. SULLAWAY. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Bri^tol^ ss : 

PAWTUCKt;T, May 2, 1S44. 

Then said William R. Sullaway, beiuij duly cautioned and sworn, m;ide 
and subscribed the foregoing, which was reduced to writing in his presence 
by me, 

B. F. HALLhTT, 
Com/ztiisioHer, and Jutilice of Ilia Peace 

tliiongh tilt Cvntinoitwealth. 



Rep. No. 546. 301 

No. 29, 

Deposition of Asa. E. Carpuder. 

I, Asa E. Carpenter, of Pawliicket, Massachusetts, twenty nine years of 
age. depose and say: That the morning- after Alexander K.elby was shot, 
near the bridge in Pawtncket, 1 heard Samnel Greene, who is a druggist 
on the Rhode Island side of the bridge, in conversation with another person, 
to whom he related what had taken place the niofht before, say — that iie 
went on to the bridi^e, so that he could aim by the corner up street; he 
thought there might be some out by the piazza — Abell's pinzza, I tin'nk he 
said — and that he took aim. and snapped his gun tinee limes; he did not 
say whether he fired or not. The street he referred to was one on the 
Massachhsetts side, which passed Mr. Abell's hotel. 'J'he corner he spoke 
of was the place where Kelby was shot. ] was before the grand jury at 
Taunton, in September, 1842, as a witness, but was not questioned as to 
the above, and did not state it. I was in the grand jury room but a few 
minutes, towards evening, and was dismissed. I do not know the person 
lo whom said Greene stated the above. 

ASA E. CARPENTER. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket. May 11, 1S44, 
Personally appeared the above named Asa E. (carpenter, and made oath 
to and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in his presence. 
Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Cotnmissioiif^r, and Justice of the Peace 

throush the Commonwealth. 



No. 30. 

Deposiliou of David P. Cutting: 

I, David F. Cutting, forty one years of age, blacksmith, depose and say: 
That on the 27th of .June, 1842, 1 resided in Pawtucket, on the Massachu- 
setts side, near the bridge. I was working till about 8 o'clock that evening, 
then went home; soon after this, the firing began. My house was in range 
from the bridge, about eight rods distant, and I did not think it safe to re- 
main. I took my family, and went to a neighbor's house. After that, I was 
told there was no danger; and Itheii went out to make inquiry, with a view 
to go back to my house. 1 made inquiries at Higginson's and Crane's 
stores, near the bridge, and was returning back from Crane's shop, when I 
was hit by a ball in the arm. Three guns were fired; I was liit by the 
third. When hit, I was opposite the window of Ira B. Ellis's luat store, in 
the block where the bank is, about five rods from the bridge. There was then 
very little stirring in the street. No appearance of a mob or commotion or 
disturbance of any kind. The firing came from the bridge. I saw no peo- 
ple between me and the soldiers on the bridge. It was raining. I did not 
see over three people in the street. I should ll)ink this was about a quarter 



a02 Rep. No. 546. 

to 9 o'clock. I could tell no reasou or cause for the firing. I got back to 
where 1 left my family, and did not go out atrain that njofht. In the morn- 
ing, I found that two balls had been ^hoi into the side of ujy house, near the 
upper windows. 

DAVID F. CUTTING. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Bristol, ss. 

Pawtuckf.t, May il, 1844. 
Personally appeared the above named David F. Cutting, and made oath 
to and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by rae in his presence. 
Before me, 

B. F. HALUrPT, 
Commissio?ier, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 31. 

Deposition of Robert Ahell. 

I, Robert Abel!, of Pawtucket, in the State of Massachusetts, innholder, 
testify and say : That I reside within a few rods of the bridge, in Pawtucket, 
on the Massachusetts side. On the evening of the 27th ot June, 1842, I 
had occasion to go over the bridge to carry Colonel Scott to his residence in 
North Providence. 1 had heard that there was a guard on the bridge, and 
expected to be stopped ; but, relying on being well known, I did not antici- 
pate any difficulty. As we drove over the bridge, I found no soldiers on 
the bridge; there were a number of people about, but no indication of any 
violence. We drove over the bridge, about a hundred feet from the end on 
the Rhode Island side, where a road turns otf to the right. I held up my 
horse. A file of soldiers were drawn up with bayonets charged, and one of 
them, (who was Horatio N. Ingraham, as 1 learned the next day,) took the 
horse by the head, and told me, as I understood, to go that way, which was to 
take the road to the right, which would leave the guard on the left. I accord- 
ingly did so, and drove on. Just after Mr. Ingraham let go the horse, a gun 
fired, and soon after three more in quick succession ; and when we had got 
about a hundred feet farther, four more guns were discharged. Not know- 
ing of any possible reason for it, I did not suspect they were firing at us. I 
carried Col. Scott home, and returned over another bridge a mile above. 
I found a guard there, but had no difficulty in passing. When I passed the 
Pawtucket bridge, I heard no order to stop, and only heard Mr. Ingraham's 
direction to pass the other way, which I complied with ; and in no way in- 
terfered with the guard. We were in a covered wagon. A ball had passed 
through the side of the wagon, and out at the fore end ; it must have passed 
between me and Col. Scott. The next day Mr. Ingraham saw me, and 
stated that he did direct me to pass the way I went, to prevent any difficulty 
in passing the guard, and he stated that he neither gave nor heard any or- 
der for me to stop. When I was returning home, I lieard the bells ringina^ 
(or nine ; and shortly after I got to my house, I learned that a man had been 
shot, which proved to be Alexander Kelby. The same night, between 



Kep. No 546. 303 

twelve and one o'clock, John Whipple, esq., of Provi'lence, citnie to my 
house, and made inquiry of me whether I had any ^niis or arms m my hall. 
1 told him 1 knew of none. He then told me that Dorr had lell Chepalchet, 
and the war was all over, and wished me to inform everybody to go to 
their respective homes, and that it was all over. It became known in the 
house ihat this was Mr. Whipple, and, lo prevent any difficulty, I went with 
him to see him safe out. When 1 got to tlie door, two men armed with 
muskets stood there, and accompanied him over the bridge, as a guard. 
They appeared to have come over with him. A man of the name of Sher- 
man, who was one of the guard that night on tlie bridge, and afterwards 
bo;irded with me, told me that die object of the visit that night at my liouse 
was to see if I had arms stored in tlie'house, and how it was guarded. 
They did not attempt any search. 1 had no arms, and saw none except 
what the soldiers had, and allowed none in my house. 

ROBRRT AL5ELL. 



No. 32. 

Deposition of Lamed Scott. 

I, Larned Scott, of North Providence, in the Slate of Rhode Island, tes- 
tify that 1 was the p.jrson with Mr. Robert Abell in the wagon, as is de- 
scribed in his deposition, which has been read to me; and thai all the facts 
therein stated, in relation to going over the bridge and being fired on, are 
true. The other matters stated by Mr. Abell are not v/ithin my knowledge. 

LARNED SCOTT. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol., ss. 

Pawtucket, May II, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above-named Robert Abell and Larned Scott, 
and severally made oath to, and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to wri- 
ting by me in their presence. Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
ConiT/tissiofier, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 33. 
Deposition of Amos Ide. 



I, Amos Ide, of North Providence, State of Rhode Island, testify and say: 
That I was arrested at Pawtucket on the 29th of .Tune, 1842, by Captain 
James N. Olney, who commanded the company of carbiniers, who were 
stationed at Pawtucket at that time. 1 was arrested at the same time with 
John S. Dispean. Captain Olney was fmm New York, and not a citizen 
of Rhode Island. A guard of four men was placed over us, two of whom 
said they were from New York, and did not belong here ; and another (Wil- 



304 Rep. No. 546. 

Ham Reed) I knew to be a Massachusetts man, and had known him for a 
long lime. 1 was detained but about two hours, and discharged. I know 
of no reason for my arrest. Before the company came out from Providence, 
everything was quiet in the village, and no difficulty whatever would have 
occurred had it not been for their presence. 

AMOS IDE. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss. 

Pawtucket, May 10, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above-named Amos Ide, and made oath to, and 
subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me m his presence. Before 

me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 

Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 34. 



Deposition of John S. Uispean. 

I, John S. Dispean, of North Providence, Rhode Island, forty two years 
of age, testify and say : That I was taken by the charter troops in Pawtucket 
at the same time Amos Ide was, and Icnew the same facts he has stated, as 
to persons not citizens of Rhode Island w!io were in the charier troops. 1 
knew that Captain Dlney, who commanded the carbiniers, was a New 
Yorker. In addition to what said Ide has stated, I was sent to Providence, 
under guard of two other men of the company, both of whom stated to me 
they were New Yorkers, and one of them said he was a master of a vessel, 
and belonged to New York. 

I have heard read the depositions of Robert A bell and Earned Scott. I 
was standing within twenty feet of the guard of soldiers, on the Rhode 
Island side, when said Abell drove over the bridge in a covered wayon. 
The soldiers charged bayonet as he came up; and Horatio N. higraham, 
whom I knew, stepped up as Mr. Abell stopped his horse, and appeared to di- 
rect him to take the other road ; which he did, and drove on. As he started, 
one gun was fired; the platoon was ordered to wheel and fire, which they 
did in irregular order. Two guns were also fired out of a window of the 
brick hotel, which was the headquarters, as the wagon passed. The firing 
was obviously at the wagon, as there was nothing else to fire upon. I sup- 
posed at the time that the persons in the wagon were killed by the dis- 
charges. There was nothing in the state of affairs at Pawtucket to justify 
or require the presence of troops ; and they caused all the difficulty by their 
presence and conduct. 

I kept a confectioner's shop under the brick hotel, where the headquar- 
ters of the troops were ; and when I was taken ofl', left one hundred dozen 
of eggs and other articles in the cellar. The soldiers took possession, and 
excluded my wife and the boy who attended from the cellar ; and when the 
guard left, the eggs had been used, as I was informed by my wife, and be- 
lieve. Other articles were taken from the cellar, and no recompense was 
ever made. 

JOHN S. DISPEAN. 



Rep. No. 546. 305 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, Mai/ 11, 1844. 

Then said John S. Dispean, being duly cautioned and sworn, made ^nd 
subscribed the foregoing, which was reduced to writing by me in his pres- 
ence. Before me, 

B. F. HALLHTT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 35. 
Deposition of Sarah Kelby. 

I, Sarah Kelby, of Pawtuckel, in the State of Massachusetts, widow, tes- 
tify and say: That 1 am the widow of Alexander Kelby, late of said Paw- 
tucket, where he had been a resident eight or nine years. He was a dresser- 
tender, and worked in a factory on the Massachusetts side of the river. At 
the time of his death, he was forty-one years of age ; and we had seven chil- 
dren, all of whom are living. I now have eight children, one having been 
born in about five weeks after my husband's death. Five of my children 
are under ten years of age. My husband was a peaceable man, and I never 
knew him to be in any broil or difficulty. On the day he was shot, he was 
at home all the afternoon till after 5 o'clock. About that time a woman 
came in and said that the guard were coming on the bridge. He said he 
would go down and see, and went out. About 7, when the mills were let 
out, he came back and ate supper. After supper, my oldest boy, James, 
wanted to go to the bridge, and his father told him to be careful and do 
nothing; and if there was any difficulty, to come home. Soon after this, 
Mr. Kelby said he would go down and see, and went out. He came home 
again about eight, and asked if James had got home, which he had not. 
My husband then sat down and smoked; and, when he had got through, 
said he would go and see where James was, and send him home; he did 
not want him to be out. I told him I was afraid they would fire and kill 
somebody. He said there was no danger, and I need not be frightened; 
that if they fired, it would only be blank cartridges. He then went out; 
it was a quarter past eight. My son James came home soon after, and went 
to bed by 9 o'clock. Between nine and ten James Cameron came to the 
house, and told me that my husband was standing by the barber's shop, and 
that he had been fired upon and shot, and was dead. About 10 o'clock the 
body was brought to the house. 

When Mr. Cameron informed me of my husband's death, he said he 
thought the body would have to lie till morning, till they could get an in- 
quest. JNo inquest was ever held on the body, to my knowledge. After he 
was brought home, the body was laid out, and buried the next day but one 
after. While my husband lived, he supported his family well, and was 
never in debt. His death left me in destitute circumstances. Mr. Thayer, 
Mr. Pitcher, and some other gentlemen, for whom he had worked, got a 
contribution, and raised a hundred and twenty dollars, which was given 
me. I also liad seventy-one dollars sent me from Boston, and fifteen from 
the suffra2:e men in Providence. This is all I have ever received. I never 
20 



306 Rep. No. 546. 

received anything from the Rhode Island authorities, and none from the 
soldiers stationed here from abroad — not to my knowledge. INo person from 
Rh?)de Island has ever made any inquiries of me in relation to my circum- 
stances, or the manner in which my husband was killed, nor offered any 
assistance. 

SARAH KELBY. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, 3Ia]/ 3, 1844. 

Then said Sarah Kelby being duly cautioned and sworn, made and sub- 
scribed the foregoing, reduced to writing m her presence by me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

throusrh the Commonwealth. 



No. 36. 



Deposition of Ellis D. Pitcher. 

I, Ellis B. Pitcher, of Pawtucket, in the State of Massachusetts, manu- 
facturer, thirty-five years of age, depose and say : That I knew Alexander 
Kelby, who was killed on the 27th of June, 1842. He had worked in my 
employ over three years as a dresser- tender. At times he was affected with 
liquor ; but for the last two years he worked for me, very rarely so — proba- 
bly not over two or three tinries a year. He was a peaceable and well dis- 
posed man at all other times, and 1 never had any ditficnlty with him. He 
was attentive to his work, unless on occasions as above referred to. On 
Monday, the day on which he was killed, the mills were not at work. I do 
not recollect seeing him on that day, except at about sunset, when I saw 
him on the Rhode Island side of the bridge, which was before the soldiers 
came on the bridge. 1 saw him flourishmg his fists, and he appeared ex- 
cited. I did not see him do anything more than I have stated. There were 
a large number of persons on both sides of the bridge — most on the Rhode 
Island side. 1 made but a short stop — not over five minutes. I then, as I 
think, came over to the counting-room. This was about sunset. I remain- 
ed there till after dark, and then went to Mr. Starkweather's, on the Massa- 
chusetts side, about eight hundred feet from the bridge. Just after leaving 
my counting-room. I heard firing — half a dozen guns, 1 should think, within 
half a minute. It appeared to come from the bridge. It was then dark. 
This was the first firing I heard. When light, I can see the corner of the 
bridge where the barber's shop is, from my cpunting-room. It was too dark 
to see it then. There were people in the streets at that time. 1 could hear 
a good deal of noise, but saw nothing that I can describe. I heard a man, 
who was within about twenty feet of me, say, " Oh dear, I am shot.'' 1 
don't know who he was, nor whether he was shot or not. It was not Kel- 
by. I then passed on. I then went to Mr. Starkweather's, and remained 
there during the night. I did not go to the bridge after that. About 12 
o'clock I heard that one man in my employ had been killed, and that it was 
Kelby. I acted as one of a committee of a meeting of citizens to collect 



Rep. No 546. 307 

snhsciiptions for the family of Alexander Kelby, which was paid to Mrs. 
Kelby — about a hundred dollars. I do not recollect anything further bear- 
nig upon the subject. 

ELLIS B. PITCHER. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, May 9, 1844. 
Personally appeared the above-named Ellis B. Pitcher, and made oath 
to, and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in his presence. 
Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Com?noiiwealth. 



IL Depositions relating to lnte?ference with the suffrage piess^ a?id deten- 
tion of -order to disband the suffrage troops. 

No. 37. 

Deposition of Walter S. Burges. 

I, Walter S. Burges, of Providence, m the State of Rhode Island, conn- 
sellor at law, testify; That on the 27th of June, 1842, between six and 
seven o'clock in the afternoon, or about seven, I was in my office, in ilio 
same building in v/hich was the headquarters of the charter government. 
I was called out by Edward H. Hazard^ who held some commission in the 
<;harter troops — 1 believe colonel. In a room adjoining that occupied by 
the governor and council, I was met by Charles H. Russellfof New York, 
who was designated as Colonel Russell. He handed me a letter, addressed 
to myself, which I at once recognised to be in the handwriting of Governor 
Dorr. The seal was not broken. They stated that they had intercepted 
it. I remarked to them, that all communication between Governor Dorr 
and any other person was interdicted by Governor King's proclamation ; 
but they appearing to expect ihat I should open it in their presence, I did 
so. Within was a letter directed to the publishers of the Express, in Dorr's 
handwriting. The envelope, addressed to me, contained a statement of the 
contents of the enclosed, viz : an order for the disbanding of Governor Dorr's 
troops, which he requested me to forward f jr publication, and expressing a 
hope that the men would be allowed to return peaceably home. A copy of 
the contents is annexed to this deposition. Colonel Hazard then went out 
to collect the governor and council; and Col. Russell copied the letter ad- 
dressed to me. S'nortly after, we went into the governor's room. The 
letter to the Express was passed into the hands of General McNeil, who 
immediately broke the seal and read it, saying he should report it to his 
excellency the governor. Soon after, Governor Kins^ came in, and the 
letters passed to him; and he, with his council, returned with the letters 
into an adjoining room. When they returned, the persons present were 
the governor, and several of the council, Colonel Bankhead, of the U. S. 
army, General McNeil, Thomas M. Burges, mayor of the city, John 
Whipple, and Richard J. Arnold, assistant commissary general. Every- 
thing indicated that they placed implicit confidence in the communication, 



308 Rep. No. 5i6. 

as proof that the suffrage troops were disbanded. No doubt was intimated 
on that point, I then left, they retaining the letters. The next morning, 
about 9 o'clock, I met Governor Arnold, one of the council, who handed 
me the letters, intimating a wish that the order from Governor Dorr should 
be published in the Express, as intended. 1 went immediately to the Ex- 
press office for that purpose. This paper was the organ of the suffrage 
party. The publishers informed me that they had been threatened, and 
Iiad published their last pajier; and declined issuing another number, with- 
out an order or permission from the governor and council. I communica- 
ted this to Gov. Arnold and General Carrington of the council; and Mr, 
Arnold then wrote an order or permission for the publication, which I took 
to the publishers; and soon after, an extra appeared, with Governor Dorr's 
communication, the original of which 1 have seen appended to the deposi- 
tion of Samuel Low. 

It was after the letter from Governor Dorr was in possession of the gov- 
ernor and council that the dilficuliies happened in Pawtucket and at Bel- 
lingham, in Massachusetts. 

Interrogatory put to the witness. Do yon know of any of the leaders in 
the suffrage party, who were professional men, who had abandoned the 
people's constitution in April, 1842, or at any time, on the ground that it 
iiad not received a majority of the votes of the people in its favor ? 

Ans. 1 know of no such leader, in the legal profession, who has ever 
done so. I have no knowledge as to any other profession. 

WALTER S, BURGES. 



Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss: 

Pawtucket, ilfory 10, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above-named Walter S. Burges, and made oath 
to the truth of the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in his presence, and 
subscribed by him before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 

Commi&sioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 

Copy of letter of T. W. Dorr to the above icilness, referred to by him as 
enclosing the note to the Daily Express neivspaper, appended to the 
deposition of Samuel Low. 

"Glocester, Jujie 27, 1842. 
"Dear Sir : Please hand the enclosed, as directed. Believing that a ma- 
jority of the people who voted for the constitution are opposed to its fur- 
ther support by military means, I have directed that the military here as- 
sembled be dismissed. 

"I trust that no impediments will be thrown in the way of the return of 
our men to their homes. 

" Yours, <fcc., 
• «T. W. DORR, 

"W. S. BuRG.Es, Esq." 

The foregoing is an exact copy of the orighial letter, now in my posses- 
sion, which I received on the evening of June 27, 1842. 

W. S. BURGES, 



Hep. No. 546. B09 

Na 38. 
Deposition of Samuel Low. 

I, Samuei Low, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, twenty- 
■eio^ht years of age, depose and say : That I was one of the pubhshers of the 
" Daily Express and New Age," which was considered the organ of the 
suffrage party in Rhode Island. 

On Saturday, June 25, 1842, the chaiter legislature declared viarlial 
law in force in Rhode Island. On Sunday the 26th, the office of the Daily 
Express and New A^e was entered by a band of armed men, (some 10 or 
12,) of the "law and order" party, (so called,) and searched, as they said, 
for arms. One musket, the property of Mr. Miller, one of my partners, was 
seized and carried off by them. They continued t^ search the difierent 
rooms for half an hour or more, when they left. They returned once or 
twice more during the day. There was quite a collection of people around 
the street door, friends of " law and order," threatening to destroy the office, 
and insulting individuals of the other party who had occasion to go in or 
out of the oliice. Mr. Danfbrth, the editor, in partic\ilar, was grossly in- 
sulted while passing from the olHee, by Mr. Caleb Allen, an elderly gentle- 
man of good standing in the community, and an ardent supporter of law 
and order, who was inciting the assemblage to acts of violence on the es- 
tablishment. 

Mr. Larcher, the owner of the building, came into the office on Saturday 
the25lh of June, 1842, with an officer. I was not present at any conversa- 
tion had at that time. He was also in the office on Sunday the 26(h of June, 
when the armed men entered and searched the office ; he was very much 
excited, and ordered us to evacuate the premises immediately; stating that 
liis building was not safe an hour, or '• that they iDonld put iis out^' — mean- 
ing the charter party, and pointing towards the market place, where there 
was a considerable body of soldiers and citizens of the charter }>arty. After 
expostulating with him a long time on the impossibility of moving a news- 
paper office, witli a heavy printing machine, without previous arrangemenis, 
and with no place but the public streets, or a storehouse, to remove it to; 
and ascertaining that the only objection he himself had was our printing 
a daily |:iaper, we proposed to issue one more number of the Express, the 
day following, (Monday,) to inform our friends of the circumstances under 
which we labored, and then discontinue its publication until the great ex- 
citement which then prevailed was abated, and to continue the semi-weekly 
paper (the New Age) on its regular days of publication as usual. To all 
of which he assented, and left the office. 

On Monday, June 27, the daily |)aper was issued, announcing to our 
patrons and friends the last appearance of the daily paper, under the exist- 
ing circumstances. We still intended to go on with the semi weekly. On 
this morning, (the 27ih,) Mr. Larcher again called, and said he had seen 
'• them folks,^^ (meaning, as I understood, the governor and council, then 
in session.) and that they had rather see the whole building in ashes, than 
that we should issue the paper. The excitement continued to increase, 
and many angry threats were made of destroying the office, and thro\f>ing the 
publisiiers out of the windows. Armed men were in the office, 1 think, 
once or twice in the course of this day. Some of our hands were alarmed 
2.1 remaining in the office ; we concluded, however, to issue the semi weekly 



Sm Rep. No. 546. 

paper on the morrow (Tuesday) morning, its regular day of publication, 
and were enabled so to do, although we had but one conipositor and Mr. 
Miller, one of the partners ; we got the paper out for the next morning, and 
announced in it its suspension for the present. 

On the morning of the 28lh of June, before the paper was struck off. the 
office was again visited, and proof-sheets of the morning paper demanded ; 
they did not get them. 

The same day. about noon, an order from Governor Dorr to disbatjd his 
troops dated at Chepatchet, the 27ih of June, directed to the "publishers of 
the Express," was handed to us by Walter S. Surges. The original of the 
letter is appended to this deposition. The letter would have reached us on 
Monday evening, the 27th, in ample season for Tuesday morning's paper^ 
had it not been intercepted. I have no doubt this letter was in the posses- 
sion of the governor and council on Monday evening. If published on 
Tuesday morning, it would have allayed the excitement, and prevented the 
excesses which happened on that day. It is well known that Mr. Dorr and 
his friends abandoned Acote's Hill on the afternoon of the day on which this 
order of the 27th is dated, and this original order was in possession of 
Governor King and council from Monday evening until Tuesday fore- 
noon, and suppressed by them, when it was brought to us, broken open ;. 
and havii g been in the possession of the governor and council, and both 
of our pafers suspended from causes above stated, we got Mr. Burges to- 
see if the governor and council would allow a publication of an extra 
containing this order. He applied to them, and got permission to issue an 
extra containing the order, which we accordingly published. That was 
the last paper we issued until September 13, 1842. The paper was not 
stopped for want of pecunifiry n;eans or patronage at that time, but soltly 
from the above circumstances. I saw prisoners brought into the city on 
the return of the charter troops from Chepatchet; they were tied with a 
small cord at the arms. 

SAMUEL LOW. 



Glockster, R. I., Jiwe 27, 1842. 
Tb (he Publishers of '■'•The Express,^- Providence, R. 1.: 

Having received such information as induces me to believe that a ma- 
jority of the friends of the people's constitution disapprove of any further 
forcible measures for its support ; and believing that a conflict of arms 
would therefore, under existing circuujstances, be but a personal controver- 
sy among different portions of our citizens, I hereby direct that the military 
here assembled be dismissed by their respective officers. 

T. W. DORR, 
Gonmiander-in-diief. 



No. 39. 
Deposition of Willia??i J. Miller. 



I, William J, Miller, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, printer^ 
twenty-six years of a^e, depose and say : That in June, 1842, I was one of 
the proprietors of the Daily Express and New Age, which was the oxsom 



Rep. No. 546. 311 

of the people's government under the people's constitntion. I have heard 
read tlie deposition of Samuel Low, who was then one of my co partners 
in said paper. The facts which he states therein as within his knowledge, 
and the conversations and threats which he relates, 1 knew and heard at 
the time, and knew them to be true ; and I also was informed by others of 
what he states as information derived from other persons. The reasons 
assigned by him were the sole causes for suspending the paper. Our ap- 
prehensions were such, in regard to the safety of the property, that on 
Monday evening, the 27th, we collected all our valuable papers and books 
for removal to a place of security, if such could be found ; and on Tuesday 
morning I had them removed to a private dwellins:. 

WILLIAM J. MILLER. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss: 

Pawtucket, May 11, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above named Samuel Low and William J. Mil- 
ler, and severally made oath to the respective depositions subscribed by 
them, and carefully read to them by me in their presence. Said Low's 
deposition was reduced to writing by him in my presence. Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 4U. 
Deposition of Walter R. Danforth. 

I. Walter R. D.inforth, a native of Providence, and now, and for more 
than fifty years, a resident therein, make the following declaration under 
oath : 

Sunday, the 26th day of June, 1842, was a day of extraordinary e.Kcite- 
ment in the city of Providence. The public markets and the stores were 
open, and the place was thronged by vast numbers of troops from other 
parts of the Slate. In tl«e morning I repaired to the office of the Daily 
Express, which was then in the granite block, on the northerly side of 
Market square. This is the centre of the city, and focus of local ne\N's, 
and was at that time the theatre of the greatest bustle and excitement. 
Martial law, which had been declared the day previous, under the authority 
of the Algerine legislature, was on that Sunday in full operation. On 
Market square, and in several of the public streets, and at the lines of the 
city on roads leading into the country, military guards and sentinels of 
white and colored persons were posted, to prevent the egress of citizens who 
could not present a written pass or permit from the authorities, and to ap- 
prehend and hold in custody suspicious characters ; which description of 
characters was well understood to be confined to democrats and friends to 
the suffrage cause and equal rights. Military officers, subs and privates, 
with civil officers of the United States, the State and the city governments, 
were moving about, armed, in all directions, evidently designino to increase 
rather than to allay the excitement which prevailed. The United States 
marshal was conspicuous on this occasion, acting with the Algerine party 
with great zeal. Several persons were arrested during the day : and, from 



312 Rep. No. 546. 

the windows of the Express office, I saw some of them under a military 
guard carried through the streets, either in carriages or on foot, to some 
place of confinement. In the afternoon, when 1 left the Express printing- 
office, a large mob was gathered in Market square — the denser portion be- 
ing in front, and near the entrance to the office. I was accosted by a citizen, 
aged more than sixty years, who partook of the excitement in a high degree, 
and who, directing his discourse to me, in a very impassioned and loud tone, 
and pointing towards thesign-board of the office, vociferated : " That office 
is the cause of all these troubles; U is a public nuisance, and ought to be 
torn down, and its types and materials scattered over Market square and 
destroyed." His object evidently was to provoke a controversy with me, 
and to produce a rush of the exasperated mob on that press which had 
been the bold and uncompromising organ of the sufFrnge cause. His words, 
if not precisely quoted, were of the above import; and he repeated them sev- 
eral times, and at each repetition I replied : "You are a law and order man,, 
and this is an admirable commentary on your professions and those of your 
party ;" and, after a few minutes, I left the excited man still pouring forth his 
maledictions against that press. That part of the granite block in which 
was the office of the Express, was owned by Jahn Larcher, who was of the 
Algerine party — not violent and vindictive, but a timid man, anxious about 
the preservation of his property. When he thought that a horde of foreign 
desperadoes would come to assist th^uffrage party, and to lay waste the 
possessions of the Algerines, he remarked that the Express being there was 
a good insurance ot his building; but when that story died away, like 
others of Algerine fltbrication, he then insisted that the printing-office should 
be removed. He was urging them (ihe proprietors) to that on Saturday, 
on this Sunday, and on Monday; andthreatened, as I learned from others in 
my absence, if they did not comply with his urgent request, to invite the 
mob without, to come in and remove the materials. Of this I have no per- 
sonal knowledge. His conversation, when I was present, was directed to 
the proprietors of the press; and 1 gave little heed to what he said, being 
generally engaged in editorial duties, and having no proprietary interest in 
that paper. On that Sunday, or on Monday, a' military detachment com- 
manded by T. B. Fenner came into the office of the Express, and he inform- 
ed me, very courteously, that his object was to Search for arms. 1 stated 
to him that I had learned from one of the proprietors, (Mr. Miller,) that a 
military guard had previously been there, searched the office, and carried off 
the only gun they could find; and he then retired with his comrades. Some 
of the military came to the office in my absence, I was told, and demanded 
the inspection of the copy or proof-sheet, that they might be apprized of 
what would be forthcoming in the morning's paper ; but they were refused. 
We were for several days harassed by some of the civil and military Al- 
gerine mob, and by our landlord ; and, after printing a paper on Tuesday 
morning, 2Sth June, we suspended its publication to '^' a more convenient 
season." The proprietors of the Express were Messrs. Samuel B. Millard, 
Samuel Low, and William J. Miller ; and what 1 have stated as from infor- 
mation, their depositions will probably verify — except Mr. Millard's, who was 
absent the last three or four days of our publication, and now resides in 
New York. 

W. R. DANFORTH. 



Rip. No. 546. 313 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol^ ss: 

Pawtucket, May 9, 1844. 
Then personally appeared the above-named VV. R. Danforth, and, being 
cautioned and sworn to the truth of the foregoing, subscribed the same in 
my presence, which was reduced to writing by the deponent, and read to 
him by me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
CoimnUsioner^ and Justice of the Pence 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 41. 

Deposition of Aaron Simons. 

1, Aaron Simons, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, testify and 
say: That I am attached to the office of the Repubhcan Herald, a demo- 
cratic newspaper pubhshed in Providence, and which advocated the suffrage 
cause, and was the only paper that survived the controversy, on that side. 
On the morning of the I7th of August, 1842, Samuel Dexter, who is a 
son-inlaw of Governor Fenner, and h'ad been active on the charter side, 
came into the office and, after discontinuing his subscription to the paper, 
made use of abusive and violent language, (apparently much excited,) and 
said that the press and types ought to be thrown into the street, and that he 
would be one to help do it. From threats out doors, and other causes, the 
press was kept in awe during the continuance of martial law, and the lib- 
erty of the press was, in a great measure, suppressed. 

AARON. SIMONS. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss: 

Pawtucket, May 1 1, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above named Aaron Simons, and subscribed 
and made oath to the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in his presence. 
Before me, 

B. F. HAI.LETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonivealth. 



III. — Depositions relating to arrests, searches, and acts of alleged violence. 

No. 42. 

Deposition of Leonard Wakefield. 

1, Leonard Wakefield, of Cumberland, in the State of Rhode Island, forty 
years of age, depose and say: That I am,and have been for about fourteen 
years, a minister of the Metliodist Episcopal Church. I have resided in 
Rhode Island and been a local preacher there for about fourteen years. 



314 Rep. No. 546. 

On the V3th of June, 1842, I was at home in my office; I acted at that 
time as assistant to the postmaster at Cumberland. The State troops were 
returnino^ from Woonsocket to Providence — about three hundred. Two 
of the soldiers came into the OiTice where I was then engaged, and inquired 
if I had any fire arms, and demanded the sanfe. I delivered to them a 
small birding gun, vvhicli I had liad for many years, and they went away 
with it. 1 then went into my house to dinner ; my wife was tending a sick 
infant child which was not expected to live, and which died in a few weeks 
after. As I sat eating my dinner, three soldiers came into tlie room, and 
two of them were stationed over me as a guard ; they were armed with 
muskets ; the other searched everv part of the house, from the garret to 
the cellar, not excepting tlie lodging room. They found nothing, and I was 
then ordered to go with them ; was not told where, nor for what. Two of 
the soldiers took me by the arms, one on each side, and marched me across 
the street to the tavern. I was carried into the hall of the tavern, and from 
thence, without any examination or inquiry, put into a wagon with other 
prisoners ; there were twenty one prisoners in wagons. We were then 
conveyed to Providence, a distance of twelve miles. The wagons con- 
taining the prisoners were in front of the body of the troops, who followed 
them. In each wagon there were soldiers guarding the prisoners ; 'two on 
each side of me with muskets ; and, so lar as I could see, that was the mode 
each prisoner was guarded; none o^them were bound. When we reached 
the precincts of Providence, we were taken from the wagons ; the prisoners 
ranged two and two in file, flanked with soldiers on each side — the body of 
the troops in the rear; and in this order we were marched through the 
principal streets to one of the armories. While we were passing through 
the streets, garlands were thrown from windows to the soldiers; and there 
were shouts, and jeering, and insults heaped upon the prisoners. I heard, 
repeatedly, exclamations — '-there goes the minister!" and m one instance, 

'■d n him, the next time he preaches, it will be in the State prison!" 

1 was generally known in Providence as a clergyman. We remained at 
the armory about half an hour. There was no examination or inquiry of 
the prisoners. Some one of the officers, as 1 supposed, asked what should 
be done with the prisoners. General Edward Carrington (who, I under- 
stood, was one of the governor's council) said : " God d n them, take 

them off* to the State prison." The City Guards then took us in custody, 
having first been ordered to load with ball cartridge ; which they did. We 
were then placed between two files of soldiers, the remaining troops in the 
rear, and were marched to the State prison, ' There were twenty one pris- 
oners, and the company of soldiers was a full one. We were put into the 
cells in the State prison. The cell that I was in had sixteen persons in it. 
Its dimensions were about twelve feet by nine. Under the edge of the roof 
there was a loop-hole, and in the door a hole about seven inches by five. 
A pipe for ventilating led from the floor through the outer wall. 

We were put into the cell about sunset, and the sixteen continued con- 
fined there from Thursday evening until Sunday about noon — being let 
out once a day in the yard, under a guard. We slept on the floor — lying 
in a heap together, as we best could. The suffering from want of air 
and space was severe. On Sunday the prisoners were separated ; and, 
after that, there were eight in the cell I was put in, I was confined six 
days, in all, I was taken before the commissioners in one of the rooms in 
the jail building. Stephen Branch was the chairman, and there were 



Rep. No. 546. 315 

three others. No cliarges whatever were brought agahist me. I was asked 
niy name, age, and residence ; if I had been at Chepatchet ; if I h;id run 
bullets for Dorr's men: to which last question I answered no. I was also 
asked about a discourse 1 had preached on the Sabbath at the Albion vil- 
lage, Mr. Branch made •lie inquiry. I asked him if he wanted a synop- 
sis of the discourse, which I was ready to give. He said he only wanted 
what I had said about fighting. 1 replied that I had exhorted the people 
not to fight at all on either side. He asked no further question. Cliristo- 
pher Rhodes, who was present, but not one of the commissioners, said he 
knew nothing about it ; but his agent at the Albion village had told him 
somethina^ about it. He did not state what. In answer to the question 
whether I had been at Cliepatchet while Dorr was there, I answered that 
1 had ; that I went at the request of a number of my neighbors, to induce 
the Cumberland men, who were there on the suftYage side, to come home; 
that 1 had no arms. It was true that I had gone to Chepatchet, and had 
an interview with the Cumberland company on the suffrage side; and, in 
consequence of my representations, as I believe, they left the ground and 
returned home. 

After these inquiries were made by the commissioners, the chairman 
asked if any person appeared for or against me. There was none on 
either side. I had four of my neighbors present, to teitity in my favor if 
necessary ; but there being no charges against me, I did not call on them. 
I was then remanded to prison, no reason beintj given for that course, and 
remained in confinement till the next day in the afternoon, when 1 was 
again carried before the commissioners, with some fifteen others, to whom 
an address was made, and we were discharged. From the time I was ar- 
rested, and until discharged, nor ever after, did I hear or learn from the 
authorities tlie grounds, or charges, or suspicions, n()on which I was ar- 
rested. During my imprisonment, our fare was two rations a day of stale 
bread and meat, and nothing else but water. I had done nothino^ on the 
suffrage side, except to express my opinions freely and fearlessly, with a 
temperate zeal. 1 had done nothing to induce, but all I could to prevent 
violence. The sermon alluded to, which I preached at Mr. Rhodes's village, 
(the Albion.) was decidedly pacific, and discouraged any attempt to take up 
arms. 

LEOiNARD WAKEFIELD. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, Mai/ 4, 1844. 
Personally appeared the above named Leonard Wakefield, and made oath 
to atid subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in his presence. 
Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

throuirh the Commonwealth. 



No. 43. 
Deposition of Eliab Whipple. 

1, Eliab Whipple, of Cumberland, in the State of Rhode Island, farmer,^ 



316 Rep. No. 546. 

thirty six years of age, depose and say : On the 6th of July, 1S42, I was 
arrested by Samuel Currey and two others, ou a warrant of the governor 
and council, on a charge of treason. I was brought to Providence, and put 
into prison. At the end of eight days 1 was examined by the commission- 
ers and remanded — nothing appearing against pe. After I had been in 
prison twenty-four days, 1 was told I was discharged ; but before I left the 
prison, I was arrested again by the civil authorities, and the next day sent 
to the jail at Newport. At the end of six days 1 was allowed bail in ten 
thousand dollars, \vn\\ sureties ; which I procured. At the next term of the 
court, the grand jury found no bill ; but my recognizance was not dis- 
charoed until the next term, when I was informed that the grand jury had 
found no bill, and the recognizance was discharged. This information 1 
had from the attorney general. I was imprisoned thirty-one days, and 
under recognizance for ten thousand dollars from August, 1842, to March, 
1843. The only reason for my arrest, that I ever knew of, was, that I had 
voted for the people's constitution and for Governor Dorr. I had never 
taken up arms, nor took any part in the conflict. I went to Chepatchet 
solely from curiosity on Friday, the 24th of .June, and returned home the 
next day; was unarmed, and took no part. I continued at home about my 
ordinary business until I was arrested. 

ELIAB WHIPPLE. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss: 

PawtuckeT; May 9, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above-named Eliab Whipple, and made oath to 
and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in liis presence. 
Before me, 

B. F. HALLET1\ 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

tlirousrii the Commonwealth. 



No. 44. 

Deposition of Henry Lord. s| 

I, Henry Lord, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, depose and 
say : That 1 am nearly sixty years of age. I was taken by the charter jj 
troops at Acote's hill on the morning of June 29th, 1842, and was unarmed, w 
I was the only person on the hill when the advance of the troops came up ; f 
1 saw no other; this was about eight o'clock, I should judge; it might 
have been seven. When I saw a horseman coming, I went down the hill 
and met him. It was Colonel George Rivers. He asked me, (pointing to 
the hill,) Will they fire? I answered no; that there were no troops there. 
He tiien went up, two soldiers following, and gave three cheers when he 
took possession of the fort. There was no resistance made, for there was 
no one there to make it. I went down into the road, and there encountered 
the main body of the troops, and was taken prisoner. They then had in 
charge over a hundred prisoners; none were tied. The troops did not go 
up the hill, but marched to Sprague's hotel with the prisoners. The next 



Rtp. No. 546. 317 

morning we were mustered, and tied together with large bed-cords. The 
rope was passed in u close hitch around each man's arm, passing behind 
his back, and fastening him close up to his neighbor; there being eight 
thus tied together in each platoon ; we had no use of the arm above Uie 
elbow. In this way we were marched on foot to Providence, sixteen miles, 
threatened and pricked by the bayonet if we lagged from fatigue, the ropes 
severely chafing the arms ; the skin was ofl' of mine. In two instances, 
when the soldiers were halted to refresh, we were refused the use of their 
cups to get water from, the brook which passed the road, and had no water 
till we reached Greenville, about eight miles. It was a very hot day; I 
had had no water or breakfast that morning, and I received no food until 
the next day in Providence. We were marched thus tied through the 
streets, and, after being exhibited, were put into the State prison. Fourteen 
were put into my cell, which was seven feet by ten. After remaining in 
prison twenty-four days, I was released on parole. 

HE>RY LORD. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtlcket, jlai/ 10, 1S44. 
Personally appeared the above-named Henry Lord; and made oath to 
and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me, in his presence. 
Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
' Commissiofier, and Justice of the Peace 

throvsh the Cojnmoiiweallh. 



No. 45. 

Deposition of MeJiitahle Howard. 

I, Mehitahle Howard, of (Jumberland, in the State of Rliode Island, wife 
of Joseph How^^rd, of said Cumberland, depose and say : That on the 29th 
of June, 1S42, in the morning, between five and six o'clock, Alfred Ballou, 
with seven other men, all armed with guns, came to my house and entered 
it — I forbidding them to enter. Myself and grandchildren were the only 
ones in the house ; he broke the door open, and drove it otf the hinges. 
As Ballou came in, he seized me by the shoulders, and shook me iiard, 
leaving prints where he took hold of me. He then pushed me, and pushed 
me against a post about three or fo'ir feet from where I was standing, 
which bruised my shoulder very much. He came up to me again, seized 
me, and pushed me again toward the window, saying, " Get out of the way,'^ 
in a loud voice. He then gave me a shake, and left me, saying, '-Where is 
Liberty, (meaning my son.) and where is the gun V He went up stairs and 
searched the chambers, turning the beds over in which the little children 
were. He then came down, and went into my lodging room, and took a 
gun and carried it off. I was much overcome ; but when he came out, I 
said, "I don't fear you, Mr. Ballou." He then came up to me, laid his 
hands on me and shook me, and said, in a very loud voice, " Do you know 
that you are under martial law ?" He then took his bayonet, and put the 
point of the bayonet against the pit of my stomach : he pressed the bayo- 



318 Rep. No. 546. 

net ao-ainst me, and said, "I will run yon through," looking very angry 
and spiteful. Tlie point of the bayonet went through my clothes and 
fractured the skin, but did not break it, but caused the blood to settle tlie 
size of a ninepence. or larger. 1 verily believed at the time that he in- 
tended to run me through. With my hand I knocked the bayonet away, 
and he stepped back, and stood and looked at me with a stern look, and 
then went out of the house. Ballou appeared to be the leader of the band. 
Some of his men were in the house; 1 saw two in the house with him, 
armed. He said nothing to me about his authority, or why he treated me 
so. My husband was a suffrage man, which is the only reason I know 
for this treatment. Ballou had been a neighbor of ours for near forty 
years; he was a charter man. I was hurt very bad, and unable to do my 
work for several days after, and have never recovered the effects of the 
shock upon my system. 1 am sixty-two years of age. The gun has not 
been returned. ' 

MEHITABLE HOWARD. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, May 4, 1S44. 
Personally appeared the above-named Mehitable Howard, and made oath 
to and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing in her presence, by 
me. Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

throush the Commenwealth. 



No. 46. 

Deposition of Nathaniel Knight. 

I, Nathaniel Knight, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, of the 
age of thirty-nine years, blacksmith, depose and say : That on Tuesday, the 
day after Alexander Kelby was killed, I came out to Pawtucket, to see the 
corpse. 1 had a permit from the mayor of Providence, which 1 got to pre- 
vent any trouble to come to Pawtucket. I saw the corpse ; but found it 
was not that of any person I had known, as I had supposed it was. While 
waiting for the stage to return to Providence, and conversing about the 
corpse, I said that it was a mean piece of business to kill a man like that, 
with a laro-e family. A young man standing by, whose name I did not 
know, as I suppose, reported this to Captain Brown, who had the command 
of some soldiers stationed there. It was in front of the building where I 
understood the troops had their headquarters. Captain Brown thereupon 
ordered me to be taken up into the hall ; and I was taken there by the 
soldiers, among whom was this young man, who appeared to be one of 
*■ the company. They told me to go in and sit down with those prisoners. 
There were two there. I sent for Captain Brown, who came ; and I told 
him what I had said ; and, after some conversation, I sent for two men 
who were acquainted with me — one of whom was Bradford Hodges, who, I 
understood, was a charter officer; and upon his recommendation I was re- 



Rep. No. 546. 319 

leased, and returned to Providence. I was in custody about two hours. 
On the Thursday following-, I was working in my shop in the morninof, 
and, when I went home to breakfast^ my wife informed me tljat George B. 
Hohnes had been to my house to inquire for arms and ammunition. On 
the following Saturday, George B. Holmes came to my house, after I was 
in bed, and told me 1 had better leave the State for a week or two, till 
things were settled. I told him I had done nothing, as he very well knew ; 
that all I had done, I had walked up to the polls and voted as a man ought 
to. 1 was a freeholder, and had had a right to vote under the charter. I 
told him I should not leave my wife and property. He said then they 
would have me that night or in the morning. He went out; and, in a few 
minutes, a guard came, consisting of nine negroes and three whites. They 
were all armed with muskets, except the commander, who had a sword. 
He was a white man. The commander and a negro came into the house, 
and took me as a prisoner, and marched me down to the armory. The 
commander ordered me to fall behind, and one of the negroes took hold of 
my arm to lead me. I refused to go in that way ; and told the captain that 
1 would not march through the streets with a negro. He then ordered them 
to halt ; and said, when he ordered them to take hold of me they might. 
'J'he ne^ro let me alone, and we went to the armory, and I was kept prisoner 
there all night, under the guard of these armed negroes. 1 saw but two 
white men there that night, and they turned in and went to sleep, and left 
the negroes to guard. In the morning I got access to the colonel. He in- 
quired what I was there for .' And nobody had any charges against me. 
This was Sunday morning; and 1 asked leave to go home and change my 
clothes. He offered to let me go with the guard. I told him I would not 
go through the street with those negroes ; and, finally, he let a white man 
go with me, with his cartridge-box and bayonet. I went home, changed 
my clothes, and returned with this guard ; and, shortly after, the colonel 
said there was nothing against me, and discharged me. 

NATHANIEL KNIGHT. 

Commonwealth op Massachusetts, Bristol, ss: 

Pawtucket, Mai/ 4, 1S44. 

Personally appeared the above-named Nathaniel Knight, and made oath 
to and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing in his presence, before 
me. 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 47. 

Deposition of Ann Maria Bnffington, 

I, Ann Maria BufRngton, wife of Alfred Buffington, of Providence, in 
the State of Rhode Island, testify and s.-iy : That on Sunday, the 26th day of 
June, 1842j John F. Pond, William P. Blodget, Thomas Sekell, Charles 
Wheelerj William Clark, Bennett Wheeler, jr., and some others, (the per- 



320 Kep. No. 546. 

sons named being all .irmed, and some of the others also armed,) en- 
tered the dwelling-house of said Alfred Buffington, in Providence, without 
knocking or asking admission, late in the afternoon, and proceeded to 
examine such parts of the house as they saw fit. P^rom one of the rooms 
they took and carried away an old musket belonging to my father. Samuel 
Horswell, and then went away. "^Fhe next morning, about seven o'clock, 
the same persons above named, except the two Messrs, Wheeler, together 
with Joseph Belcher and Edward Hurwood, again entered the house, with- 
out leave, and made a second search, in one of the rooms they broke 
open a box containing clothing, and scattered the things about the floor ; 
searching the drawers of my bureau and every room and closet. They al- 
leged that they were in search of my husband, and for powder and shot. I 
asked what he had done that they should search for my husband ? And 
they said he had given a great deal of money to support the suffrage cause. 
I followed them round to every place they searched, and did not miss any 
property after they had gone, except the gun. They placed a guard around 
the house when they came on Sunday afternoon ; and orders were given 

(which 1 heard) by William P. Blodget, to "shoot the d d rascal, if he 

comes out." 

ANN MARIA BUFFINGTON. 

Commonwealth op Massachusetts, Bristol^ ss: 

Pawtucket, May 4, 1844. 
Personally appeared the above-named Ann Maria Buffington, and made 
oath to and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in her pres- 
ence. Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 
tliroiisli the Commonweallh. 



No. 48. 

Deposition of Elizabeth Nutter. 

I, Elizabeth Nutter, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, of lawful 
ao-e, do testify and say : That on Sunday afternoon, the 26th of June, 1842, 
the same persons named in the deposition of Mrs. Ann Maria Buffington 
came from Mr. Buffington's house to the house of his father in-law, (Mr. 
Samuel Horswell,) in Providence, in which I resided ; I saw them, from the 
window, coming from that house. They knocked at the door, and Mr. 
Horswell refused them admittance. They said they would come in and 
look for Mr. Buffington. Mr. Pond then came in, (John F. Pond,) and 
came to my lodging room, from which 1 had heard what had passed. I 
heard Miss Horswell tell Pond that there was no one in my room but my- 
self. He made no reply, but came to the bed-room door, and entered without 
any notice ; being at the time only partly dressed, as he entered the door, I 
retreated into a small closet, or clothes press, and closed the door. He fol- 
lowed quickly, and, without saying anything, he forced the door open while 
I was holding it. I told him there was no one there but myself; that I was 



Rep. No. 546. 321 

dresfsing, and to go about his business. He then seized me by the arm with 
great violence, and drew me forcibly out of the closet into the room. I 
struggled in resisting this alarming violence ; and after he had drawn me out 
into the room, he then said, in a sneering manner, '-Oh, I beg your pardon, 
it is a lady." Before he drew me from the closet, and belore I entered, he 
must have seen me, and known it was a female. He then proceeded over 
the rest of the house, and searched the upper part of the house, and after 
joining his associates I heard him tell them what he had done, viz: that iie 
only found a lady in a clothes press ; upon which they raised a shout of 
lauijhter. They then left a guard at the house, and the rest went away. 
The force which Pond applied to my arm made marks upon it, and caused 
a lameness for several days afterwards. 

ELIZABETH NUTTER. 

CoMM0Nwi-:ALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, Mai/ 4, 1844. 
Personally appeared the above named Elizabeth, and made oath to and 
subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in her presence. Be- 
fore me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

throu'sh the Coniinouweallh. 



No. 49. 

Deposition of Otis Holmes. 

I, Otis [iohiies, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, brewer, fifty 
years of a^e, depose and say : That on Sunday, the 26th of June, 1842, my 
house in Providence was entered by a body of armed men. They searched 
the house, breaking the locks, though I oift-red to give them (he keys. I 
was lying on the bed, and was taken by two men, who seized me by the 
collar. One was named Samuel Thon)as ; the other 1 did not know. 
Charles Harris, at the same time, put a pistol to my breast. They found 
nothing at my house but my training musket, which I had had many 
years; they took it, and have never returned it. They carried me to my 
brewery, and broke in there ; I had previously offered them the keys of my 
premises. In the brewery they found two old ducking guns, without locks, 
and one old musket with a shattered lock and no ramrod. They took these, 
and they have never been returned. There was also a hunting powder- 
horn, with about half a pound of powder, and a cannister of about a pound 
of powder, which belonged to another man who left it there. They also 
broke into my store and counting room, and ransacked that, my private pa- 
pers, and then marched me to the office of Henry L. Bowen, esq., justice of 
the peace. I was carried through the streets by two men, having hold of 
my collar, and another in front, with a pistol. There were about thirty 
men with muskets; I made no resistance. The course lay through the 
principal street of the city. I heard no charges, and was not examined be- 
fore Mr. Justice Bowen ; but was marched to jail, with a file of soldiers, in 
21 



322 Rep. No. 546. 

company with ten others, I was put in a room in the jail, and remained 
there seven days, and then, withont examination, put into one of the cells ot 
the State prison with seven others. It was large enough for us to lie down, 
by lying heads and points. 1 remained there twenty one days. Tlie suf- 
fering was extreme, from heat and want of air, with plenty of vermin. The 
health of the prisoners suffered materially. During this time 1 was exam- 
ined by the commissioners. They char*^ed me with keeping arms to aid 
the suffrage cause. No proof was shown. I was remanded. 1 tlien got a 
writ of habeas corpus before Judge Staples, of the supreme court, and went 
before him in a room in the jail, and, upon a hearing, was discharged. I 
was then immediately committed by the deputy sheriff, on a warmnt from 
Henry L. Bowen, on a charge of treason, I then applied for another writ 
of habeas corpus, which Judge Staples ordered to be iieard before the whole 
court at Newport. I was there heard, and allowed bail in tlie sum of 
twelve thousand dollars, with sureties. At the next sitting of the court in 
the county of Providence, the grand jury found no bill against me, and I 
was discharged. I was in close prison fifty-nine days. 

OTIS HOLMES. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol^ ss: 

Pawtucket, Muy 9, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above-named Otis Holmes, and made oath to and 
subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in his presence. Before 
me. 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Cof/wiissiojier, and Justice of ihe Peace 

throvgh the Comnionwealth. 



No. 50. 

Deposition of Martin Luther. 

Bristol, R. I., (County Juil^) April 3, 1844. 
I, Martin Luther, of the town of Warren, county of Bristol, and State of 
Rhode Island, depose and say: That in the early movements of the suffrage 
party in Rhode Island, in the year 1841, I did not take any active part, save 
voting for the delegates to frame a constitution, and for the sauie when it 
was submitted to the people for Iheir adoption or rejection ; but afier the 
adoption of the constitution, and the General Assembly, by their acts, at- 
tempted to prevent its going into peaceable operation, and raised the question 
of sovereignty between the people and themselves, I became deeply inter- 
ested, attended meetings, acted on committtes, and, in fact, acted in any ca- 
pacity the people saw fit to place me. On the 18th of April, 1842, 1 was 
elected moderator of a town meeting in Warren, under the peof)le's consii- 
tution, and presided over the same, receiving the votes of my lellow citizens 
for general, state, and town ofhcers. Of the organization of the govern- 
ment under said constitution, and the attempt to take pos^ession of the State's 
property, 1 need not give particulars ; sufiice it to say, lluit on the 27lh of 
June following, my friends became alarmed for my safety, and advised me 



Rep. No. 546. 323 

\c> leave the State ; which I did, and went to Fall River. The next day 
(2Sih) I reiurned as far as Coriieil's tavern, in Swansey, Massachnsett?, 
wlieie I was again advised by friends to retnrn to Fall River, they not deem- 
ing: it safe f^tr me to remain even there; which I did the same even ms^. 
Between the hours of three and four o'clock, in the morning of the next day, 
(29th,) within forty-eight hours after I had left home, the inmates of my house 
in Warren were awakened by the forcible entiy of nine armed ruffians, viz: 
Stephen Johnson, liUiher M. Borden, James Gardner, VVilham L. Brown, 
John H. Munroe, William B. Sneii, (surveyor of the United States for the 
port of Warren, district of Bristol,) Hammond Snrgeant, Silas P. Mnrim, 
and John Kelly, all of Warren, who burst in the outside and an inner door; 
a servant girl, who was awakened by the noise, sprang out of bed, and put 
her fingers upon tlie latch of the door opening into her lodging-rootn, and 
requested the persons outside to give her time to dress herself, and sfje wonJd 
llien open the door; this was answered by an injmediateentry of fonr or five 
anued men into her room. My mother, whose lodging room opened out of 
tlie former room,, and who had succeeded in gettu)g on a portion of her 
dress, entered the room at the same moment tlie rnflians did, and was met 
by one of them, who pointed a weapon at her breast, and said : *-Tell me 
where Martin l^iuher is, or I will run you. thioughV She replied that { 
had gone to Fall River. He said: ^'- DoiiH yon. lie to im^P She then re- 
peated that I had gone to Fall River. He then said: "You lie," and re- 
peated tile tlireat if she did not tell. She replied: "You can do as yoji 
please; but if Martin is not in Fall River, I don't know where he is." He 
then tnrned to leave her, and she asked him by what autjiority they had 
entered the house in that manner. He replied, by the authority of the State 
of Rhode Island. She told him she should like to see their authority. He 
then asked for a light, which my mother procured, but no authority was 
shown her. In the mean time, a part of the gang had proceeded up stairs, 
where two hired men lodged that worked on my farm ; they being alarmed 
at the noise- below, had etideavored to secrete themselves in a small room, 
containino: a very low bedstead, on which were a nutuber of ariicles of win- 
ter bed clothing. One of them attempted to get under the bed ; but there not 
being sufficient space between the bedstead and floor, he could not get but 
about hallVay under, and in that situation was found. On dragging him 
out, one of the gang remarked : '• We have got him ;" and another of the 
company, who was below, and heard the remark, started up stairs, and ex- 
claiujed as he went, '• if they have fjund him, I will kill Aim," My mother 
replied: "If you have found him, you may kill him." Afier they had fin- 
ished their search, and told my mother they should visit her again and hum- 
ble her yet, they departed, taking with them, as prisoners, my hired nien, 
(Loranus A. Brayton and Stafford Healy,) whom they committed to jail in 
Bristol, where they remained some ten days, although neither of them had 
taken an active part in the suffrage movements; during which time, the 
crops otj my farm suffered severely for want of attention, The foregoing 
facts, of my house being beset, have been furnished me by the then in- 
mates; and I have a suit now pending in the United States court at "Wash- 
ington, against the nine individuals, who do not deny the ficts, bit plead 
justification under inartud lan\ which was then in force in this Sfate. 

A {'i,'^ days previous to the annua! election in April, 1813,1 returned into 
the Slate of Rhnde Island, and remained until the dec tic i was over. After 
it was ascertained that the whigs had carrit d tlie Stat , the day after the 



324 Rep. No. 546. 

election I was arrested on complaint of Stephen Mnriin and William Ccvrr,- 
jr., (ihe former the father of one of the ruffians that broke into my house,) 
for acting as moderator of the town meeting of April 18ih, 1842, and com- 
mitted to the county jail in Bristol; alter remaining in confinement two 
days. Messrs. Jonathan Sainh and Salathiel Jones became my bail, and were 
bound in the sum of $2,000 for my appearance at the next September term 
of the supreme court for the county of Bristol. At the meeting of the conrt 
in Septeujber, a bill of itidictment was found against me, and the trial con- 
tinned until the next March term of the court ; the same gentlemen contin- 
uing my bail. On the 12th of March, 1844, 1 appeared before the court, was 
tried, convicted of acting as moderator of the town meeting of April 18th, 1842, 
and sentenced to pay a fine of $500, with costs of prosecution, and to be im- 
prisoned in Bristol county jail for the term of six months from the r2th 
March, 1844, where I now remain. 

MARTIN LUTHER. 

Bristol, 55/ 

Bristol, ^;jr?7 3, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above-named Martin Luther, and made oath to 
the truth of the aforegoing statement by him signed. Before me, 

WM. C. VAiN DOORN, 

Justice of the Peace. 



No. 51, 

Deposition of Stajford Htaly. 

I, Stafford Healy, of Rehoboth, in the county of Bristol, m the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts, yeoman, of lawful age, testify and say : That on 
the twenty-ninth day of June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and 
ti;rty-two, when at work for Martin Luther, in the town of Warren, in the 
State of Rhode Island, and being myself at that lime a citizen of said War- 
ren, I was forcibly taken by a number of armed men early in the morning, 
some lime before sunrise, who broke into the house and took me therefrom, 
and carried me to an hotel, when, after making some inquiries of me, I was 
again removed to the jail of Bristol county, and tliere confined for the space 
of seven or eight days, when I was examined by Joseph M. Blake, and 
discharged in the course of three days — nothing being, as he said, found 
against me ; and all by no authority, to my knowledge, except that offeree. 

STAFFORD HEALY. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss: 

April 5, 1844. 

Then personally appeared before me, the subscriber, one of the justices of 
the peace in and for said county, the abovrnamed Stafford Healy, who was 
examined and sworn, according to law, to the truth of the above deposition 
by him subscribed; taken to be used at thecity of Washington, before a special 
commitlee on a memorial there pending from citizens of the State of Rhode 
Island. Before me, 

SAMUEL BULLOCK, 
Justice of t/te Peace, 



Rep. No. 546. 325 

lY. — Deposlions }'ela'i/t,S' to the taking of Acote's Hill — Orders to the mili- 
tnry — Interference of United States officers^ and use of custom-house for 
military stores. 

No. 52. . 

Deposition of Joseph Holhrook. 

I, Joseph Holbronk, of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, forty-seven 
years of age, depose and say: That, on the morning of the 2Sth of June, 
1812, I u'-as at Chepatchet in Rhode Island, near x'\cote's hill. When I ar- 
rived (here, the fortification on the liill was abandoned by the snflrage partjr, 
so called. 1 was standing in front of General Sprao;ne's hotel, having no 
weajion of any description, except a small cane. There were at that time 
no persons present who were armed or exhibited any hostile intent. An 
advance of from eighteen to twenty five men, of the charter troops (so called.) 
came up to tlie hotel, the main body of a division of about seven hundred 
men not being then insigiit. The advance party were a/med with rifles or 
car!)ines, and swords and pistols; and as they approached, at double quick 
time, ihey fired tlieir pieces, widiout any apparent cause or the least provo- 
cation, at any persons they saw, indiscriminately. When this advance party 
came up to t!)e hotel, I iiiciuircd ot one of tliens who commanded the party; 
and he said Liieutenant Pitman, and pointed him out to me. From what 
1 then learned and saw, I have not the least doubt that this person was Mr. 
Pitman, tlie clerk of the United States courts of Rhode Island. I said 
there was no need of violence. Several persons were standing in the entry 
of the hotel — the front door being open. There was no show of resistance, 
and nothing to make it with. One of the persons in the entry was recog- 
nised by the men who had come up, as Mr. Mddy — a sufFrag ■ man, as 1 then 
undt^nstood He was called by name, and ordered to come out. He re- 
plied th:it he should not. Two of the armed party then rushed into the 
liouse^ to force him out. A scuffle ensued between them in the entry, and 
the front door was accidentally shut. Lientenanl Pitman, observing this, 
gave (he door a kick with his foot, but it did not open. He then leveled 
and took aim with his carbine, a seven barreled short piece, and appeared 
to be gi'ing to discharire it. Seeing tfiis, I caught him by the shoulder, ard 
begged of him not to fire, as he might kill some of his own men as well as 
others. He ref)lied, "I don't care a iiiod damn if I can kill somebody," and 
instantly fired. A ball passed through the key-hole of the frotit door, and 
took eiiect ni the thigh of Horace Bardine, and I saw him in a few min- 
utes coining from the house led by two, and shot in the thigh. Lieutenant 
Pitm.m's party char2:ed upon ihem as soon as they appeared, and they were 
forced back, and 1 did not see Bardine afterwards. The party remained 
posted in front of the liouse, with their pieces leveled, ready to fire upon 
any one who should attempt to escape. At the time this occurred, Colonel 
William Mitchell, with whom I came to the place that morning from curi- 
osity, was, as I believe, in tlie hotel, in a room just beyond the entry, and 
siearly opposite. Soon after tliis occurrence, one of the divisions- of the 
mam body of the charter troops cairie up, and I was arrested by order of 
Crawford Allen, and was confined with forty or fifty others in a small room 
of the hotel — most of whom had been taken by the troops on their march 
?<> Chepatchet, These men were not armed, and I saw no evidence that 
ihey hud taken any hostile part whatever in the controversy. They ap- 



326 Rep. No. 546. 

peared to have been taken indiscriminately, to make a show of prisoners. 
1 was examined by Mr. Alien as to my object in being there, which did not 
appear to satisfy him; and I was put under ojnard, and ordered to be sent to 
Providence f)r fiirther examination. Having taken no hostile part, I did 
not d<^em my detention necessary, nor in accordance with military usages ; 
and. iiiiding an opportunity, I availed myselt of it to leave them — the rest 
of the prisoners remaining in the room. 1 have heard read the deposi- 
tion of Colonel William Mitchell, with whom I was in company most of the 
time, and his statements in regard to the condition of the hill, and the state 
of affairs there, I know to be correct. 

JOSEPH HOI.BROOK. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Suffolk, ss.- 

Boston, Map 13, 1S44. 
Personally appeared the abovenamed Joseph Holbrook, and made oath 
to and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me. Before me, 

B. F. HALLRTT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Coinmonweallh. 



No. 53. 

Deposition of Ariel Ballou. 

1, Ariel Ballon, of Woonsocket, in the State of Rhode Island, physician^ 
depose and say : That I have seen and read an atiidavit pnrporiiny to have 
been sworn to in Providence, tlie 23d of June, 1842, before Henry L. 
Bowen, justice of the peace, by Chailes F. Harris, which is on page 43 of 
Document No. 225 of tlie "Isti^ession of the 2Sth Congress, House of Rep- 
resentatives, executive," accompanying the President's message on tlie 
afiiiiirs of Rliode Island. Said Harris there testifies, that, while he was in 
custody of officers of the suffrage troops, on the 23d of June, 1842, between 
Chepatchet and Woonsocktt, they met a doctor, whom be describes as "a 
Doctor Ballon, who lives in Woonsocket," who stopped his sulkey, and, in 
conversation with the said officers, told them that "we" (nwaning the suf- 
frage men) "have five cannon at (Jhepatchet," and that he agreed to send 
thetn over with horses. There is no other physician of njine or a similar 
name in Woonsocket or vicinity, atid this statement was obviously int^-rided 
to refer to me, and appears to have been used for the purpose of influencing 
the President of the United States. So far as concerns myselt^, it is utterly 
false. I was a member of the charter legislature from Cumbi riand, in 
which a part of the village of Woonsocket lies, and at that time was at 
Newport, in attendance on the bgislature. I never knew or heard of any 
sucti transaction, until I heaid of it tbroug'i the said affidavit. 1 have also 
read ajstatement to tlie President of the United Stiites, in the sanie docu- 
ment, page 21, No. 6, in which Mr. John Whipple, under date of April 9,. 
1842, informs the President that "nearly all the leaders, (of the suffrage 
party,) who are professional men, have abandoned them, on the ground: 
that u majority is not in favor of their constitution." I think this stutemeus 



Rep. No. 546. 327 

is incorrect; I knowof tio leader, or profession t\l man, who had abandoned 
tlie party at that time, op that ground. I think I was in a situation to have 
known it, if such was tfie fact. I was a member of the convention that 
framed the people's constitmion, and one of tlie committee ttiat counted 
the votes, the report of which committee is given in the same congressional 
document, No. 32, wFiere my name appears. The votes were fairly and 
correctly counted ,' and I then believed, and still believe, from all the evi- 
dence in the case, that there was a clear majority for the constitution. INo 
proof has ever been offered, to my knowledge, that would affect this result, 
nor do 1 believe can be. 

ARIEL BALLOU. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol^ ss : 

Pawtucket, May 10, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above-named Ariel Ballon, and subscribed and 
made oath to the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in his presence. 
Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of iJie Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 54. 

Deposition of William Mitchell. 

1, William Mitchell, of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, forty years 
of asfe, merchant, depose and say: 'i'hat having business to transact at Nor- 
wich, Coiineclicut, 1 left Boston in the cars for that purpose, on Monday, 
June 27, 1842, intending to return via Providence, Rhode Island, where I 
Iiad bills to collect. On my way to Norwich, in the cars, I was introduced 
to Messrs. Johnson and Weeks, reporters for Boston newspapers, who were 
going direct to Acote's hill, to give a correct report of the proceedings going 
on there; and, in consequence of hearing some exciting stories by tlie way, 
of an expected battle, 1 was induced to change my route and accompany 
the reporters to the gcene of action. We left the cars at Pomfret. and pro- 
ceeded by wagon to Chepatchet. It raininof hard, we stopped for the night 
at Cady's tavern, in Glocpster, and were there informed by men who had 
come from Acote's hill that Governor Dorr's troops had been disbanded, and 
that a compromise had been made. We were then four miles from the 
camp, and in the morning resolved to go and see it. We arrived there 
about half past five o'clock, viz: Messrs. Weeks and Johnson, Joseph Hol- 
brook, and myself— all of Bosion. None of us were armed in any respect, 
nor, to my knowledge, had the slightest intention of interference. We went 
up on to the hill and in the camp; it was completely deserted; there was 
not a living thing in if, nor any armed men around or near it. The breast- 
work was slightly thrown up, insufficient to protect the men. There were 
seven iron cannon, three and six pounders, badly mmiMted, and no other 
armament, except a bent bayonet and a \p\v rusty pikes, with some cannon 
cartridges and ball in a broken wagon. There were about seventeen tents 



328 Rep. No 546. 

standing — the marquee having been burnt d down, tlie fireslill smouldering-. 
The delences were wholly inefficient as a military position. Finding the 
guns loadi-d, we conchided to fire them off— partly from sport, and partly to 
prevent the boys who had followed us up from the vilhige, from doing any 
mischief. VYe touched them off with a brand from the burning marquee. 
'^I'here were also a number of cannon cartridges, loose cannon balls, and 
boxes with scrap iron in them, on the field. We then went down to 
Sproffue's hotel, a few rods from the hill, and ordered breakfast. Up to 
this time we had seen no troops on either side, nor an armed man in the 
village. We were on the hill about an hour. While breakfist was pre- 
pariiiij, about seven o'clock, we saw a body of men coming from the direc- 
tion of Providence, about thirty in nunjber. Tliey went up the hill, and 
went into the fort. No person was there, when tliey took possession. The 
body of men, who were armed but not uniformed, soon after came down 
from the hill to the hotel, and surrounded it. There was no resistance or 
opposition to their movements. They came into tlie hotel, and seized a 
Mr. Eddy, who was in the entry. A scuffle ensued, in which Mr. Eddy 
e.scaped, and went out at the rear of the building. Two shots were fired, 
and Horace Bardine, who was standing in the entry, was shot, in the thif,di. 
I was in the dining-room, at the breakfast table, looking through the door 
that led into the entry. The shot that struck Mr. Bardine must have come 
through the front door. There was not the least occasion for firing these 
shots. I went out in front of the hotel, and sat down with Messrs. Weeks 
and Johnson. Colonel Brown then came up with the main body of the 
troops, in much hurry and disorder in their ranks. Colonel Brown, who 
appeared to be the conmiander, and who knew me personally, came up and 
shook hands with me; and I introduced Messrs. Weeks and Johnson, and 
explained to him the circumstances under which I was there. I was, 
nevertheless, detained as a prisoner till sundown, under guard. At that 
time, Colonel Bankhead of the United States army, who passed by the 
window, was recognised by Mr. Weeks, who introduced me to him as the 
comn)ander of the detachment that had performed the funeral escort at the 
burial of his friend, Major Loma.v, at the arsenal in Watertown, Massa- 
chusetts. By his kind interference, 1 was then released. Messrs. Weeks 
and J(;Iinson were released at the same time, by the interference of Thurlow 
Weed, esq., of New York, who was there, as 1 understood, as cou)missioner 
from New York. Wliile under guard, I was frequently insulted by armed 
men, and, in one instance, had to call for protection to the giuiids. I never 
experienced such brutal treatment, and never heard of such in civilized 
warfare. John Gdes, an Englishman, a son of Hon. James F. Sim.mons, 
and a Mr. Harris, were the most abusive. General Stead, and a son of 
John H. Clark, treated me like gentlemen. I was examined by Mr. Craw- 
ford Allen, L. W. Clifibrdj Colonel William Brown, and ex-Lientonant 
Governor Dimon, in the morning, and offered to prove that I came into the 
State unarmed, and after every insurirent (so called) had left the place ; but 
1 was kept prisoner until released, as above. I had never seen Governor 
Dorr, to my knowledge, and had never received any conmiunication from 

WM. MITCHELL. 



Rep. No. 546. 329 

CoMMO-\WEAr/rH OF MassachusI'Tts, Suffolk, ss: 

Boston, May 5, 1844. 
Then the said VVillialn Mitchell, beincr duly cautioned and sworn, niade 
and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in his presence. 
Before nie, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner^ and Justice of the Peace 

^^ through the Coinnionwealth. 



No. 55. 
Deposition of Harvey Chafes. 

I, Harvey Chafee, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Lsland, forty 
years of age, depose and say : I'hat, on the 2&ih day of June, 184?^, I was 
first lieutenant of the uniied company, Train Anilkry of Providence. I 
had formerly held the commission of lieutenant colonel in the same com- 
pany, and resigned in 1833, and continued an honorary member. On the 
27th of June I was elected lieutenant, and, understanding the company 
was only to be used as an unarmed patrol, I accepted the commission, and 
was qualified, '^rhe company then had no arms ; Col. Bradford Hodges 
was/he commander. Tuesday morning, the 28th, after it was known that 
a man had been shot at Pawtucket, we paraded at tlie armory. As one of 
the officers, I was there shown an order from Governor King to Col. Brad- 
ford Hodges, to this effect: "You are conunanded to proceed forthwith to 
Pawtucket, and blow up Pawtucket bridge." The order was signed by 
Samuel W. King, commander-in-chief J have a distinct recollection that 
snch was the substance of the order, and am certain that it was an order to 
blow up the bridge. There were two cannon mounted, with ammunition ; 
but we had no muskets. We were expecting every moment muskets from 
Massachnsetis. Shortly after, the muskets did arrive at the railroad depot, 
from Boston, and were brought to the armory in boxes. The uiuskets 
were there taken out of the boxes, and were the United States M«ssachu- 
setts mtiskets. They were in very bad condition ; the bayonets would not 
fit, and could not be made to fit, Tiiey were afterwards tried, and many 
of them could not be got off, and the charges had to be drawn. After the 
muskets were distributed, we proceeded to Pawtucket with the twocaimon, 
and, when half the distance ludted and charsjed the camion with canister 
and £ra[)e, and the small arms with ball ; then proceeded to Pawtucket 
bridge, and drew up the cannon so as to command the bridge and the Mas- 
sachusetts side. We saw no armed persons, nor any disturbance, nor indi- 
cation of an invasion of Rhode island from Massachusetts. There was 
excitement growing out of what had happened the night previous, but no 
dirert interference with us. Col. podges commimicated to one of the 
officers of one of the companies which were at Pawtucket wlien we arrived, 
that his orders were to blow up the bridge, and he took the command of 
the forces. During some parts of the time we were stationed there, tliere 
were as many as four hundred troops, I should judire. It was understood 
that Capt. Olney, who commanded one of tl^ companies, (the carlsiniers,) 
was a New York man, and not a citizen of Rhode island. 'I'iie artillery 



330 Rep. No. 546. 

company occupied this post lill Thursday noon, when we took up our Hue 
of murch for Providence. While we were in Pawtucket, I could not see 
the least occasion for the company being stationed there. 

HARVEY CHAFEE. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, May 10, 1844. 
Personally appeared the above-named Harvey Chnfee, and, being duly 
cautioned and sworn, made and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing 
by me in his presence. Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner., and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 56. 

Deposition of William C. Thayer. 

1, William C. Thayer, of Providence, Rhode Island, testify and say : 
That, in April, 1842, I was orderly sergeant of the United Independent 
Volunteers of Providence, an independent chartered company from the 
year 1794. I had previously been commander of the company for six 
years. In that monih, immediately after the election under the people's 
constitution, and before Gov. Dorr was inaugurated, or had done any act 
as governor, an order was received from Gov. King, as commander-in- 
chief to the company, to hold themselves in readmess at thirty minutes' 
warning, and to report the condition and force of the company. The order 
was made known to the company, and report made accordingly. It was 
understood that all the military companies received a similar order about 
the same time. Subsequently, an order came to the volunteers to ascertain 
if we would support the charter government, and, if not, to rsturn llie arms. 
The cojrnpany unanimously voted to snpjiort the people's constitution, be- 
lieving that was the law of the land. After the 18th of May, the principal 
part ol the arms were delivered up to Gen. Cirrington, one of Gov. King's 
council. Subsequently, the charter legislature annulled the charter of the 
compnny without notice. The private property of the company was taken 
by charter troops, and has never been returned. The majority of the 
Cadet Company, as I was informed, and have no doubt, was in favor of the 
people's constitution. The minority for the charter government held a 
meeting, and admitted new meiBbers of their side, and then expelled the 
others, who would have been a mnjority. Of this fact I was informed by 
members of the company, and have no doubt ; similar changes, it is well 
known, were made in other compames. 

WILLIAM C. THAYER. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, Majj 11, 1844. 
Personally appeared the above-named William C. Thayer, and made 



Kep. No. 546. 331 

oath to the foregoino^, reduced to writing by me in his presence. Before 
me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioher, and Jus/ice of the P>are 

tJirou^k the Comvionumlth. 



No. 57. 

Deposition of George S. Reid. 

I, George S. Reid, of Fail River, in the Smte of i\'5assachnsetts, cnrpen- 
ter, twenty eiglit years of age, testify and say : That 1 was enlisted at Detroit 
in 11S39, and was in service as a United States soldier at Fort Adams, in 
Newport, Rhode Island, and was at that station from 1841 till the fidi of 
1S43. I was then ordered to Fort Hamilton, and took my discharge in 
February, at the expiration of my term of servire. About the time of the 
Cfje[)atchet affair, or the Ftderal hill, and before I heard of any troops go- 
ing tiiere, orders were pnblislied at the fort, on parade, that con)pauy E, 
with detachments of companies A and B, were ordered from Forts Hamil- 
ton and Cohmibus, New York, to Fort Adams. This was the substance of 
the ordmr. There was then at Fort Adams about the ordinary complement 
of men. Shortly after the order, the^etachment arrived at the fort under 
Captain Marchant, of the United Slates army, who assumed the command 
at the fort as senior officer. Immediately alter the troops were inspected, 
to see if their arms and accoutrements were in order for actual service, and 
all defective arms were supplied, and forty rounds of bill cartridges, with 
flints, were issued to each man ; also, haversacks for carrying rations to 
all who were deficient in them, and the men in all respects equipped for 
active service. Provisions (or two days' rations were ordered to be cooked, 
and the cooking went on. They were kept in the cook room ready, but 
were not served out. We were daily inspected, to show that our arms and 
ammaaition were in order, including the whole effective force. We were 
ordered, through the orderly sergeant, to bold ourselves in marching order 
to take the steamboat at any moment for Providence. During this time. 
Colonel l^ankhead was frequently at the fort, and inspected the men at dif- 
ferent times. It was distinctly understood by me, and, I liave no doubt, by 
the men generally, from the communications of the officers to the non com- 
missioned officers, that we were to be ordered to Providence, for tlie pur- 
pose of acting with the charter troops ajjainst the suffrage men. The sub- 
ject was much talked of amona: the soldiers, and there was a strong aver- 
sion to eui/age m such a service. The sympathies of tlie soldiers univer- 
sally, as I believe, were on the other side. Powder in keo^ was received at 
the fort from Newport, which was understood to be State ammunition, and 
was put in a magazine, and a sentry placed over it. This powder was 
taken away from time to time. Acting Ordnance Sergeant Boat told me 
lh;,t he had issued fixed ammunition for six poiuuiers to the State Artil- 
lery company at Newport, and that musket cartridges had also been fur- 
nished to the militia. A cartridije here shown me is the same description 
that was served out to us at the f irt. It is a United Slates cartridge, pecu- 
liar m the fold, and such as 1 never saw out of the United States service. 



332 Rep. No. 546. 

Sergeant Boat I "left at Fort Hamilion, New York, where I understand he 
now is. A guard was detailed from Fort Adams to Fort Wolcott, in New- 
port harbor, which had previously been unoccnpied. I carried my car- 
tridges about three weeks, and then gave them in, and things subsided at 
the fort as they were before. 

GEORGE S. REID. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pav/tucket, May 11. 1844. 

Personally appeared the above-named George S. Reid, and made oath to 
the foregoing, and subscribed the same, reduced to writing by me in his 
presence. Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

lltrough the Vommouweallh. 



No. 58. 
Deposition of Thomas Reid. 

I, Thomas Reid, of Cranston, iugthe State of Rhode Island, mechanic, 
forty-two years of age, depose and say: That I keep an umbrella and dry 
goods store in Providence, and in June, 1842, had my place of business in 
Providence. On Sunday, the 2tith of June, 1842, 1 was in Providence, 
having brought my family to attend church, as usual Coming down Col- 
lege street in the forenoon, I was Ijailed by Sylvester Hartshorn, United 
States marshal, tie stopped me, and said he understood I had been talking 
to the soldiers on the hill, (meanitig the charter troops on Benefit street,) 
and told me that " if I did not shut up my head, and keep my d — d tongue 
between my teeth, he would have me taken up in less than five mmutes." 
He said I had been talking to the soldiers, and preaching the doctrine that 
all men were created equal, and that the sovereignty rested in the people, 
and they had a right to alter and new model their government wlienever 
they saw fit. He said this was a damnable doctrine, and the cause of all 
our troubles. I had not been conversing with the soldiers, but with a 
friend on the sidewalk. I repeated to said Hartshorn the doctrine I main- 
tained, and quoted, in proof, thesayi;;gs of Washington and Jefferson. He 
told me it was no time to have such talk over ; and if I did not keep my 
tongue between my teeth, I should be connnitted. 

When the charter troops returned from Acote's hill, I saw the prisoners 
marched throug^i the streets tied together. Their arms were pinioned be- 
hind them with ropes passed from one man to the next, tying each platoon 
together from ten to twelve abreast. There were from one hundied to one 
hundred and fifty so lied, with files of soldiers on each side, and bodies in 
front and rear. There was a large military force, and there was no need, 
as I could see, for tying the prisoners. 1 had seen in Scotland a hundred 
and fifty French prisoners escorted by fifty British soldiers, bui the prison- 
ers were not tied or secured. The apparent object, as far as I could see, 
was to expose the prisoners to derision. They repeatedly lialted, while 



Rep, No. 546. 333 

marching through t!ie streets, and there was n.nch exhibition of trinmph. 
In the ranks of one of the cliarter ccmpaiiies I noticed Mr. Hartshorn, the 
United States marshal, marcliing vviih a musket. 

THOMAS REID. 

Commonwealth of M ass achv setts, Biisiol, ss: 

Pawtucket, Mat/ 11, 1844. 
Personally appeared the above-named Thon:)as Reid, and made solemn 
affirmation, under the pains and penalties of perjury, that llie foregoing, 
reduced to writing by nie in his presence, and by him subscribed, is true. 
Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, ^c, and Justice of Peace 

tlirouirh the Commonwealth. 



No. 59, 

Deposition of. Peter Norton. 

I, Peter Norton, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, drover; 
fifty years of age, depose and say: That on the 27lh of June, 1842, I was 
a resident in Pavvtuxet village, m the town of Cranston. On the morning 
of that day I was in my son inlaw's blacksmith shop, and was there seized 
by Remington Arnold, an inspector of customs at the port of Pavvtuxet. 
Arnold vvns armed, and accompanied by other armed men, who appeared 
to be under his command. He seized me by the shoulder, with violence, 
appearing to be in a great rage, and ordering me to go with him. I asked 
him for his authority. He replied that he volunteered his services to arrest 
me for saying that 1 believed Thomas W. Dorr to be the ffgal governor of 
the State. He carried me to the quarters of the company, before the captain; 
and they charged me that I had been against them in party, and had favored 
tlie suffrage party. There was no pretence that I had done any imlawful 
act, except express my opinions. A two-horse lumber- wagon was then got, 
(which belonged lo .lohn B. Francis, now United States Senator,) into which 
I was put, with Arnold and eleven others, all armed, and driven to Provi- 
dence, five miles. I was carried to the office of Henry L. Bowen ; Arnold 
handed me over to the justice, and gave my name. The justice asked what 
the crime was. Arnold replied, " he says he believes that Dorr is the legal 
governor of the State." The justice called on me to answer ; and I said I 
did think so, and 1 had not changed my mind. The justice then said, "that 
is enough." There was Mr. Holmes in prison for treason, and they would 
probably keep him there for twenty j-ears. The justice said that if I could get 
some respectable persons to vouch for me as a good citizen, and would sign 
a paper that I would conform to their governuient, and the laws of their 
charter, then they would let me go. Tliey called in Mr. Joseph Butler, 
who was a neighbor of mine, and one of their party; and after talking with 
him, they said that he advised to let me go. The justice, or some one in 
his presence, handed me a printed paper, and said, if I would sign that, I 
might go. I had not my spectacles, and told them I signed nothing I could 



334 Rep. No. 546. 

not see. Christopher Rhodes, of Pawtnxet, who knew me well, was called 
on, and was asked if 1 was a dangerous man. He said not ; that I was a man 
he was not afraid to have come njto his house, but that I had the most in- 
fluence of any man in the place with the suffrage people, though I had done 
nothing; but he would not consent that 1 should i^o. This was the whole 
amount of the evidence against me. A guard was then brouglit, and I 
was marched off to prison, and remained there sixteen days. 1 was then 
carried before the commissioners' court ; no charges were made, ai-id I was 
discharged. On my way home, on foot, I was overtaken by Mr. William 
Rhodes, (brother of Christopher,) who said that Mr. Carrington had threat- 
ened my arrest again, because I had complained of my living in jirison. 
Fearino- I should again be imprisoned, the next day I left my fiimily in 
Pawtuxet, and went out of the State. I was a farmer, and left my haying. 
After a few days' absence, I was informed by my son. from Mr. Rhodes, 
that I might come back ; and I then returned. While I was in prison, my 
house was searched, as 1 was informed by my wife, but no arms were found. 
When I was first arrested, P'ileg Aborn, surveyor of the port of Pawtuxet, 
was one of the guards at the headquarters ; Elisha H. Rhodes, the United 
States boatman, was also one of the guard, and under arms. Arnold, since 
my discharge, has often boasted of what he did to arrest me, and defied me 
to make his conduct known at Washington. When I was arrested, I was 
unarmed, and had not used a musket or any deadly weapon for twenty 
years, and do not believe, under our government, it is necessary to resort 
to arms to settle political questions. 1 was a strong supporter of President 
Harrison, and know of no reason why I was arrested, exce[)t the opinion 1 
expressed as to Governor Dorr. I voted for the people's constitulionj but 
had not voted for Dorr for governor. 

PETER NORTON. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss: 

• Pawtucket, May 9, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above-named Peter Norton, and made oath to 
the foregoing, reduced to writing in his presence by me. Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonweallh. 



No. 60. 

Deposition of Albion N. Olney, 

S, Albion N. Olney, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, attorney 
at law, d(^pose and say: Tliat on Sunday, the 2(Jth day of June, 1842, I 
Was on the premises of Otis Holmes, in said Providence, hut not in his 
house, when he was forcibly dragged from it by a number of armed men, 
who had broken into his house. 1 also saw him carried through the streets, 
with a person holding him on each side by the collar, and armed men in 
front and rear. He was marched to the office of Henry L. Bovven. There 
were from twenty to thirty armed men, and many who were not armed. 



Rep. No 546. 335 

1 saw amnng (he leaders Sylvester Hartshorn, the United States marshal 
for the district. He was not armed, having only a cane, but appeared to 
take un active part in the proceedings. 1 saw Mr. Holmes's brewery broken 
open, and also his store and counting-room, and another store adjoining. 
Mr. Hohnes, in the honse and at the brewery, begged them not to break in, 
and he wonid fnrnish the keys; bnt no attention was paid to his request. 
While the soldiers were marching Mr. Holmes throngh Westminster street, 
I heard Joseph F. Arnold, who was an inspector in the custom honse, say 
to his son, (who, armed with a musket and fixed bayonet, marched directly 

in the rear of Mr. Holmes,) " Prick him, Frank; prick the d d sconndrel." 

Mr. Arnold was standing in front of his house as the men passed, and said 
this in an audible voice. I heard and remember the words distinctly. On 
several days after I saw Sylvester Hartshorn, the United States marshal, 
equipped with a musket and accoutrements, drilling and doing duty with a 
volunteer company of citizens. On the 18ih ol May I saw Hon. .lohn 
Pitmiui, judge of the United States district court, in the ranks of the char- 
ter troops, armed with a musket. During the period of martial law, 1 saw 
Edward J. Mallett, tlie Providence postmaster, doing duty as guard in 
College street. At the same time that I saw .ludge Pitman in the ranks, I 
also saw Richard W. Greene, Untied States district attorney, marching as 
one of the soldiers to go on Federal hill, and William R. Watson, collector. 

ALBION N. OLNEY. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, May 9, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above named Albion N. Olney, and made oath 
to and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing in liis presence by me. 
Before nie, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 61. 

Deposition of Simeon Sher7nan,jr> 

1, Simeon Sherman, jr., of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, 
bleacher, twenty-nine years of age, depose and say: On the day Mr. Otis 
Holmes was arrested, I was near his brewery. I saw the men who had 
arrested him break into the brewery. One of these men was Sylvester 
Hartshorn, the United States marshal of Rhode Island. I heard him say 
to the men, " Break the door down ; the State will pay for all the damages." 
They then broke tlie door in, and went into the building. Mr. Hartshorn 
appeared to be at tlie head of the men ; he was in citizen's dress, except the 
cockade on his hat, and had no arms. I also saw the men break into Mr. 
Holmes's store and counting-room. Mr. Hartshorn retnained till they had 
searched the brewery. I do not know where he then went. 

SIMEON SHERMAN, Jr, 



336 Ktp No. 546. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, May 9, 1S44. 

Personally appeared the a!)ove named Simeon Sherman, jr., and made 
oath to and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in his 
presence. Before me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Com/iiissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 62, 
Deposition of Abel Oaks. 

I, Abel Oaks, of Providencfe, in the State of Rhode Island, drayman, 
forty-six years of age, depose and say : That between the 15th and 20th 
of June, 1842, I was apphed to by General Edward Carrington, one of 
the governor's council, to go to James Eames's store in Westminster street, 
Providence, to take a load of musket-balls to tiie customhouse. The load 
was not ready when I got there, and I found that the load I was to take 
was boxes of musket-balls. I saw the balls put into the boxes, and, being 
in a hurry to get the load, assisted in doing so. I took in five boxes, which 
was all they had ready, and carried and left them at the custom house, at 
the north store door, where there was a quantity of military equipments 
and munitions of war, such as boxes of muskets, boxes such as muskets 
are usually packed in, boxes of carbines, cartridge boxes, belts, blankets, 
and other military stores. The boxes of muskets were marked, on some, 
" U. S. and Mass." There were fifteen or twenty boxes, I should think, 
of different sizes, for muskets, carbines, and cartridge boxes. On a num- 
ber of the boxes were also marked, " Samuel Arnes, quartermaster general, 
to the care of B. W. Comstock, master of transportation." 

After this, (to wit, on Monday, the day on which Alexander Kelby was 
shot at Pawtucket,) 1 went with a team to the custom-house, at the request, 
I think, of Mr. Vincent Carr, of the firm of Richmond &. Carr, merchants 
of Providence, who paid me for the job; and there took two boxes of car- 
bines, and delivered them at the store of Richmond & Carr, in North Main 
street. I also took one other box from the custom-house to Carrington's 
block on Water street, which was known as the headquarters of the char- 
ter troops, or rather their depot for arms. 

ABEL OAKS. 

Commonwealth op Massachusetts, Bristol^ ss : 

Pawtucket, May 3, 1844. 
Personally appeared the abov^e-named Abel Oaks, and made oath to 
and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing: in his presence, by me, 

b: f. hallktt. 

Commissioner^ and Justice of the Peace 

throush the Commonvoealth. 



Rep. No. 546. 337 

No. 63. 

Deposition of William Coleman. 

I, William Coleman, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, me- 
chanic, forty-four years of age, depose and say : Tliat on Monday, the 27tli 
of June, 1842, a file of soldiers came to my shop, under the command of 
Edward J. Mallett, postmaster of Providence, He told them to go in and 
search the building; which they did, and took out my training gnn and 
bayonet, and delivered it to ihe said Mallett. Some six weeks after, he 
asked me if 1 was not coming up for my gun. He said it was in a room 
over his office ; that he found he was likely to be responsible for the guns he 
had taken, and he had collected them, and got them in a room over the post 
office. 1 did not go for the gun, nor intend to; and some time after he 
sent a mxn with a new gun to me, which was not my gun, though of equal 
value. Mr. Mallett gave me no reason for searching my shop. There 
was none, except that my opinions were known to be on the suffrage side. 

WILLIAM COLEMAN. 



No. 64. 

Deposition of Stephen G. Coleman. 

T, Stephen G. Coleman, forty years of age, brother and co partner of Wil- 
liam Coleman, testify and say: Tiiat I was present when the facts stated in 
the foregoing deposition of said William took place ; which deposition has 
been read in my hearing, and know the same to be true. I also heard Mr, 
Mallett. when my brother had stepped one side, order the soldiers a second 
time, in a very emphatic manner, to search the building thoroughly. 

STEPHEN G. COLEMAN. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol^ ss : 

Pawtucket, May 4, 1844. 
Then the above-named William Coleman and Stephen G. Coleman 
severally made oath to and subscribed the foregoing, which was reduced 
to writing by me in their presence. 

B, F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, d^c, and Justice of the Peace 
through the Commonwealth. 



No. 6.5. 
Deposition of John L.Johnson. 

I, John L. Johnson, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, me- 
chanic, forty-three years of age, depose and say : That on or about the 21st 
of June, 1842, 1 saw a wagon standing at the custom-house, containing a 
number of keo-s in crocus or canvass bags, A person named to me as Mr. 
"22 



338 Rep. No. 546. 

Diitee Greene had the wagon in charge, and delivered the kegs to General 
Edward Carrington, who received them in the north store of the custom- 
house. Mr. William P. Greene, a custom house officer, was present at the 
time of the delivery, and I asked him if it was customary to make a powder 
magazine of the custom-house. He repHed that it was only going to stay- 
there ten or fifteen minutes. The next day, about 4 o'clock in the after- 
noon, I came by, and the doors of this same store of the custom-house 
(which is under the same roof with the offices) were open. 1 saw General 
Carrington, with two muskets, going from the custom-house to Mr. Little's, 
opposite, a gunsmith. 1 looked into the store, and saw the kegs standing 
in the same place as the day before. There were numbers of loose mus- 
kets and musket boxes in the store, wUh cartridge boxes, belts, and other 
military stores. Samuel Ames, then quartermaster general of the charter 
troops, was in the store, moving a box which appeared to be a box of mus- 
kets, from the manner in which he moved it. About a week after this, I 
saw a box taken from the same room in the custom house, and which ap- 
peared to be a box of muskets, and put into a wagon, which I followed, and 
the wagon stopped at Webster's tavern, on Christian hill, in Providence, 
about a" mile from the customhouse. I there examined the box, and found 
it contained muskets. On the side of the box was marked " Foster." The 
man who was with the wagon, as 1 was informed, was from Foster. About 
tile 26th of June, (or the 27th, 1 think,) 1842, my house was entered and 
searched by Thomas Sekell, Caleb Borrows, Hiram Barker, and one other 
unknown. I asked for their authority, but they showed none. They were 
all armed with muskets ; two of them kept guard in a room, while the 
others searched the house. They said their object was to find muskets and 
ammunition. 1 told them I had none, but they could find them at Mr. 
Rathbun's, my next-door neighbor. They said he was one of their men, 
and did not go there. They found nothing in my house. On Sunday, 
the 26th of June, 1842, while standing at the corner of Green street, in 
Providence, a body of about thirty soldiers came up, headed by Sylvester 
Hartshorn, the United States marshal. They placed a guard there; and a 
Mr. Bowman, who was with me, (and has since died,) asked Mr. Hartshorn 
what the matter was. His reply was, "Do you suppose I would tell you 

before that d d rascal standing there?" (pointing to me.) Mr. Hartshorn 

passed on, with the rest of the soldiers, up to Jackson street, and set a 
guard there, and then went on to Mr. Otis Holmes's brewhouse. Soon 
after I saw them come back with Mr. Holmes — two persons having hold of 
him, and Mr. Hartshorn following directly behind. 

JOHN L. JOHNSON. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, B7'istol,ss: 

Pawtucket, Mmj 3, 1844. 
Then the above-named John L. Johnson, being duly cautioned and sworn, 
made oath to and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing by me in his 
presence. 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, tj'c, a? id Justice of the Peace 
throusrh the Commonwealth. 



Rep. No. 546. 339 

No. 66. 

Deposition of William Haswell. 

I, William Haswell, of Providence, m the State of Rhode Island, shoe- 
maker, forty years of age, depose and say: That about the 20th of June, 1842, 
before martial law was declared, I saw in ihe custom-house in Providence, 
in the north store, five boxes, such as are used to hold accoutrements, 
marked "U. S. A.," in large letters; one was also marked with ink "Samuel 
Ames, ese|., quartermaster, Providence, R. I." This was soon after break- 
fast. At noon, returning from my work, I again saw the boxes. They 
were then all in the building. In the morning two were outside the door, 
as if just landed. A man was then taking cartridge boxes out of one of the 
boxes in the building. It was a cartridge box with broad white belt, brass 
mounted with " U. S. I.," or '■ U. S. infantry," on the back ; they were 
taking them out and hanging them up. 

WILLIAM HASWELL. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol, ss : 

Pawtucket, 31ni/ 3, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above named William Haswell, and, being: duly 
cautioned and sworn, made and subscribed the foregoing, reduced to writing 
in his presence by me, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, <^'c.,mid Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth. 



No. 67. 

Deposition of Thomas Greene. 

I, Thomas Greene, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, thirty- 
one years of age, mechanic, depose and say: That on Monday following 
the declaration of martial law, a file of soldiers came to my house in my 
absence, as my wife informed me, and took away my training-gun, and 
searched the house throughout, 1 did not know who these persons were. 
I went to the mayor, and complained of what they had done, and wanted to 
know how I should get back my gun, and get redress. He told me to go to 
General Carrington, which 1 did ; and he referred me to Captain Shaw, of 
the Third Ward Volunteers, who seemed to know nothing about it. I was a 
freeholder, and was a voter under the charter. About six weeks or two 
months after this, I saw Edward J. Mallett, the postmaster of Providence, 
wh^asked me to go into his room over the post oflice; which I did. There 
were three or four guns there, one of which he said was mine, and that 
under martial law he had gone into my house and taken the gun. He said 
we had been political friends, and he wanted to take good care of my gun, 
for fear it might i)e lost. I asked him by what authority he had searched 
my house ? And he said he had acted under authority of the government, 
and had the command of the men that searched my house. He requested 
me to take the gun home : which I dechned, stating, that if it was taken ac- 



340 Rep. No. 546. 

cording to law and order, it must be returned according to law and order, 
1 asked him how the gun came to be in his possession, if he took it un- 
der the authority of the Rhode Island government? which he explained 
no further than as above — that he took it to take good care of it, to pre- 
vent its beino lost. He said he would send it to my house ; which I de- 
clined, telling him I did not wish to subject my house to another search. 
There was a good deal of conversation, but the above is the substance of 
it. About a fortnight after this — just after dinner — I saw Mr. IVlalleit in my 
parlor with a gun, which he set up by the window, and said " there is your 
gun." I told him 1 could not receive it; he said he could not help it, and 
immediately left the house. IVIy wife, who was present, «aid it was the 
same man who had taken the gun from the house when it was searched. 

THOMAS GREENE. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bristol^ ss : 

Pawtucket, May 4, 1844. 
Personally appeared the above-named Thomas Greene ; and. being duly 
cautioned and sworn, made and subscribed the foregoing, reduced lo 
writing by me in his presence. 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

through the Commonwealth, 



No. 68. 
Deposition of Isaiah Barney, 

I, Isaiah Barney, of Providence, trader, depose and say: That on the 
18ih of May, 1642, after it was understood there was a compromise, and 
^he troops iiad left Federal hill, Sylvester Hartshorn, United States mar- 
shal, came into my store. There was a gnn behind the door, which be- 
longed to Lyman A. Taft, of Smithfield, who was present. Mr. Harts- 
horn questioned him, and he said he had been on Federal hill. He then 
took the gun, and carried it off. In the afternoon 1 met Mr. Hartshorn, and 
asked him if his office was such that it made it his duty to take that gun 
without any process? He said it was; and told me I did well not to in- 
terfere. There was then no martial law, 

I saw the troops when they brought the prisoners into Providence, 
They were tied together, as is described by Henry liord in his deposition. 
1 saw him among them. They were paraded on the great bridge at the 
market-place, and kept there about three-quarters of an hour. 

ISAIAH BARNEY. 



Rep. No. 546. 341 

No. 69. 

Deposition of Lyman A. Taft. 

I, Lyman A. Taft, of Smithfield, in the State of Rhode Island, depose and 
say: 'I'hat the above statement which has been read to me, so far as it relates 
to tfie taking of my gun by Sylvester Hartshorn, is true. Mr. Harishoru 
took me with the gun, and carried me to the hall over the market, but did 
not take me in, and there left me. Afterwards 1 saw him, and asked him 
by what authority he took my gun. H(-) replied., by the authority of the 
United States. I asked him if the United States did not authorize every 
man to keep arms? He said it did, but not in a case of insurrection. I 
told him I did not consider it an insurrection ; I was sent for by the gover- 
nor. He asked. Governor who? I said Governor Dorr. He replied. Dorr 
is not governor, but a rebel. Afterwards he returned the gun to me, but 
made no explanation. 

LYMAN A. TAFT. 

Commonwealth of .Massachosetts, Bristol^ ss : 

Pawtucket, Minj II, 1844. 

Personally appeared the above-named Isaiah Barney and Lyman A. Taft, 
aiifl severally made oath to the foregoing, and subscribed the same, reduced 
lo writing by me in their presence. Before mo, 

B. F. HALLETT, 
Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace 

throusrh the Commonwealth. 



No. 70. 

Deposition of Jedediah Sprague. 

I, Jedediah Sprague, of Glocester, in the county of Providence, State of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, aged forty years, do depose and 
say : That I now am, and have, for the space of about tour and a half years 
past, been the innholder of the Chepatchet Hotel, in said town of Glocester; 
that I was the keeper of said hotel in June, A. D. 1842, at the time of the 
encampment of the suffrage party, or a portion thereof, on Acote's hill, near 
said village of Chepatchet. On Thursday, June 23d, 1842, late in the af- 
ternoon, the suffrage people aforementioned commenced encamping on said 
hill ; early Saturday morning following, (to wit, tlie 25th of June,) Gov. Dorr 
arrived and took roo iis in my house. Two or three days previous to said 
23d oi June, persons known to be in the interest of the charter party, (so 
called,) and hostile to the suffrage party, were reconnoitring this section of 
the State, both in the day and night time. Tuesday and Wednesday eve- 
nings, the 21st and 22d of June, 1842, expresses arrived from Providence, 
bringing the intelligence that armed companies were forming in Providence 
for the purpose of making an attack on the village of Chepatchet ; in conse- 
quence of this information, a portion of the citizens of said village, together 
with a few persons troin other towns, tbrmed a patrol to watch and protect 
liie place. On Wednesday night aforesaid, (which was the first night of 



342 Rep. No. 546. 

the streets being generally guarded,) information was received that large 
numbers of persons had passed the turnpike gate, about four miles east of 
this village, on the direct road to Providence, who were approaching the 
village at about 12 o'clock at night, which is an unusual time for travellers 
to be on the roads in this part of the country. About 1 o'clock on the morn- 
ing of Thursday, the 23d June aforesaid, Messrs. Shelley, Keep, Harris, and 
Peckham were apprehended, all armed with pistols; about which time, sev- 
eral carriages, apparently approaching from towards Providence, hastily 
turned off from the main or turnpike road, some eighty or one hundred rods 
below. The persons taken by the patrol aforesaid were Supposed to be an 
advance guard of the company, which, from the intelligence received, it was 
expected would attack the viilaiic ; and it was supposed that the discharge 
of cannon which took place in the village immediately after the arrest of 
said persons deterred others from entering the village. It being believed 
that the village of Chepatchet would not be strong enough to hold out against 
any considerable number of armed men or strong force, the persons appre- 
hended were marched, with said company of patrol, to Woonsocket, wliere 
said Shelley, Keep, Harris, and Peckham were discliarged. On Thursday, 
the 23d aforesaid, said patrol returned, accompanied by a part of two mili- 
tary companies from Woonsocket, and commenced the encampment on 
Acote's hill, as before stated. Said Acote's hill was in possession of the suf- 
frage party, as aforesaid, until the afternoon of Monday, June 27th. During 
the occupancy of said hill and the village, the sufiYage people were quiet, 
orderly, and peaceable, and the personal rights of the citizens were respected. 
On Saturday morning, the 25th of June, the bar of my house, where liquors 
were sold, was by me, at the request of Gov. Dorr, closed, and remained so 
until Tuesday morning, the 28th. On the afternoon of Monday, the 27th, 
the military on Acote's hill disbanded, and nearly all of them quietly retired 
from the village. An express started from my house on Monday afternoon, 
bearing a communication from Gov. Dorr to Waller S. Burges, esq., of 
Providence, acquainting said Burges with the tact that the forces on Acote's 
hill were to be disbanded, and requesting said communication to be pub- 
lished in the Express, the organ of the suffrage party, published in Provi- 
dence. 

About 7 o'clock, (according to the best of my recollection,) on the morn- 
ing of Tuesday, June 2Sih, the advance guard of Col, Brown's regiment 
arrived at my house in carriages, under the command, as 1 understood at 
the time, of Lieut. John T. Pitman, (clerk of the United States court for the 
district of Rhode Island.) who was well known to me at that time, and for 
several years previous. There were in my house at the time said advance 
guard arrived, only eight male persons, besides my own family and domes- 
tics, three of whom were gentlemen from Boston, who had arrived that 
morning; one gentleman from Long Island, and three persons with him, 
who had stopped with me over night as travellers, and who had not, to my 
knowledge, had anything lo do v/ith the matters at that time agitating the 
State; and a Mr. Lyman Cooley, who had left the village ihe night before, 
and had returned that morning to my house, through fear, as he stated, that 
he could not make his escape. Said Cooley was from New York city; was 
taken prisoner in my house that mornino ; imprisoned in the county jail and 
State's prison in Providence in a state of insanity, and soon after died an in- 
male of the asylum for the poor in said Providence. Mr. Cooley was for- 
merly a Providence man. 1 considered him to be in a state of insanity from 



Rep. No 546. 343 

his appearance and conversation on the morning of the 23th, before he was 
taken prisoner. None of the persons in my house, at the time of the arrival 
of the advance guard as aforesaid, were, to my knowledu^e, in any way armed ; 
there was no such instrument as a musket, gun, pistol, sword, or the like, to 
be seen in said house. As said advance guard drove up in front of my house 
in carriages, the citizens of the village soon collected in the front piazza, and 
about the doors, to the number of ten or a dozen, which number gradually 
increased for a few minutes ; none of whom were, to my knowledge, armed. 
1 was standing on the piazza in tront of the entry door leading to the bar- 
room ; the persons comprising said advance guard having alighted from 
their carriages, came along scatteringly, and adv\ancing towards me, I ob- 
served one shaking hands with Mr. Alexander Eddy, a citizen of this place ; 
heard them in conversation while approaching the spot where I was stand- 
ing. As they came on to the piazza, 1, turning partly around, invited them 
to walk in; they not heeding my invitation, I repeated it. At this juncture 
they all stood apparently hesitating what course to take. I stepped over 
the threshold of the door, and again invited them to walk in. At the last 
invitation, one of the advance guard placed his musket across the door afore 
alluded to, in the act of guarding it. Mr. Alexander Eddy at that moment 
attempted to pass in at the door, and the guard dropped the muzzle of his 
gun to prevent him from passing in ; the guard tlien turned his left eye 
over his left shoulder to the street, and whilst he was looking to the street, 
Eddy raised the muzzle of said guard's musket, and passed into tlie entry. 
When said person who was guarding the door as aforesaid turned his face 
fronting the house, and saw Eddy in the entry, he brought his musket to 
bear upon him, (said Eddy,) and, calling him a God damned rascal, told him 
to come out, or he would shoot him down. At this time there was a gen- 
eral cry amongst the persons of the advance guard — "Goddamn 'em, shoot 
'em down," and simultaneously a rush for the doorway. I was standing 
near the person who first brought his piece to bear upon Eddy, and raised 
the muzzle aliove the head of any one in the entry, by putting my hand un- 
der his gun. 

There was a general rush at this time of the armed soldiers and unarm- 
ed citizens and spectators for the doorway, arid the entry was immediately 
filled witii both classes — the armed soldiers attempting to shoot the unarm- 
ed, and continually keeping up the cry of '•' God damn 'em, shoot ''em downP 
I was in the midst of the scene, and was continually raising and brushing 
ofi" the muskets, pistols, carbines, (fcc, with which they were armed ; com- 
manding them not to shoot; telling them they were not resisted by any 
armed force; stating to them that they produced the whole confusion and 
disorder, and that if they would be quiet, order would be restored ; that I 
could and would maintain order in my house. I should think that, during 
this confusion, I brushed from my own person, and other unarmed persons, 
muskets, guns, pistols, and the like, as much as a dozen times. During 
the squabble aforementioned, I was pushed some seven or eight feet from 
the doorway into the entry, into about the midst of the crowd. In the 
mean time the door was puslied to, and locked by an unarmed man, and held 
by unarmed persons; the armed persons on the outside attempted to break 
said door down. Knowing that the unarmed persons in the entry could 
at that time protect themselves against those that were armed. I ))assed 
through the bar-room from said enTry, and went on to the piazza outside of 
the house, through one of the bar room windows, thinking I might be ser- 



344 Rep. No. 546. 

viceable in preventing mischief on the outside. As I passed the first bar- 
room window from the entry, in my attempt to get outside, some one of the 
soldiers thrust a pistol through a pane of glass in said window, directed or 
aimed at me ; I passed to the next window, raised it, and went out. Being 
outside, and on the piazza aforesaid, the first thing that attracted my atten- 
tion was said John T. Pitman with the muzzle of his musket or carbine at 
the key-hole of said entry door, and attempting to get it off. I was within 
about fifteen feet of said Pitman when I alighted from the window, and im- 
mediately approached him, and ordered him not to fire ; my language was, 
^^For God^s sake, don^t you fire in there^'' This expression I think I made 
directly as I alighted from the window as aforesaid. I intended, if 1 could, to 
prevent said Pitman from firing in, and approached him for that purpose-^ 
but his piece was discharged when 1 was within about three feet of him. I 
recollect said Pitman's language at the time of firing was, ^'- 1 don't care a 
God damn; 1 mean to kill somthodyJ'' After said Pitmar) had discharged 
his piece as aforesaid, he rushed a few steps to the north, on the piazza, and 
then back towards the door, rapidly, appearing perfectly frantic, infuriated, 
and fiendish. About this time the main body of Colonel Brown's regiment 
were in sight, and such as had arrived proceeded to surround the house. 
I entered the front door, which is about twenty feet north of the one afore- 
mentioned, passed through one of the front rooms into the aforementioned 
entry, and unlocked the door through which said Pitman had discharged 
his piece. The ball which was fired through the key hole as aforesaid, pass- 
ed throuoh the thigh of Mr. George H N. Bardine. making a deep and se- 
vere flesh wound. Said Bardine was at the tinre in said entry, and near 
the door. Up to this time I heard no other discharge of fire-arn)s near or 
about my liouse, and am very positive there had been none ; had there been 
any, 1 must have heard and known it. In a very few minutes my house 
was completely filled with armed men, and was entirely in their possession — 
every door guarded by soldiers. Soon after, or about the time the matters 
just spoken of were transpiring, I retired into the back part of the house, 
and discovered a soldier standing at one of the back doors with his musket 
cocked and bayonet fixed, and aimed into the house, and ordering the males 
and females to march into the back yard, one at a time. This, however, 
was abandoned by my assuring them that the ladies were unarmed, and 
would most certainly do no harm to any of them. The soldiers who took 
possession of my house were abusive and rough in their language and be- 
havior, from the time they entered as aforesaid, during my continuance on 
the premises, which was up to 4 o'clock, p. m., of Wednesday the 29th. 
This 1 do not mean to apply to all of them; but it was the fact with very 
many. They took possession of every room in the house, and of all my 
effects, and ransacked from garret to cellar. There were neither arms nor 
munitions of war in the house, to my knowledge, at tlie time, except a smalt 
bird gun or fowling-piece, which was taken and carried off. Soon after the 
main body of Colonel Brown's regiment arrived, about half a dozen pieces 
of cannon were planted on the south and west sides of my house, and aim- 
ed towards it. They'(that is, the soldiers) swore they would " blow us all to 
hell." They were prevailed upon not to fire into the house, by the inter- 
position of two of the citizens of the village, who informed them that they 
were for ^'laic and order^'' but disapproved of their firing into the house. 
The guns were afterwards wheeled about, and fired a number of times, to 
the great destruction of windows in my house, and of other houses in the 



Rep. No. 546. 345 

immediate viciniiy. There are side lights to the door, (through the key- 
hole of which said Pitman discharged his piece,) with glass 9 by 12, 
throiio-h which he might easily see everything which was going on in the 
entry aforesaid, there being four lights on each side of said door, of the afore- 
mentioned size ; and the aforementioned front door, about 20 feet further 
north on said piazza, was open during the aforementioned squabble in the 
entry. Nothing prevented any one, if he chose, from passing through said 
lastmentioned door. 

About sunrise on the morning of Tuesday, the 2Sth, I directed my do- 
mestics to set the table the whole' length of the dining-room, (one range of 
tables in said room will accommodate about sixty persons at a time,) and 
to put upon it all the victuals it would hold, and lo be prepared to supply 
it as soon as need might require it ; all of which was accordingly done, 
immediately after the arrival of the troops, as aforesaid, the table aforesaid 
was filled, and continued to be filled from the time of their arrival in the 
monung, until between 4 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon ; as fast as one got 
up, another would supply the vacant place. In addition to those seated at 
the table eating, others were standing and eating victuals, which they took 
and had reached to them from the table. 

There were also persons in the kitchen when the cooking was going on, 
who were taking: victuals as the same were cooked, and others helping them- 
selves from the closets and cellar. The table was also set for them again 
that evening, and a great many were victualed as aioresaid on the two suc- 
ceeding days. 

In taking possession of my barns, stables, and granary, they took pos- 
session of about twenty tons of hay, between eight hundred and one thou- 
sand bushels of oats, and from fifty to seventy five bushels of corn, and be- 
tween one and two tons of rye straw , all of which was used and destroyed, 
with the exception ot something less than one ton of hay. They also 
took possession of six horses at that time in the stable, five or six carriages, 
and as many harnesses, bufitilo robes, and whips; five of the horses were 
used, and I believe the other one, by the charter party (so called;) two of said 
harnesses have never been returned; four of the buffalo robes, and some 
half dozen or more of whips which were taken, have not, as yet, been re- 
covered. During the Tuesday and Wednesday aforementioned, up to the 
time of my departure from the village, my house, barns, &c., were con- 
stantly guarded, and I was denied access to my barns and stables, and to 
many of the rooms in my house. 

The troops of the charter party (so called) also had full possession of my 
liquor bar and cellar, and helped themselves lo cigars, wines, and ardent 
spirits, according to their pleasure; several hundred dollars worth of prop- 
erty was consumed or destroyed in liquors and cigars, I was generally 
a spectator to the scenes before described, after they had taken posses- 
sion of my house ; but was occasionally ordered about, at the muzzle of a 
presented musket or pistol, to perform some service about the house or bar. 
One man hi two instances ordered me, in an authoritative tone, with a pis- 
tol presented at me, "to feed his horses;" previous to this, all of the white 
males in my employ had been taken prisoners, and put under guard. 

On Wednesday morning, the 29ih, my wife and the females in the kitchen 
were put under guard, and set to work cooking; said guard was armed. 
Immediately after this, I was taken prisoner, but was released on parole 



346 Rep. No. 546. 

with my promise to be in Providence at 6 o'clock, p. m.,of that day. I was 
arrested by Colonel W. W. Brown aforeinentioned, soon after which he 
left the village with between one and two hundred prisoners v/ho had been 
taken at Cbepatchet and the country round about. T saw said prisoners 
tied together in front of my house, with ropes, previous to their departure 
for Providence. An hour or two after my arrest, and after the departure of 
Colonel Brown with the prisoners, ex governor VVm. C. Gibbs sent for 
me to come to his room, which was in my house, when ne gave me an ex- 
amination as to my participation in the Rhode Island affairs; and the follow- 
ing is a true copy of an instrument thereupon wjven to me, which was in 
my presence written by the Reverend F^rancis Vmton, of Newport, and in 
my presence signed by said Gibbs; which instrument is now in my pos- 
session, and at this time before me, and is exactly in the following letters, 
words, and figures : 

"Jedediah Sprague (after due examination) is hereby released from 
arrest. 

" WM. C. GIBBS, 

" General of Staff. 
"June 29, 1842." 

Having pledged myself to Colonel Brown to be in Providence at 6 o'clock 
in tfie afternoon, I, notwithstandino^ the release from Governor Gibbs, 
went into Providence to report myself according to promise, having with me 
said discharge from Governor Gibbs. I understood, afier I arrived at Provi- 
dence, that there was talk of having me again arrested. On inquiry by me, 
Who is going to have me arrested ? the reply was, Henry L. Bowen. 1 
exhibited my discharge or release to Governor Samuel Ward King, stating 
to him that I was threatened with another arrest. His reply was, in regard 
to the release which 1 had exhibited to him, "7 donH knoio but what it is 
sufficient — clonH know about it — dou^t k)iowP I then went to the office of 
Henry L. Bowen, esq., a justice of the peace in and for the city of Provi- 
dence. I went voluntarily, not having been arrested or apprehended, saving 
by Colonel Brown, as aforestated. 1 understood that said Bowen was act- 
ing as a commissioner under martial law. He asked me a number of ques- 
tions, which I answered ; no witnesses were examined. Mr. Bowen finally 
ordered a constable in attendance to take me to prison; which was accord- 
ingly done. Said Bowen slated to me, at the time, upon my inquiring what 
the charge was against me. that " it was treason," and " that the evidence 
was, that I had entertained at my house Thomas W. Dorr, and the persons 
associated with him." I remained in prison twenty-two days, and suffered 
much from indisposition; I was in feeble health v hen committed — was just 
recovering from a long period of illness. After 1 had been in prison about 
two weeks, I was taken before a court of commissioners, as it was styled, and 
examined by interrogatories directed to me only. I was not confronted by 
witnesses, nor were any examined on the occasion, to my knowledge. 
After the examination as aforesaid, 1 was remanded to prison. 

The following is a true copy of certain papers now before me, which I 
procured this spring from the keeper of the county jail and warden of the 
State's prison, and are exactly in the following words, letters, figures, and 
characters, to wit : 



Rep. No. 546 347 

To th'e Keeper of the Providence county jail: 

Yon are hereby required to receive, and safely keep, until further orders, 
Jedediah Sprague, in the debtors' apartment. 
By order of the couimander-in chief 

HENRY L. BOW EN. 



Providence, ss : Juke 29, 1842. 

Conimitted the bodies of the within named Jedediah Sprague, to the 
Providence county jail, as within commanded. 

Fees, 74 cts. 

PELEG JOHNSON, Constable. 



Providenck ss : June 29, 1842. 

Committed the bodies of Jedediah Sprague and Joseph Hogans to the 
Providence county jail, by order of the governor and council, and have 
made my return on the mittimus, and lelt it with the jailer, together with 
the prisoner. 

Fees — 
2 Commitments - . - - - - - $1 48 

Carriai^e - . . - - - - 1 00 



2 48 



PELEG JOHNSON, Constable. 



Providence, July 9A, 1842. 
Jedediah Sprague, named opposite, was discharged on an order from 
the governor and council, 

THOMAS CLEVELAND, Jailer. 



Headquarters, Council Chamber, 

Providence^ July 21, 1842. 
Sir: You are ordered to discharge Jedediah Sprague, prisoner of war, 
and allow him to go at liberty. 

By order of his excellency Samuel W. King : 

L. H. ARNOLD, 

One of his council. 
To Thos. Cleveland, Esq., 

Keeper of the iState jail, Providence. 

The above is a true copy of the original order on file. 

THOS. CLEVELAND, Jailer. 
Providence, April 6, 1844. 

April 6, 1844. 

The above are correct copies of the original order of commitment, offi- 
cer's return thereon, commitment aiad discharge of Jedediah Sprague. 

THOMAS CLEVELAND, Jailer. 



348 Rep. No. 546. 

I further depose and say, that at the January session of the General As- 
sembly of said State, A. D. 1844, at Providence aforesaid, at the suggestion 
of some of the members of said body, who are of the self-styled law and 
order portion, and also at the suggestion of other members of said party, I 
presented a bill against the State, for provisions eaten, liquors drank, hay, 
corn, oats, meal, and rye straw, fed out and carried away, or wasted ; also 
for cigars taken, use of house and beds, spoliations of property, and damage 
done, all particularized — amounting to the sum of $2,546 89. Said bill 
was referred to a select committee, and was supported by numerous affi- 
davits of persons best acquainted with the facts and circumstances. 

The committee to whom the matter was referred could not agree as to 
the amount due on said bill, as appears from the report of the proceedings 
and debates of the House on the subject, in the Providence Daily Journal 
of Thursday, February 15, 1844. The House of Representatives finally 
voted not to allow me one cent of my claim, by a vote of 35 to 17. The 
ground of opposition to said claim, taken by some of the members, as they 
are reported as aforesaid, was, that 1 was an insurgent, had been let out of 
prison on sufferance, and ought to be thankful for being let off so easily ; 
that there was not in my house, on the arrival of the charter forces, provi- 
sion enough to bait a rat-trap; that what provision, if any, there was on 
hand, fell mto the hands of the charter forces on the capture of the house, 
and was forfeited to the State, on the principle that "to the victor belong 
the spoils." 

1 further say, that it appears to me that I have been selected by a portion 
of the charter party as a victim for plunder, inasmuch as large bills or de- 
mands against the State have, in many, if not all, instances been allowed 
of a like nature; as the proceedings of the legislature of the State, and the 
reports of the general treasurer for the last two years, will abundantly 
show. 

JEDEDIAH SPRAGUE. 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

Providejice, ss: 
Glocester, May 16, 1844. 
Then personally appeared before me the above-named Jedediah Sprague, 
and declared the aforegoing statements, which were by me in his presence 
reduced to writing, and by him subscribed in my presence, to be true in all 
their parts; and also declared his willingness and readiness to make oath 
to the same. But there being some doubts of the authority of a magistrate 
in this State to administer an oath in like cases, I liave taken his declara- 
tion, as afore appears ; and I certify that saitl Jedediah Sprague, who is 
well known to me, is a credible person, and that his statements are entitled 
to full credit and belief 

JESSE S. TOURTELLOT, 

Justice of tite Peace, 



I 



No. 7J, 



Deposition of Clovis H. Boiven. 
1, Clovis H. Bowen, of Glocester, in the county of Providence, State of 



I 

'{I 



Rep. No. 546. 349 

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, aged forty three years, do depose 
and say : That I now am a citizen of the village of Chepatchet, in said town 
of Glocester, which is my native place. On the 28th day of June, A. D. 
1842, early in the morning, I went on to Acote's hill, near said village, out of 
mere curiosity ; the suffrage people, who had for a number of days previous 
had possession of said hill, having retired on Monday afiernoon and even- 
ing, the 27th. I found on said hill, on said morning of Tuesday, the 2Sth, 
(say) ten or twelve men, and probably from fifteen to twenty boys, not any 
of whom were armed, all apparently occupied in viewing the charter forces, 
who were approaching from towards Providence. I had been on said hill, 
1 should think, about half an hour, when ten or twelve men, apparently 
under the command of George Rivers, e?q., came on; they were somewhat 
in advance of the main body. Said Rivers called upon every one to stand, 
as they should fire upon or shoot down any one who attempted to leave; 
very soon after this order, the boys began to scatter and run off the hill, and 
the troops commenced firing in the direction which they ran — but whether 
with an intention of killing, or not, I cannot say. While this was transpiring, 
I moved off in another direction, (without being observed, I presume,) and 
came into the village by a circuitous route. As I was approaching the main 
street of the village, 1 met George H. N. Bardine, bleeding from a wound in 
the thigh, which I was informed at the time he had received at Sprague's 
hotel. Said Bardine was taken to the house of Lawton Owen in said village, 
where he remained until he had recovered sufficiently to be removed to his 
own house, about two miles from said village. I'he suffrage people having 
left the village on the previous evening, Mr. Bardine had come down out 
of curiosity, as he told me ; he further stated, that he had not participated 
in any of the movements, further than giving his vote; and I believe it has 
never been pretended that he had. 

Subsequent to the wounding of Bardine, and other matters afore stated, 
on said morning of the 28th of June, as I was standing in my office, I saw 
a number of armed men running across the lots west of said main street, 
apparently having an object in view to shoot at, and crying out in a loud 
tone, " Stop, or we'll shoot you ;" and others in the street vociferating " Shoot 
the damned scoundrel." These shouts were thickly interspersed with dis- 
charges of muskets, one of which took effect in the object pursued, viz: in 
the leg of a young man, whose name was Simmons, as I was informed. 
The other principal incidents of the day, (to wit, the 28th,) were the making 
arrests under martial laro ; breaking into and searching the dwellings, 
stores, and other buildings of suffrage men. What amount of plunder was 
carried off from said village, 1 am unable to state, but have no doubt it was 
large. I could see from my office, and did see, the soldiers of the charter 
army coming out of buildings with various kinds of property, which I have 
no reason to doubt was carried off. In addition to this, 1 should infer, from 
conversation which I heard, that there was an anxiety amongst some of the 
companies to outdo others in acquiring spoils. At one time during said 
day, there were some eight or twelve of said soldiers of the charter army in 
my office, all of whom were strangers to me ; one of ihem said to another, 
"The Bristol company has made a good haul." On another one's in- 
quiring what, he replied, " they have got hold of a valuable lot of property ; 
one gun," said he. "amongst it is worth forty dollars; a beautiful double- 
barreled fowling piece, silver mounted;" and added, "they (the Bristol 
company,) will beat the Newport company all out in getting property, and 



350 Rep. No. 546. 

were s^oing to make a damned good speculation of the matter." I further 
say, that when the charter forces took possession of Acote's hill, there was 
no one of the suffrage party there, making or offering resistance ; the small 
arms had all been cleared from the place, and the cannon had been dis- 
charged before they came np ; there were not so many persons in the village 
that morning as the usual number of inhabitants, and all was as quiet as at 
ordmary times. 

CLOVIS H. BOWEN. 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Pf^antations, 

Frovidefice, ss: 

Glocester, May 17, 1844. 
Then personally appeared before me the above named Clovis H. Bowen, 
and declared the aforegoing declaration, which was by me in his presence 
reduced to writing, and by him subscribed in my presence, to be true in all 
its parts; and also declared his willingness and readiness to make oath to 
the same. But there being some doubts of the authority of a magistrate in 
this State to admmister an oath in like cases, I have taken his declaration, 
as afore appears ; and 1 certify that said Clovis H. Bowen, who is well 
known to me, is a credible person, and that his statements are entitled to 
full credit and belief. 

JESSE S. TOURTELLOT, 

Justice of the Peace. 



No. 72. 
Deposition of Ara Hawkins. 

I, Ara Hawkins, of Glocester, in the county of Providence, State of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, aged fifty-two years, do depose 
and say: That on the morning of Tuesday, June 28, 1842, 1, with two of my 
sons, were engaged in hoeing opposite my house, which is about one mile 
southerly of the village of ('hepatchet, in a lot adjoining the highway, 
when a detachment of the charter troops came up on said road, on their 
march to Chepatchet, from a place commonly known as Scituate Four Cor- 
ners. 

When said troops had arrived within about thirty rods of my house 
aforesaid, they made a halt, and sent two or three armed men to see me. 
Easterly of my house, and in plain sight of the place where the troops 
halted as aforesaid, one of my neighbors had recently been engaged ni 
making charcoal ; and there was on the lot a cabin, such as is commonly 
built for the quarters of the person who tends the pits, and a number of 
bins of coal. Coal-bins are generally made of common fencing rails, in the 
form of the body of a log house, twelve feet square. 

The men who had been sent to see me inquired whether Dorr's party 
had got any cabins built out there? I replied, " Not as I know of." One of 
them then said, if there was any, I ought to know it. One of my sons then 
suggested that they probably referred to the cabins where Ml". Phetteplace 
had been making coal. One of the armed men then inquired how many 



Rep. No. 546. 351 

cnhins would be built for that purpose? I replied, "Not but one, probably, 
as the pits were all near together." His reply was, " There is more than 
(or as umch as) a dozen of them," and desired me to go with them and see. 
1 went with these men to the place where the main body had halted, and 
in the mean time other men were sent down to question my sons upon the 
subject. When I came up to the main body as aforesaid, I explained to 
them that ihe objects which had apparently filled their minds with so much 
consternation were mere bins built as aforesaid, and contained the very sim- 
ple and common article "charcoal." The men who had been sent to ques- 
tion my sons as aforesaid, were then called back ; and the troops marched 
down and halted opposite the house, in the highway. 

After arriving at my house as aforesaid, they wished to know if there 
were any men in the barn, which is across the road, and nearly opposite the 
house aforesaid. My answer was, " I presume not ; there was no one there 

/ this morning when I went in to fodder, and I have been at work all the 
morning near by, and have seen no one go in." My answer did not seem 
to satisfy them : they desired to see for themselves ; and, accordingly, I 
went in, at their request, with one of the men. This man proceeded to make 
a close search for something buried in the hay, by thrusting his bayonet into 
the mow in various places. He, however, succeeded in stabbing nothing 
but one beam, which lie did very spitefully — thinking, as I supposed, that he 
had found a Dorrite. The mow was a little higher in this place, on ac- 
count of said beam, which was entirely covered up with hay. At the east 
end of the barn, which is the end next to the road, there was an open win- 
dow, through which I was seen by the soldiers in the road, as 1 stood there 
awaiting the operations of the man inside. One of the soldiers seeing me 
as aforesaid, brought his musket to bear upon me, and ordered me to come 
out of" tlierey 1 desired the man inside to speak to the soldier, and request 
him to lake his gun down ; but he paid no attention to my request. By this 
lime, two more of the soldiers were taking deliberate aim at my person, 
through said window; and the cry from others was, "fire.' Believing 
myself to be in too much danger, and without any protection, 1 dropped 
down upon the hay; thus covering my body by the side of the barn under 
Said window, where I sat with my legs hanging off of the scaffold over the 
stalls, where I could be seen as soon as they entered the barn. I made no 
attempt to get away. One of the men immediately came into the barn, and 
endeavored to haul me off the scaffold ; but not succeeding, he clasped my 
legs with one arm, and with the other presented a pistol, and commanded 
me to come down ; which I did accordingly. He then seized me by the col- 
lar, and led me out doors, saying, " Here he is, you can have him now." 

t| The person who appeared to be in command said he wished to ask me a 
few questions. I told him I would answer them as far as I could. I had 
done nothing that 1 was ashamed of or regretted. He questioned me in 
regard to the amount and number of Dorr's forces. I answered according 
to the best of my information. He also wished to know if I had been 
troubled by them (Dorr's men.) I told liim I had not; that 1 had not been 
molested by any one, until his company came up; that I had been in the 
village every day, and had been well treated at all times. I further say 
that 1 had taken no part in the matters at that time agitating said State, ex- 
cepting to cast my vote according to my own pleasure. 

ARA HAWKINS. 



352 Rep. No. 546. 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

Providence^ ss : 

Glocester, May 18, 1844. 

Then personally appeared the above-named Ara Hawkins, and declared 
that the aforegoing statement, which was by me in his presence reduced to 
writing, and by him subscribed in my presence, is true in all its parts ; and 
also declared his willingness and readiness to make oath to the same. But 
there being some doubt as to the authority of a magistrate in this State to 
administer an oath in like cases, I have taken said Hawkins's declaration as 
above; and I certify that said Hawkins, who is well known to me, is a cred- 
ible person, and that his statements are entitled to full credit and belief. 

JESSE S. TOURTELLOT, 

Justice of the Peace. 



Rep. No. 546. 
No. 73. 



<iStto> 



Vote on the question of the adoption of the peopWs eonsiitiution. Decenihtr^ 
1841, as counted by the comnnttee. 





For the constitution. 


Against the consli- 












talion. 






Towns. 






' 


T^tal. 


Pro«y 












vufeea. 




Freemen. 


Non-free- 
men. 


Freeiaen. 


Non-freie- 
mea. 






Harrington 


28 


24 






52 


21 


Burrillville - 


134 


149 


_ 


_ 


283 


79 


Charlestown 


49 


51 


_ 


_ 


100 


12 


Bristol 


149 


211 


_ 




360 


96 


Coventry • 


155 


250 


_ 


_ 


405 


162 


Cranston - 


167 


234 


_ 


_ 


401 


113 


Cumberland 


295 


597 






892 


190 


Exeter 


52 


82 






134 


67 


East Greenwich 


50 


85 


" 6 




141 


37 


Foster 


124 


113 






237 


55 


Glocester - 


193 


208 






401 


157 


Hopkinton - 


83 


79 


'u 


" 2 


175 


'68 


Jamestown - 


18 


13 




_ 


31 


6 


Johnston - 


142 


206 






348 


104 


Little Compton 


19 


25 


~17 


~ 4 


65 


14 


Middletown 


8 


22 


_ 




30 


13 


New Shoreham 


102 


30 






132 




Nortii Kino^stown - 


81 


170 


_ 




251 


102 


North Providence - 


224 


479 


_ 




703 


198 


Newport - 


318 


885 


_ 




1,203 


262 


Portsmouth 


67 


59 


_ 




126 


59 


Providence - 


1,057 


2,495 


~ 




3,552 


610 


Richmond - 


45 


88 


_ 




103 


47 


Scituate 


208 


316 


_ 




524 


227 


Smithfield - 


381 


945 


1 


_ 


1,327 


449 


South Kingstown - 


140 


146 






286 


91 


Tiverton - 


101 


173 


" 3 




277 


131 


Warren 


103 


106 




~ 1 


210 


43 


Warwick - 


308 


592 






900 


256 


West Greenwich - 


17 


" 45 






62 


17 


Westerly - 


107 
4,925 


144 


~ 1 


- 


252 


75 




9,026 


39 


7 


13,955 


3,762 



23 



254 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 74. 

Suffrage ballot. 

1* [Edtoin Wilbovr,] am an American citizen, of the age of twenty-one 
•years, and have my permanent residence, or home, in the State of Rhode 
Island. J ami [not] qualified to vote under the existing laws of this State, 
1 vote against the constitution formed by the conventjon of the people as- 
jsembled in Providence, and which was proposed to the people by said con- 
veniion on the 18lh day of November, 1841. 

Reasons. 

1. Because the word " white" is in it. 

2. 
3. 



No. 75. 



Copies of the votes of ex-Senator William Spraguey George B. Holmes.j 
Henry G. Mnmford^ and Stephen Branch, for the people's constitution. 
Those gentlemen are now among the most violent persecutors of the suf- 
frage party. 

1776. [ Eagle. ] 1841. 

Adoptio7i of the constitution of Rhode Island. 

people's ticket. 

i am an American citizen, of the age of twenty-one years, and have my 
permanent residence, or home, in tliis State. I am qualified to vote undei 
the existing laws of this State. 

I vote for the constitution formed by the convention of the people assem- 
bled at Providence, and which was proposed to the people by said conven- 
tion on the 18th day of November, 1841. 

WILLIAM SPRAGUE. 

[This vote was given in Warwick.] 



1776. [ Eagle. ] 1841. 

Adoption of the constitution of Rhode Island. 

people's ticket. 

I am an American citizen, of the age of twenty-one years, and have my 
permanent residence, or home, in this State. I am qualified to vote under 
the existing laws of this State. 

I vote for the constitution formed by the convention of the people assem- 



* Write your name in this place. « 

t Write ihe word not, if you are not a voter. 



Rep. No. 546. . 355 

bled at Providence, and which was proposed to the people by said conven- 
tion on the 18th day of November, 1841, 

GEORGE B. HOLMES. 

[This vote was given in the fifth ward of the city of Providence.] 



1776. [ Eagle. ] 1841. 

Adoptio7i of the constitution of Rhode Island. 

people's ticket. 

I am an American citizen, of the a<Te of twenty one years, and have my 
permanent residence, or home, in this State. I am qualified to vote under 
the existing laws of this State. 

I vote for the constitution formed by the convention of the people assem- 
bled at Providence, and which was proposed to the people by said conven- 
tion on the I8th day of November, 1841. 

HENRY G. MUMFORD. 

[This vote was given in the second ward in the city of Providence.] 

1776. [ Eagle. ] 1841. 

Adoption of the cofistitntion of Rhode Island. 

people's ticket. 

I am an American citizen, of the age of twenty one years, and have my 
permanent residence, or home, in this State. I am qualified to vote under 
the existing laws of this State. 

I vote for the constitution formed by the convention of the peopleassem- 
bled at Providence, and which was proposed to the people by said conven- 
tion on the 18th day of November, 1841. 

STEPHEN BRANCH. 

[This vote was given in the fifth ward in the city of Providence.] 



No. 76. 



Statement of taxes paid hy non-voters in the city of Providence ; ?umiber 
of persons serving in the militia, ^•c; bij Wm, H. Smith, esq. 

I have just been examining our city tax books for 1840, 1841, and 1842 
— the three last years of the charter government, I find that in 1840, 
421 citizens of age, but having no vote, were taxed upon personal property 
owned by them in the city, amounting to between one and two millions of 
dollars, and compelled by law to pay their tax. In 1841, 463 non voters 
of the city were so taxed upon about two millions of dollars. In 1842, 
436 non voters were so taxed upon about the same amount. Certificates 
from the town clerks or assessors of our trading and manufacturing towns 



356 Rep. No. 546. 

would, I think, show about the same proportion of n©n-voters there taxed 
upon their personal property, as in Providence. In our agricultural towns, 
which are generally small, the proportion of non-voters taxed must have 
been much less than in Providence, because most of the citizens of those 
towns who owned personal property, owned land enough to vote upon 
also. The average of non-voters taxed in Providence for said three years, 
is 440. Calculating that the same number of non -voters were taxed in 
1841, in the ten other most trading, manufacturing, and populous towns of 
our State in proportion to their population, as in Providence, gives the 
whole number of non-voters taxed that year in those ten towns 886 

Add the number of non-voters taxed in Providence - - 440 



1,326 



These eleven towns contain more than two thirds of the popula- 
tion of the State. Supposing the remaining twenty towns to 
have contained non-voters actually taxed, in the same propor- 
tion to the population of these towns, as were taxed in Provi- 
dence in proportion to its population, it will give 663 as the 
number of non-voters taxed in all these twenty towns. But 
suppose one-third of that number were taxed in these towns - 221 

This gives the whole number of non-voters taxed in the State - 1,547 

This, I think, a very moderate calculation. 

MilidameH. 

The whole number of males in this State in December, 1841, over 

21, as nearly as can be ascertained by the census of 1840, was 26,142 
Deduct 3,000 not citizens of United States and permanent resi- 
- dents, insane, (fcc. .-..-. 3,000 



23,142 

Deduct the legal voters, viz: freeholders and eldest sons - 8,622 



14,520 
Deduct exempts from the militia by being over 45 years of age - 7,543 

6,977 
Deduct other persons exempted by law, about . . - 1,500 

Number of non-voters in Rhode Island doing military duty, or 

paying their fines in lieu thereof ... - 5,477 

At least one-quarter [386] of the whole number of non-voters who 
paid a tax upon their personal property, did military duty, or 
paid their fines, in addition to that tax. These doubly oppressed 
citizens should, therefore, be included in the above 5,477 non- 
voting militiamen. The other three fourths [1,161] being among 
the non-voting exempts, I add to the above 5477 - - l,tol 

The whole number of non-voting miliiioiiien added to ouiers 
paying taxes on personal property, was then - - - 6,638 



Hep. No. 546. 357 

(These must have voted for the people's constitution almost, if not 

quite, to a man.) 
The number of freeholders and their eldest sons, who voted for 

the people's constitution, was precisely - - - 4,960 



11,598 
52 voted against the people's constitution - - - 52 



Majority - - - - 11,546 

Therefore, excluding every vote cast for the people's constitution, except 
the votes of legal freemen, taxpayers on personal property, payers of 
militia fines, and doers of militia duty, that constitution has been adopted 
by a majority of 11,546, voting on the very principle upon whicii the 
present constitution claims to have been adopted by a mcijority of 7,200, 
namely: the principle that "a majority of the persons having a right to 
vote, and achudly voting" for a constitution, are sufficient to adopt it. 

But we are told that neither legal freemen nor any other tax-payers had 
'•a rig/U to vote" for the people's constitution, because not authorized so to 
do by any law of the charter government. 

This presents the naked question, Whence did the charter government 
derive any authority either to anlJiorlze or forbid a majority of the legal 
freemen and other tax-payers of Rhode Island to adopt a new constitution 
for that State? The charter contains no provision for changing its system 
of government, and its system of government derives no authority from 
any other source; either to authorize or forbid a majority of legal freemen 
and taxpayers to make such a change. The charter government had 
nothing to do with the subject of a change. 

I say, if the" British Parlfament had no right to impose the tax on stamps, 
tea, <fcc., on the colonists individually, because they had no representation 
m that Parliament, the General Assembly had no right to impose taxes, 
fines, and military service individually, on non-voters, because they had no 
representation in that Assembly. 



No. 77. 



Papers filed in the case of Martin Luther vs. Lvther M. Borden et al., 
pending in the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Martin Luther vs. Luther M. Borden et al. 

District of Rhode Island, ss: ) 

Circuit Court, > November term, 1842, at Providence. 

United States of America: ) 

BILL OF EXCEPTIONS. 

Be it remembered that, at a term of the circuit court of the United States 
for the first circuit, held at Providence, in the district of Rhode Island, on 
the fifteenth day of November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and 
forty three, by the Hon. .Joseph Story, esq., associate justice of the supreme 
court of the United Slates, and the Hon. John Pitman, esq., justice of the 
district court of the United States for the district of Rhode Island, came 



358 Rep. No. 546. 

Martin Luther, of Fall River, in the State of Massachusetts, trader, and a 
citizen of said State of Massachusetts, and by an action of trespass declared 
against Luther M. Borden, master mariner, Stephen Johnson, cooper, 
William L. Brown, carpenter, John H. Monroe, tailor, William B. Snell, 
custom house officer, James Gardner, merchant, Silas P. Martin, master 
mariner; all of Warren, in said district of Rhode Island, and all citizens 
of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

The writ and declaration, and service thereof, and the defendants' plea 
and the issue joined, are as follows : 

WRIT. 

Rhode Island district, ss: 

The President of the Uniled States of America to the marshal of said 
district^ or to his deputy, greeting: 

We command you to arrest the bodies of Luther M. Borden, master ma- 
riner, Stephen Johnson, cooper, William L. Brown, carpenter, John H. 
Monroe, tailor, William B. Snell, custom house oflicer, James Gardner, 
merchant, Silas P. Martin, master mariner, Hammond Serjeant, seaman, 
and John Kelley, master mariner, all of Warren, in said district, and all 
citizens of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, if they 
may be found in your district ; and for want of their bodies, to attach their 
goods and chattels to the value of five thousand dollars, and him or them 
in safe custody keep, to answer the complaint of Martin Luther, of Fall 
River, in the Stale of Massachusetts, trader, and a citizen of said State of 
Massachusetts, at the next circuit court to be holden at Providence, within 
and for the Rhode Island district, on the 15th day of November next en- 
suing the date hereof, in an action of trespass; for that the defendants, on 
the 29th day of June, A. D. 1842, at Warren, in the Rhode Island district, 
with force and arms illegally broke and entered the plaintiff's house, and 
ill-treated his family, as by declaration to be filed in court will be fully set 
forth, to the damage of the plaintiff" five thousand dollars. Hereof fail not, 
and make true return of this writ, with your doings thereon. 

Witness the Hon. Roger B. Taney, our chief justice, at Providence, the 
6th day of October, A. D. 1842. 

JOHN T. PITMAN, Clerk. 

DECLARATION. 

Martin Luther vs. Luther M. Borden et al. 

District of Rhode Island, ss: ) 

Circuit Court, > November term, 1842. at Providence. 

United States of America: \ 

To the Marshal, Sfc. 

In an action of trespass ; for that the defendants, on the 29th day of June, 
1842, at Warren, in the county of Bristol, in said district, the house of the 
plaintiff', then occupied by him and his family, with force and arms broke 
and entered in the night time, the said defendants being armed with dan- 
gerous weapons, and then and there, with like force and arms, and in a men- 



Rep. No. 546. 35^ 

acing and ruffianly manner towards the inmates of said house, broke and 
•tore down and despoiled the doors, glasses, windows, and furniture, misused 
and defiled the said house above stairs, and insulted and drove from their 
beds the females and other inmates in said house there quietly sleeping, and 
grossly insulted and assaulted the mother of the plaintiff, and threatened to 
run her through with a bayonet, and other wrongs and injuries then and 
Jhere did to the plaintiff, against the peace, .&.C., to the damage of the plain- 
tiff five thousand dollars, as set forth in his writ dated the 0th day of Octo- 
ber, A. D. 1842. 

B. F. HALLE TT, 
Plaintiff's Attorney. 

MARSHAL'S RETURN. 

District of Rhode Island, ss: 

Warren, October S, 1842, 

Arrested the bodies of the witliin named Luther M. Borden, Stephen 
Johnson, and John H. Monroe, and have taken Rodolphus B. Johnson as 
bail; also arrested the body of William L. Brown, and have taken Joseph 
Smith for bail; also arrested the bodies of James Gardner and William B, 
Snell, and have taken Henry H. Lutlier as bail ; also arrested the body of 
John Kelley, and have taken George T. Gardner and Martin L. Salisbury 
as bail, as commanded; the within named Silas P. Martin and Hammond 
Sergeant, being absent from the district, are not arrested. 

SYLVESTER HARTSHORN, 

United States marsho^- 



For 7 services 


• $514 00 


Travel, 11 miles 


- 1 10 


Bail for 7 - 


3 50 


11 copies - 


- 2 00 



$20 60 



Received $20 60 of Benjamin M. Bosworth, my fees for service. 

S. HARTSHORN, 
United States fuarshaL 

Rodolphus B. Johnson bail for Luther M. Borden, Stephen Johnson, and 
John H. Monroe. 

Joseph Smith bail for William L. Brown. 

Henry H. Luther bail for James Gardner and William B. Snell. 

George T. Gardner and Martin {,. Salisbury bail for John Kelley. 



DEFENDANTS' PLEAS. 



]■ 



Rhode Island district, ss . 

Circuit Court of the ^November term, A. D. 1842. 
United States, 



Case Martin Luther vs. Luther M. Borden and others. 
First plea.— And the defendants come, &c., and defend the force and in- 



360 . Rep. No. 546. 



jiiry"^when, &c. : and as to the breakino^And entering the plaintiff's dwelling 
. hORse, as set forth in the plaintiff's declaration, say : That the plaintiff his 
actifen aforesaid against them ought not to have or maintain, because they 
say "that on the 24th day of June, A. D. 1842, and for a long time before, 
and from that time continually until after the time the said trespasses are . 
alleged to have been committed, large numbers of men were assembled in 
arms m different parts of the said Slate of Rhdde Island and Providence 
Plnntatiorrs, for the purpose and with the intent of overthrowing the gov- 
ernment of-€aid State, and destroying the same by military force; and with 
such illegal, malicious, and traitorous intent and purpose, at and during the 
t;mes akirecaid, did in different parts of said State make and levy war upon 
said State, and upon the government and citizens thereof, attempting and 
enterprising the hurt, detriment, annoyance, and destruction of the inhabit- 
-ants of said State, and the overthrov/ of the government thereof. 

And the defendants aver, that, in order to protect and preserve the said 
Stale, and the government and citizens thereof, the said State of Rhode 
Island, on the 25th day of June, 1842, was, by legal and competent authority, 
declared to be under martial law, and the commanders and military officers 
oi said State were authorized to use and exercise the law martial. 

And tfee defendants aver, that, at said time, when said State was declared 
to be under martial law as aforesaid, the occasion necessarily required the 
•use and exercise of the law martial in said State. And the defendants fur- 
ther aver, that at the time when the pretended trespasses mentioned and 
set forth in the plaintiffs declaration are alleged to have been committed, 
the plaintiff was aiding and assisting the aforesaid traitorous, malicious, and 
unlawful purposes and designs of overthrowing the government of said 
State by military force, and in making war upon said State, and upon the 
government and citizens thereof And the defendants further aver, that, at 
the time when the said trespasses are alleged to have been committed, the 
said State was under martial law as aforesaid, and the commanders and 
military officers of said State were legally authorized to use and exercise the 
law martial ; and that at said time the defendants were enrolled in the 
company of infantry in the town of Warren, in the fourth regiment of the 
militia of said Slate, and were under the command of John T. Child, a mil- 
itary officer duly appointed and legally qualified to act as their commander ; 
and at said time, the defendants at said Warren were ordered by the said 
John T. Child, their said commander, to arrest and take the said Martin 
Luther, and, if necessary for the purpose of arresting and taking the said 
Marim Luther, to break and enter the dwelling-house of the said Martin 
Luther. 

And the defendants, verily believing that the said Martin Luther was con- 
cealed in said dwelling-house, did then and there, in obedience to the com- 
mand ol the said John T. Child, their said commander, enter the said dwel- 
ling-house of the said Martin Luther, for the purpose of arresting and taking 
the said Martin Luther. 

And because it was necessary to enter the said dwelling-house in order to 
arrest and take the said Martin Luther, in obedience to the command of the 
said John T. Child, their said commander, and to search and examine the 
different rooms and apartments of the said dwelling-house, the defendants 
did then and there, with a little force, break and enter the said dwelling- 
house, and search and examine the different rooms and apartments in said 
dwelliiig-honse, for the purpose of arresting and taking the said Martin 



Rep. No. 546. 361 

Luther, doing as little damage as possible, and not injuring or hurting the 
persons abiding in said dwelling-house, which it was lawful for them To do. 

Wherefore the defendants pray judgment if the plaintitrhis action afore- 
said thereof against them ought to have or maintain, and for their costs. 

Second plea. — Saving which, if overruled, by leave of court first had and 
obtained, and for further plea, the defendants come, &c., and defend the 
force and injury ; and as to the breaking and entering the plaintiff's dwelling- 
house, set forth in the declaration of the plaintiff, say the plaintiff his action 
aforesaid ought not to liave or maintain, because they say : That, at the 
time when the pretended trespasses mentioned and set forth in the plaintifl's 
declaration are alleged to have been committed, large numbers of men were 
assembled in arms, in warhke array, in the State of Rhode Island and Prov- 
idence Plantations, who, in different parts of said State, made and levied 
war upon said State, and was attempting and enterprising the hurt, detri- 
ment, annoyance, and destruction of the inhabitants of said State, and the 
overthrow of the government of said State by military force. And the said 
State of Rhode Island was by legal and competent authority declared to be 
under martial law. and the commanders and military officers of said State 
were authorized to use and exercise the law martial. And the defendants 
aver, that, in order to protect and preserve the said State, and the govern- 
ment and citizens thereof, the occasion necessarily required the use and ex- 
ercise of the law martial at said lime in said State ; and the defendants were 
enrolled in the company of infantry in the town of Warren, in said State, in 
the fourth regiment of the militia of said State, and were under the com- 
mand of John T. Child, a military commander, duly appointed and legally 
qualified to act as their commander, and were ordered by their said com- 
mander, at said Warren, to arrest and take said Martin Luther, who was 
supposed to be concealed in said dwelling house of said Martin Luther ; and 
the defendants, in obedience to the command of the said John T. Child, 
their said commander, did enter the said dwelling-house for the purpose of 
arresting said Martin l^uther; and because it was necessary, in order to ar- 
rest and take the said Martin Luther, according to the command of the said 
John T. Child, to enter the said dwelling-house, and to search and examine 
the different rooms and apartments of the said dwelling-house for the pur- 
pose of arresting and taking said Martin Luther, doing as little damage as 
possible, as was lawful for them to do. All which the defendants are ready 
to verify. Wherefore, they pray judgment if the plaintiff his action afore- 
said ought to have or maintain against them, and for their costs. 

Tnircl plea.— Saving which, if annulled, by leave of court first had and 
obtained, and for further plea, the defendants come, etc., and defend the 
force and injury, as to the breaking and entering the plaintiff's dwelling- 
house, set forth in the declaration of the plaintifi'. and say that the plaintiff 
his action aforesaid ought not to have or maintain, because they say : That, 
at the time when the pretended trespasses mentioned and set forth in the 
plaintiff's declaration are alleged to have been committed, large numbers of 
men were assembled in arms in warlike array, in the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, who, in different parts of said State, made and 
levied ^ar upon said State, and were attempting and enterprising the hurt, 
detriment, annoyance, and destruction of the inhabitants of said State, and 
the overthrow of the government of said State by military force. And the 
defendants aver that the legislature of said State of Rhode Island, duly and 
legally chosen, constituted, and elected, according to the provisions of the 



362 Eep. No. 546. 

■charter or fundamental law, and the ancient and long-established usapfes of 
said State, enacted the followinor law, in pursuance of the authority contained 
in the said charter, of the ancient usages of the State, and of the general le- 
gislative powers conferred on them by said charter and usages, to wit : 

"AN ACT establishing martial law in this State. 

" Be it enacted hy the General Assembly as follows : 

"Section 1. The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is 
hereby placed under martial law, and tlie same is declared to be in full force 
until otherwise ordered by the General Assembly, or suspended by procla- 
mation of his excellency the governor of the State." 

And the commanders and military officers of said State were authorized 
to use and exercise the law martial. 

And the defendants aver, that, in order to protect the said State, and the 
government and citizens thereof, the occasion necessarily required the use 
and exercise of the law martial at said time in said Slate. 

And the defendants were enrolled in the company of infantry in the town 
of Warren, in said State, in the fourth regiment of the militia of said State, 
and were under the command of John T. Child, a military commander, duly 
appointed and legally qualified to act as their coirmiander, and were ordered 
by their said commander, at said Warren, to arrest and take said Martin 
Luther, who was supposed to be concealed in said dwelling-house of said 
Martin Luther ; and the defendants, in obedience to the commands of said 
John T. Child, their said commander, did enter said dwelling-house for the 
purpose of arresting said Martin Luther; and becatise it was necessary, in 
order to arrest and take said Martin Luther, according to the command of 
the said John T. Child, to enter the said dwelling-house, and to search and 
examine the different rooms and apartments of the said dwelling-house, the 
defendants, by order of the said John T. Child, did then and there break 
and enter the said dwelling-house, and did search and examine the different 
rooms and apartments of the said dwelling-house for the purpose of arrest- 
ing and taking said Martin Luther, as was lawful for them to do, doing as 
little damage as possible. All which the defendants are ready to verify. 
Wherefore they pray judgment if the plaintiff his action aforesaid ought to 
have or maintain against them, and for their costs. 

Fourth plea. — And as to the residue of the trespasses set forth in the 
plaintiff's declaration, except the breaking and entering the plaintiff's dwel- 
ling-house, and searching and examining the rooms and apartments in said 
dwelling-house, doing as little damage as possible, for ihe purpose of arrest- 
ing and taking the said Martin Luther, the defendants, by leave of the court, 
&c., come and defend the force and injury when, &.C., and say they are not 
guilty in manner and form as the plaintiff in his declaration thereof against 
them has declared; and of this, they put themselves upon the country for 
trial. 

By their attorneys, 

GREENE, BOSWORTH, & WHIPPLE, 



Rep. No. 546. 

Rhode Island district, 55.° 

Clerk's Office Circuit Court, 

At Providence, Map 26, 1843. 

^ 1 certify that the above and foregoing^ five pages contain a true copy of 
ike pleas filed April 20, 1843, in the case Martin Luther vs. Luther M. 
Borden and others, dnly compared by me. 

JOHN T. PITMAN, Clerk. 

REPLICATION. 

Circuit court of the United States. — In the action Martin Luther vs. Luther 

M. Borden and others. 

Replicntion to the deftndantis' pleas. 

And the plaintiff says, that he ought not to be precluded from having and 
maintaining his action aforesaid thereof against them, the said defendants, 
by reason of any matter or thing above by them in their said pleas in 
bar alleged ; because he, the said plaintiff, says that the said defendants, at the 
time when, &c , committed the trespass aforesaid, in his the said plaintiff's 
declaration alleged, of their the said defendants' own wrong, and without 
such cause as i^ by the said defendants, in their said pleas, alleged ; and 
this the plaintiff prays may be inquired of by the country. 
By their attorney, 

B, F. HALLETT. 

Rejoinder. 

And the defendants, likewise, by 

GREENE, WHIPPLE, & BOSWORTH,. 
A true copy. — Atttst : 

JOHN T. PITMAN, 
Clerk of U. S. circuit court, Rhode Island district. 
65 cents, paid. 

[Here tollows the record from tl e minute book of continuance and further 
security given for costs, on motion of defendants, bond copied, <}(6C.] 

[Here follow the jury verdict, and judgment.] 

Which issue being joined, came on to be tried before the said circuit 
court, at the November term, A. D. 1843, by a jury dnly impannelled 
therefor. 

And, upon the trial of that issue, the counsel for the plaintiff, to main- 
tain and prove the issue on his part, offered to give in evidence the follow- 
ing matters, facts, and things, in manner following, to wit : 

First. The plaintiff offered in evidence the proceedings and resolutions 
of a convention of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 
passed 29th iMay, 1790 ; a copy whereof is hereunto annexed, (marked A.) 

Second. The plaintiff offered in evidence the report of a committee of 
the House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island, <fcc., made in 
June, 1829, upon certain memorials to them, therein praying for an exten- 
sion of the right of suffrage in said State ; a copy of which is hereunto an- 
nexed, (marked B.) £_^_ 



364 Rep. No. 546. 

Third. The plaintiff offered in evidence resolutions passed by the Gen- 
eral Assembly of said State, at their session, (January session.) 1841 ; a 
copy of which is hereunto annexed, (marked C.) 

Fourth. The plainliff then offered in evidence the memorial addressed 
to said Assembly, at said session, by Elisha Dillingham and others ; a copy 
of which is hereunto annexed, (marked D.) 

Fifth. The plaintiff ofiers evidence to prove that in the last part of the 
year 1840, and in the year 1841, associations were formed in many, if not 
in nil, the towns in said State, called "suffrage associations," the object of 
which was to diffuse information among the people upon the question of 
forming a written republican constitution, and of extending the right of 
suffrage. To prove this, he offers the officers and members of said associa- 
tions. Also, the declaration of principles of said association, passed f^'eb- 
ruary 7, 1841, and the proceedings of a meeting thereof, on the 13th day 
of April, 1841. Also, the plaintiff offered witnesses in evidence to prove 
that a portion of the people of this State assembled at Providence on the 
17th day of April, 1841, under a call of the Rhode Island suffrage associa- 
tion, to take into consideration certain matters connected with the existing 
state of suffrage in said State, and to prove the proceedings of said meeting; 
and this he offers to prove by the testimony of the chairman of said meet- 
ing, and the clerk of the same, and of other persons present thereat; copies 
of which proceedings, declaration, resolutions, &c., are hereunto annexed, 
(marked E.) 

Sixth. The plaintiff offered to prove that, on the 5th day of May, A. D. 
1-841, a mass convention of the male inhabitants of this State, consisting of 
four thousand and upwards, of the age of twenty one years and upwards, 
met at Newport, in said State, in pursuance of notice for that purpose; 
whereat, among other things, it v/as resolved by said convention as follows : 
(See copy of said resolutions, hereunto annexed, marked F.) 

Seventh. The plaintiff offered to prove that the said mass convention at 
Newport aforesaid, adjourned their meeting from said 5th day of May to the 
5th day of July, 1841, to Providence, in said State; at which place and 
time last mentioned said convention re-assembled, consisting of six thou- 
sand persons and upwards, of the age of twenty one years and upwards, the 
same being the free white male inhabitants of said State ; when and where, 
among other things, it was resolved by said convention as follows: (See 
copies of said resolutions, hereunto annexed, and marked G.) 

Eighth. The plaintiff offered in evidence certain resolutions of the Gen- 
eral Assembly of said State, passed at their May session, 1841; also, a certain 
bill or act presented by a member of said Assembly at the same session, and 
the proceedings of said Assembly thereupon ; copies of which are hereunto 
annexed, (marked H «, H6.) 

Ninth. The plaintiff offered in evidence the minority report from the 
Committee on the Judiciary, upon the bill or act mentioned in the eighth 
offer made to said General Assembly, at their June session, A. I^. 1841, and 
the action of said General Assembly thereupon ; copies of which are here- 
unto annexed, (marked la, I b.) 

Tenth. The plaintiff offered to prove that the said State committee, by 
virtue of authority in them vested by the said mass convention, notified the 
inhabitants of the several towns, and of the city of Providence, in this State, 
to assemble together and appoint delegates to a convention, for the purpose 
of framing a constitution for the State aforesaid ; and that every American 



Rep. No. 546. 365 

male citizen, twenty-one years of age and upwards, who had resided in this 
State as his home one year preceding the election of delesfates, should have 
the right to vote for delegates to said convention to draught a constitution to 
be laid before the people of said State ; and that every thousand inhabitants 
in the towns in said State should be entitled to one delegate, and each ward 
in the city of Providence to three delegates, as appears by the following re- 
quest, duly published and proclaimed ; also, an address from said committee 
to the people of the State. (See the copies of said request and address here- 
unto annexed, and marked J o, J b.) 

Eleventh. The plaintiff offered to prove that the said notice, request, or 
call, was duly published and promulgated in public newspapers, and printed 
and published in said State, and by handbills which were stuck up in the 
public houses, and at various other places of public resort in all the towns, 
and in every ward in the city of Providence, in said State. 

Twelfth. The plaintiff offered to prove that at the adjourned mass con- 
vention aforementioned as held at Providence, in said State, on the 5th day 
of July, A. D. 1841, the people of this State then present did, by vote duly 
taken, enlarge said State committee, by the addition of the following named 
persons, all citizens of this State, to wit : 

Providence county — Henry L. Webster, Philip B. Stiness, Metcalf Marsh. 

Newport county — Silas Sisson. 

Bristol county — Abijah Luce. 

Kent county — John B. Sheldon. 

Washington county — Wager Weeden, Charles Allen. 

Thirteenth. The plaintiff offered to prove, that at the meeting of the said 
State committee on the 20th day of July, 1841, at Providence aforesaid, 
when the said notice, request, or call was ordered, the following members of 
said committee were present, and approved of the aforesaid call, and of all 
the proceedings then had, to wit : Samuel H. Wales, Henry L. Webster, 
Benjamin Arnold, jr., Welcome B. Sayles, Metcalf Marsh, Philip B. Stiness, 
Dutee J. Pearce, Silas Sisson, Benjamin M. Bosworth, Abijah Luce, Sylves- 
ter Himes. 

Fourteenth. The plaintiff then offered to prove that, in the month of Au- 
gust, 1841, citizens of said State, qualified as aforesaid, did meet in their 
several towns, and in the several wards in the said city of Providence, and 
made choice of delegates, in conformity with said notice, to meet in con- 
vention to form and draught a constitution to be laid before the people of this 
State : and he offered the chairman presiding at said meetings, and the 
persons acting as clerks of the same, the votes or ballots then and there 
cast by the persons voting thereon, and of the persons then and there vo- 
ting, to prove the aforesaid facts, and to prove the number of citizens so 
voting. 

Fifteenth. The plaintiff offered to prove that the said delegates did meet 
in convention in said city of Providence in the month of October, 1841, 
and draughted a constitution, and submitted it to the people of said State for 
their examination, and then adjourned to meet in said city of Providence 
in the month of November, A. D. 1841; and he offered to prove this by 
the production of the original minutes or records of the proceedings of said 
convention, verified by the oaths of the president and secretaries thereof, 
and of divers persons attending the same as members thereof or delegates 
ihereto. 

Sixteenth. The plaintiff offers to prove that, in pursuance of said ad^ 



366 Kep. No. 546. 

journment, the said delegates did again meet in convention in said Provi. 
dence in said month of November, and then completed the draught of the fol- 
lowing constitution, (a copy of which is hereunto annexed, marked K,) and 
submitted the same to the people of said State for their adoption or rejec- 
tion, recommending them to express their will on the subject at meetings to 
be duly presided over by moderators and clerks, and by writing their names 
upon their tickets, and to be hoiden in their several towns, and in the sev- 
eral wards of the city of Providence, on Monday, the 27th day of Decem^ 
ber, and on the two next successive days; and that any person entitled to vote, 
who from sickness or other cause might be unable to attend and vote in 
the town or ward meetings on the days aforesaid, might write his name on 
a ticket, and obtain the signature upon the back of the same, as a witness 
thereto, of a person who had given in his vote ; which tickets were in the 
following form, to wit : " 1 am an American citizen of the age of twenty- 
one years, and have my permanent residence or home in this State. I am 
(or not) qualified to vote under the existing laws of this State. I vote for 
(or against) the constitution formed by the convention of the people assem- 
bled in Providence, and which was proposed to the people by said convention 
on the 18th day of November, A. D. 1841;" which votes the moderator or 
clerk of any town or ward meeting should receive on either of the three 
days succeedinof the three days before named; and which he offered to 
prove by the production of said original minutes and records as aforesaid, 
verified as aforesaid, and by the testmiony of the persons aforesaid, and by 
the 14th article of said constitution. 

Seventeenth. The plaintiff offered to prove that meetings were held in 
the several towns and wards of the city of Providence aforesaid, and on the 
days aforesaid, for the purposes aforesaid, and in pursuance of the require- 
ments of said constitution ; and the said moderators and clerks did receive, 
on said three successive days, such votes of persons qualified as aforesaid, 
and them carefully kept, and made registers of all the persons voting, which, 
together with the tickets given in by the voters, were sealed up and return- 
ed by said moderators and clerks, with certificates signed and sealed by themj 
to the secretaries of said convention, to be counted and declared at their ad- 
journed meeting on the 12th day of January A. D. 1842. All of which he 
offered to proveby the testimony of the several moderators presiding at said 
meeting, and of the clerks of the same, and of the secretaries of said con- 
vention, and by the production of the original votes or ballots cast or polled, 
by the persons then and there voting, the original registers of all said per- 
sons so voting, and the said certificates signed and sealed as aforesaid, veri- 
fied by the oaths of said moderators and clerks. 

Eighteenth. The plaintiff offered to prove that the said convention of 
delegates did meet in said Providence on the said 12th day of January, 
1842, and did then and there count the said votes ; and the said convention 
thereafterwards, on the said 13th day of said January, did pass the preamble 
and I'esolutions following, to wit: 

" Whereas, by the return of the votes upon the constitution proposed to 
the citizens of this State by the convention on the 18th day of November 
last, it satisfactorily appears that the citizens of this State, in their original 
sovereign capacity, have ratified and adopted said constitution by a large 
majority; and the will of the people thus decisively made known ought 
to be implicitly obeyed and faithfully executed : 

« We do therefore resolve and declare that said constitution rigf 



Rep. Nq. 546. 867 

ought to be, and is, the paramount law and constitution of the State of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

"And we further resolve and declare for ourselves, and in behalf of the 
people whom we represent, that we will establish said constitution, and sus- 
tain and defend the same by all necessary means. 

"iJeso/i^ef/, That the officers of this convention make proclamation of the 
return of the votes upon the constitution, and that the same has been adopt- 
ed and become the constitution of this State ; and that they cause said 
proclamation to be published in the newspapers of the same. 

'■'Resolved^ That a certified copy of the report of the committee appointed 
to count the votes upon the constitution, and of these resolutions, and of the 
constitution, be sent to his excellency the governor, with a request that he 
would communicate the same to the two houses of the General Assembly." 
(A copy of which resolutions and proceedings is annexed, marked Lc.) 

And he further offers to prove that the same was sent to said governor, 
and by him communicated to the said General Assembly, and by them laid 
on the table; and that, by a subsequent resolution of the House of Repre- 
sentatives in said General Assembly, the further consideration thereof was 
indefinitely postponed. All these matters he offered to prove by the pro- 
duction of the original minutesor records of the convention aforesaid, veri- 
fied by the oaths of the president, vice presidents, and secretaries thereof; 
by the report of the committee appointed by said convention to count said 
votes, verified by the certificate of the secretaries of said convention, and by 
the oaths of the members of said committee, and by the certiticate of Henry 
Bowen, secretary of state under the then acting govetnment, and of Thomas 
A. Jenckes, one of the clerks of the then House of Representatives. And he 
further offered to prove that, at the same session of said Assembly, a mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives submitted to that body, for their action, 
a resolution referring all the matters connected with the formation and 
adoption of the aforesaid constitution to a select committee, with instruc- 
tions to them to ascertain and report the number of votes 3ast, and the num- 
ber of persons voting for the same, with full power to send for persons and 
papers; which resolution was rejected by said House of Representatives, as 
appears by copies of the records of the said house for said session, (hereunto 
annexed, marked L«,) and the exhibit (hereunto annexed, marked L 6,) and 
the testimony of witnesses. 

Nineteenlli. The plaintiff then offered to prove that the officers of said con- 
vention did make the proclamation required by the said resolution of the 
said convention ; and he offered to prove this, by a copy of said proclama- 
tion certified by said officers, the oaths of said officers, and the testimony 
of other witnesses. (See form of proclamation annexed, marked X.) 

Twent'uth. The plaintiff then offered to prove that the said constitution 
was adopted by a large majority of the male people of this State, of the age of 
twenty-one years and upwards, who were qualified to vote under said con- 
stitution; and also adopted by a majority of the persons entitled to vote for 
general oflicers under the then existing laws of said State, and according 
to the provisions thereof; and that so much of the same as relates to the 
election of the officers named in the Gth section of the 14th article of said 
constitution i on the Monday before the third Wednesday of April, A. D. 
1842, (to wit, on the 18ih day of said April,) and all other parts thereof on 
the first Tuesday of May, 1842, (to wit, on the 3d day of said May,) and 
then and there became and was the rightful and legal constitution of said 



368 Rep. No. 546. 

State, and paramount law of said State : and this he otFered to prove by the 
production of the original votes or ballots cast or polled by the persons 
voting for or against the adoption of said constitution ; by the production 
of the original registers of the persons so voting, verified by the oaths of 
the several moderators and clerks of the meetings held for such voting; by 
the testimony of all the persons so votins:, f^nd by the said constitution. 

Twenty-first. The plaintiff produced a copy of said constitution, verified 
by the certificates of Joseph .Toslin, president of said convention of dele- 
gates elected and assembled as aforesaid, and for the purposes aforesaid, 
and of Samuel H. Wales, one of the vice presidents, and of .Tohn S. Har- 
ris and William H. Smith, secretaries of the same ; and offers the said Jos- 
lin, Wales, Harris, and Smith, as witnesses to prove the truth of the mat- 
ters set forth in said certificates ; which said copy, upon the proof aforesaid, 
he claims to be a true and authenticated copy of said constitution, and 
which constitution he claims to be the paramount law of the said State. 

Twenty -second. The plaintiff offered to prove that, by virtue of, and in 
conformity with, the provisions of said constitution, so adopted as afore- 
said, the people of said State entitled to vote for general officers, senators 
and representatives to the General Assembly of said State, under said con- 
stitution, did meet in legal town and ward meetings on the third Wednes- 
day of April next preceding the first Tuesday of May, 1842, (to wit, on 
the 18th day of April, 1842,) and did elect duly the officers required by said 
constitution for the formation of the government under said constitution ; 
and that said meetings were conducted and directed according to the pro- 
visions of said constitution and the laws of said State ; and this he offered 
to prove by the evidence of the moderators and clerks of said meetings, and 
the persons present at the same. 

Tie enty third. The plaintiff offered in evidence, that the said general of- 
ficers, (to wit, the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, senators, 
and representatives, all constituting the Genornl Assembly of said State 
under said constitution,) did assemble in said city of Providence on the first 
Tuesday of May, A. D. 1842, (to wit, on the 3d day of May, 1842,) and 
did then and there organize a government of the said State in conformity 
with the provisions and requirements of said constitution, and did elect, ap- 
point, and qualify officers to carry the said constitution and laws into effect; 
and to prove the same, he offered exemplified copies of the acts and doings 
of said General Assembly, (hereunto annexed, and marked N a, N 6, N c.) 

Twenty-fourth. The plaintiff offered in evidence a duly certified copy 
of that part of the census of the United States for the year 1840, which 
applies to the district and State of Rhode Island, «fcc., (hereunto annexed, and 
marked O.) 

Twenty fifth. The plaintiff offered in evidence a certificate signed by 
Henry Bowen, secretary of the then existing government of the State of 
Rhode Island, showing the number of votes polled by the freemen in said 
State for the ten years then last past ; (a copy of which is hereunto annexed 
marked P ;) and also, under the same certificate, an act (marked Q) purport- 
ing to establish martial law. 

Twenty-sixth. And tlie plaintiff offered in evidence an authenticated 
copy of an act of the General Assembly under the charter government, 
passed at their June session A. D. 1842, entitled "An act to provide for 
calling a convention of the people," itc, and an act in amendment thereto, 
(which said copy is hereunto annexed, marked Gl a ;) and also a copy froia 



Rep. No. 546. 369 

the records of the House of Representatives (under said government) at;: 
the March session, A. I). 1842, hereunto annexed, marked R. 

DEFENDANTS' OFFERINGS. 

The defendants offered in evidence, in support of their first and second, 
pleas-^ 

First. The charter of the colony of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and the acceptance of the same at a very great meeting and 
assembly of all the freemen of the then colony of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations legally called and held at Newport, in the said colony, oa. 
the 24th day of November, A. D. 1663. 

That on the 25th day of November, A. D. 1663, the former lawful colonial 
government of the said colony dissolved itself, and the said charter be- 
came, and was thenceforth, the fundamental law or rule of government for 
said colony. That under and by virtue of said charter, and the acceptance 
thereof as aforesaid, the government of said colony was duly organized^ 
and by due elections has continued and exercised all the powers of govern* 
ment granted by it, and was recognised by the inhabitants of said colony, 
and by the King of Great Britain, and his successors, as the true and lawful 
government of said colony, until the 4th of July, A. D. 1776. 

That the General Assembly of said colony, from time to time, elected 
and appointed delegates to the General Congress of the delegates of the 
several colonies of North America, held in the years 1774, 1775, and 1776, 
and to the Congress of the United States of America in the years 1776 and 
1778. 

And the said delegates of said colony of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations were received by, and acted with, the delegates from the other 
colonies and States of America in Congress assembled, as the delegates rep- 
resenting the said colony and State of Rhode Island and Providence Plan- 
tations; and that on the 4th of July, A. D. 1776, said delegates of the said 
colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations united with the dele- 
gates of the other colonies as representatives of the United States of America, 
and as such assented to and signed, in behalf of said colony, the Declara- 
tion of Independence of the United States of America. 

That afterwards, to wit, at the July session of the General Assembly of 
said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, said General Assem- 
bly, by resolution thereof, did approve the said Declaration of Independence 
made by the Congress aforesaid, and did most solemnly engage that they- 
would support the said General Congress in the said declaration with their 
lives and fortunes. 

That afterwards, to wit, on the 9th day of July, 1778, the said State of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, by her delegates, duly authorized" 
thereunto, became a party to the articles of confederation and perpetual 
union between the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhoder 
Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New .lersey, 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolinia, and 
Georgia, and ratified and confirmed the same ; and as one of the United 
States of America, under said articles of confederation and perpetual Union,, 
was received, recognised, and acted with and by the other States of the 
said confederation, and by the United Stales of America m Congress as- 
sembled, during the continuation of said confederacy. 

That after the dissolution of said confederacy, to wit, on the 29th day of. 
24 



370 Rep. No. 546. 

May, A. D. 1790,. said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantationsr, 
in convention duly called, elected, and assembled under an act of the Gene- 
ral Assembly of said State, ratified the constitution of the United States, and 
under the same became, and ever since has been, one of the said United 
States ; and as such, under the constitution and laws of the United States, 
and of the said State of Khode Island and Providence Plantations, hath 
ever elected and sent, and doth now send, Senators and Representatives to 
the Congress of the United States, who have been since, and now are, re- 
ceived and recognised as such by the said United States, and in ail respects 
have ever been received and recognised by tlie several States, and by the 
United States, as one of the said United States under the said constitution 
thereof. 

That from the said 4th day of July, A. D. 1 776, to the present time, the said 
charter and the said government of the said State of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations, organized under the same, hath ever been acted under and 
recognised by the people of said State, and hath been recognised by each of 
the said United States, and hath been recognised and guarantied by the 
said United States, as the true, lawful, and republican constitution and form 
of government of said State; and that the said charter continued to regu- 
late the exercise r.nd distribution of the powers of said goveriunent of said 
State ; and except so far as it hath been modified by the revolution, and the 
new order of things consequent thereon, continued to be the fundamental 
law of said State, until the adoption of the present constitution of said State, 
and the organization of the government under the same. 

That all the officers of the said government of said colony and State of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, organized under said charter as 
aforesaid, were elected in conformity with said charter, and with the exist- 
ing laws, from the first organization of the government under the said 
charter, until the organization of liie government under the present consti- 
tution of said State, and were and continued to be in the full exercise of all 
the powers of said government, and in the full possession of all the State- 
houses, court-houses, public records, prisons, jails, and all other public 
property, until the regular and legal dissolution of said government by the 
-adoption of the present constitution, and the organization of the present 
government under the same. 

Second. That the General Assembly of said State, at their January session 
in the year of our Lord 1841, passed resolutions in the words following, ta 
wit 

'= Resolved hy the General Assembly^ (the Senate concurring with the 
Hovse of Representatives therein.,) That the freemen of the several towns 
in this State, and of the city of Providence, qualified to vote for general 
oflicers, be, and they are hereby, requested to choose, at their semiannual 
town or ward meetings in August next, so many delegates, and of the like 
qualifications, as they are now respectively entitled to choose representatives 
to the General Assembly, to attend a convention to be holden at Providence 
on the first Monday of November, in the year of our Lord 1841, to frame a 
new constitution for this State, either in whole or in part, with full powers 
for this purpose ; and if only for a constitution in part, that said convention 
have under their especial consideration the expediency of equalizing the 
lepresentation of the towns in the House of Representatives. 

"/?e5oZrec?, That a majority of the whole number of delegates which all 
4,lie towns are entitled to choose shall constitute a quorum, who may elect 



Rep. No. 546. 371 

a president and secretary, judge of the qualifications of the members, and 
estabhsh such rules and proceedings as they may think necessary ; and any 
town or city which may omit to eleci its delegates at the said meetings in 
August, may elect them at any lime previous to the meeting of said con- 
vention. 

^'Resolved, That the constitution or amendments agreediipon by said con- 
vention shall be submitted to the freemen in open town or ward meetings, to 
be holden at such time as may be named by said convention. The said con- 
stitution shall be certified by the president and secretary, and returned to the 
secretary of state, who shall forthwith distribute to the several town and city 
clerks, in due proportion, one thousand printed copies thereof', and also 
fifteen thousand ballots, ori one side of which shall be printed 'Amend- 
ments (or constitution) adopted by the convention holden at Providence on 
the first Monday of November last;' and on the other side, the word 'ap- 
prove' on the one half of the said ballots, and the word 'reject' on the 
other half. 

'■'■ Resolved^ That at the town or ward meetings to be holden as aforesaid, 
every freeman voting shall have his name written on the back of his bal- 
lot ; and the ballots shall be sealed up in open town or ward meeting by 
the clerks, and, with lists of the names of ihe voters, shall be returned to 
the General Assembly at its next succeeding session ; and the said General 
Assembly shall cause said ballots to be examined and counted, and said 
amendments or constitution being approved of by a majority of the freemen 
voting, shall go into operation and effect at such time as may be appointed 
by said convention. ' 

'■'■Resolved, That a sum not exceeding three hundred dollars be appro- 
priated for defraying the expenses of said convention, to be paid according 
to the order of said convention, certified by its president." 

That at their May session, in the year of our Lord 1841, the said Gen- 
eral Assembly passed resolutions in the words following, to wit : 

^''Resolved by ihis General Assembly, [ihe Senate concurring with the 
House of Representatives titer ein,) That the delegates from the several 
towns to the State convention to be holden in November next for the pur- 
pose of framing a State constitution, be elected on the basis of population, 
in the following manner, to wit : every town of not more than eight hun- 
dred and fifty inhabitants may elect one delegate ; of more than eight 
hundred and fifty, and not more than three thousand inhabitants, two 
delegates ; of more than three thousand and not more than six lliousand 
inhabitants, three delegates: of more than six thousand and not more than 
ten thousand iiihabitaiits four delegates; of more than ten thousand and 
not more than fifteen thousand inhabitants, five delegates; of more than 
fifteen thousand inhabitants, six delegates. 

^'■Resolved, That the delegates attending said convention be entitled to 
receive from the general treasury the same pay as members of the General 
Assembly. 

'^Resolved, That so much of the resolutions to which these are in amend- 
ment as is inconsfstent herewith, be repealed." 

And at the January session, in the year of our Lord 1842, the said 
General Assembly passed resolutions in the words following, to wit: 

"Whereas a portion of the jieople of this State, without the forms of law, 
have undertaken to form and establish a constitution of government for the 
people of this State, and iiave declared such constitution to b^ the supreme 



372 Rep. No. 546. 

law, and have communicated such constitution to the General Assembly: 
And whereas many of the good people of this State are in danger of being 
misled by these informal proceedings : therefore, 

"7/f is hereby resolved by this General Assembly, That all acts done by the 
persons aforesaid,^for the purpose of imposing upon this State a constitution, 
are an assumption of the powers of government, in violation of the rights 
of the existing government, and of the rights of the people at large. 

"Resolved, That the convention called and organized in pursuance of an 
act of this General Assembly, for the purpose of forming a constitution to 
be submitted to the people of this State, is the only body which we can 
recognise as authorized to form such a constitution ; and to this convention 
the whole people have a right to look, and we are assured they will not 
look in vain, for such a form of government as will promote their peace, 
security, and happiness. 

^^Resolved, That this General Assembly will maintain its own proper 
authority, and protect and defend the legal and constitutional rights of the 
people." 

And that at their January session, in the year of our Lord 1842, the 
said General Assembly passed an act in the words following, to wit: 

"AN ACT in amendment of an act, entitled 'An ^act revising an act entitled An act regu- 
lating the manner of admitting freemen, and directing the manner of electing officers iu 
this State.' " 

"Whereas, the good people of this State having elected delegates to a con- 
vention to form a constitution, which constitution, if ratified by the people, 
will become the supreme law of the State ; therefore, 

"/?e it enacted by the General Assembly as follows: All persons now 
qualified to vote, and those who may be qualified to vote under the existing 
laws previous to the time of such their voting, and all persons who shall 
be qualified to vote inider the provisions of such constitution, shall be 
qualified to vote upon the question of the adoption of the said constitution." 

That under and by virtue of the said resolutions and acts last aforesaid, 
a written constitution of government for the said State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations was framed by a convention legally called, 
elected, and assembled ; and that said proposed constitution was, in pursu- 
ance of the said resolutions and acts, on the 2lst, 22d, and 23d days of 
March, A. D. 1842, submitted for adoption or rejection to all persons quali- 
fied by the existing laws of said State to vote, and also to all persons who, 
under the provisions of said constitution, were qualified to vote in the legal 
town and ward meetings of said Slate and of the city of Providence, le- 
gally called and assembled, and was by a majority of the persons so quali- 
fied by law to vote thereon, and actually voting thereon, rejected. That 
the said Martin Luther and his confederates, in causing and fomenting the 
said rebellion, voted against the adoption of said constitution — a copy of 
which is hereunto annexed, marked A. 

Third. The defendants oflered all the acts, resolutions, and proceedings 
of the said General Assembly of the said colony and State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, from the organization of the said government 
under the said charter, until the organization of the present government 
jLUider the present constitution. 

Fourth. The defendants offered evidciice that, on the 2hli day of .liuie, 
A. D. 1842, and for a long time before, and Irom tfjat time continually, 
until after the time when the said trespasses are alleged in the plaintiff's 



Rep. No. 546. 378 

said declaration to have been committed, large numbers of men, among 
%vhom was the said Martin Luther, were assembled in arms in different 
parts of the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, for the 
purpose, and with the intent, of overthrowing the government of said 
State, and destroying the same by military force ; and with such illegal, 
malicious, and traitorous intent and purpose, at and during the times afore- 
said, did, in different parts of said State, make and levy war upon said 
State, and upon the government and citizens thereof, and did attempt and 
enterprise the hurt, detriment, annoyance, and destruction of the inhab- 
itants of said State, and the overthrow of the government thereof. 

Fiftli. That, in order to protect and preserve said State, and the govern- 
ment and the citizens thereof, from the destruction threatened by said rebel- 
lion and military force, the General Assembly of said State, on the 25th 
day of June, A. D. 1842, enacted and declared martial law in the words 
following : 

" AN ACT establishing manial law in ihisSiaie. 

"i?e it enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 

"Section 1. The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is 
hereby placed under martial law, and the same is declared to be in full force 
until otiierwise ordered by the General Assembly, or suspended by procla- 
mation of his excellency the governor of the State." 

And thereupon, on the 26th day of June, A. U. 1842, Samuel Ward 
King, governor and commander in-chief in and over said State of Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations, issued his proclamation in the words 
and fiorure') followinor : 

'' By his excellency Samuel Ward King, governor, captain-general, and 
commander-in-chief of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plan- 
tations. 

•'A PROCLAMATION. 

" Whereas the General Assembly of the said State of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations did, on the 25th day of June, A. D. 1842, pass the 
act following, to wit: 

" ' AN ACT establishing martial law in this State. 

" ' Be it enacted by the General AsseTubly as follows : 

" ' Section 1. The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is 
hereby placed under martial law, and the same is declared to be in full 
force until otherwise ordered by the General Assembly, or suspended by 
proclamation of his excellency the governor of the State :" 

'■'• 1 do therefore issue this my proclamation, to make known the same 
unto the good people of this State, and all others, that they may govern 
themselves accordingly. And I do warn all persons against any inter- 
course or connexion with the traitor Thomas Wilson Dorr, or his deluded 
adherents, now assembled in arms against the laws and authorities of this 
Stale, and admonish and command the said Thomas Wilson Dorr and his 
adherents immediately to throw down their arms and disperse, that peace 
and order may be restored to our suffering community, and as they will 
answer to the contrary at their peril. Further, I exhort the good people of this 
State to aid and support, by example and by arms, the civil and military 



8t4 Rei). No. Ue. 

authorities thereof in pursuing and brin^^ing to condign punishment all en- 
gaged in said unholy and criminal enterprise against the peace and dignity 
of the State. 

" In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of said State to be 

affixed to these presents, and have signed the ,same with my 

[l. s.] hand. Given at the city of Providence, on the 26th day of 

June, A. D. 1842, and of the independence of the United 

States of America the sixty-sixth. 

"SAMUEL WARD KING. 
" By his excellency's command : 

"Henry Bowen, Secretary. ^^ 

Sixth. That, at the time when the trespasses mentioned and set forth in 
the plaintiff's said declaration are alleged to have been committed, and 
divers other times before that time, the plaintiff was aiding and abetting the 
aforesaid traitorous, malicious, and unlawful purpose and designs of over- 
throwing tlie government of said State by rebellion and military force, and 
in making war upon said State and upon the government and citizens 
thereof. 

Seventh. That, at the time when the pretended trespasses mentioned in 
the plaintiff's declaration are alleoed to have been committed, the said State 
was under martial law as aforesaid, and the said defendants were enrolled in 
the company of infantry in the said town of Warren, in the fourth regiment 
of the militia of said State, and were under the command of John T. Child. 

Eighth. That said John T. Child, on the 25th day of June, A. D. 1842, 
was duly commissioned and sworn as a quartermaster of the fourth regi- 
ment of the first brigade of militia of Rhode Island, and continued to ex- 
ercise such command until after the time when the trespasses mentioned in 
the plaintiff's declaration are alleged to have been committed ; that, on the 
27tli day of June, A. D. 1842, the said John 'J\ Child received written or- 
ders from Thomas G. Turner, esq , lieutenant colonel commanding said 
regiment, and duly commissioned and sworn, '• to continue to keep a strong 
armed guard, night and day, in the said town of Warren," and ordered him 
to arrest every person, either citizens of Warren or otherwise, whose move- 
ments were in the least degree suspicious, or who expressed the least wil- 
lingness to assist the insurgents who were in arms against the law and 
authorities of the State. 

Ninth. That these defendants were ordered by the said John T. Child, 
their commander as aforesaid, to arrest and take the said Martin Luther ; 
and if necessary for the purpose of arresting and taking the said liUther, 
these defendants were ordered to break and enter the dwelling-house of 
said Luther. 

Tenth. That these defendants, in compliance with said orders, and for 
the purpose of arresting and taking said Luther, proceeded to his house 
and knocked at the door, and, not being able to obtain admission therein, 
forced the latch of the door of said house, and eiitered the same, for the 
purpose of making said arrest, doing as little damage as possible. 

Eleventh. That at the time these defendants were ordered to arrest the 
said Martin Luther, as before stated, the town of Warren was in danger of 
an attack from the said Martin Luther and his confederates, and the inhab- 
itants of said town were in great alarm on account thereof 

Here the plaintiff rested his case, and the defendants rested their defence. 



Rep. No. 546. 375 

Points of law. 

The counsel for the plaintiff requested the honorable court to instruct 
■ the jury as follows, to wit: 

That, under the facts offered in evidence by the plaintiff, the constitution 
and frame of government prepared, adopted, and established in the manner 
and form set forth and shown thereby, was, and became thereby, the su- 
preme law of the State of Rhode Island, and was in full force and effect, as 
such, during the time set forth in the plaintiff's writ and declaration, wlien 
the trespass alleged therein was committed by the defendants, as admitted 
in their pleas. That a majority of the free white male citizens of Rhode 
Island of twenty one years and upwards, in the exercise of the sovereignty 
of the people, through the forms and in the manner set forth in said evi- 
dence offered to be proved by the plaintiff, and ia the absence, under the 
then existing frame of government of tlie said State of Rhode Island, of 
any provision therein for amending, altering, reforming, changing, or abol- 
ishing the said frame of government, had a right to reassume the powers 
of government, and establish a written constitution and frame of a repub- 
lican form of government ; and that, having so exercised such right, as 
aforesaid, the pre-existing charter government, and the authority and the 
assumed laws under which the defendants in their pleas claim to have 
acted, became null and void and of no effect, so far as they were repugtiant 
lo and conflicted with said constitution, and are no justification of the acts 
of the defendants in the premises. 

And the court joro /or //m, and upon the understanding of the parties, and 
to carry up the rulings and exceptions of the said court to the Supreme 
Court of the United States, refused to give the said instructions, or to admit 
in evidence the f:icts offered to be proved by the plaintiff; but did admit the 
testimony offered to be proved by the defendants, and did rule that the gov- 
€rnment and laws, under which they assume in their plea to have acted, 
were in force and effect as the frame of government and laws of the State 
of Rhode Island, and did constitute a justification of the acts of the defend- 
ants, as set forth in their pleas ; and thereupon the jury returned a verdict; 
for the defendants as follows : 

Verdict. 

The jury find that the defendants are not guilty in manner and form as 
the plaintiff' hath declared against them. 

Exceplio7is. 

To which several rulings of the court upon the evidence offered by the 
plaintiff, and upon the evidence offered by the defendants, and the refusal 
of the court to give the instructions prayed for by the plaintiff, as well as 
the instructions given by said court, the plaintitT at the trial excepted, and. 
prayed this his bill of exceptions to be signed and sealed by the court. AIL 
which being foimd true, the same is accordingly signed and sealed. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereto set my hand and seal. 

It is agreed, that all the acts, resolutions, and proceedings of the General 
Assembly of the colony and State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, from the organization of the government under the charter of 1663 j 



376 Rep. No. 546. 

10 the organization of the government under the present constitution, to be 
lound in the records, schedules, and digests of said colony and State, may 
he used in the trial and argument of said case of Martin Luther, plaintiff 
in error, against Luther M. Borden and others, defendants, before the Su- 
preme Court of the United States, in the same manner as if said acts, reso- 
lutions, and proceedings, had been put in to this bill of exceptions. 

It is also agreed, that the printed constitution, printed by authority of the 
convention, and rejected by a majority of the votes thereon on tbe 21st, 22dj 
and 23d days of March, 1842, may be used in the trial of the above case, in 
the same manner as if the same were put into this bill of exceptions. 

It is also agreed, that all other exhibits referred to in the statement of 
evidence of either party, as annexed to such statement, may be used, in the 
trial of said case, in the same manner as if said exhibits were annexed to 
the statement of the evidences in the bill of exceptions ; such exhibits to be 
furnished to the opposite party within ten days from this date. 

It is further agreed, that the bill of exceptions shall be allowed, and signed 
by Mr. Justice Story, wherever he may be at the time when the same shall 
be presented to him ; and that a writ of error may be issued and served with 
the same effect as if the same was issued and had been served prior to the 
present term of the Supreme Court of the United States; and that this 
cause shall be entered upon the docket of said court at this term accord- 
ingly ; provided that the plaintiff in error, before the service of said writ^ 
give bond according to law, to the satisfaction of the district judge. 

SAMUEL Y. ATWELL, 

Connael for plaintiff in error. 
ALFRED BOSWORTH, 
Attorney for defendants in error. 

Providence, January 30, A. D. 1844. 



No. 78.— (A.) 

Proceedings of a. convention of delegates of the freemen of the State of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations^ vnet for the purpose of rati- 
fying the constitution of the United States, May 29, A. D. 1790. [See 
Elliofs Debates, page 223.) 

We, tlie delegates of the people of the State of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations, duly elected and met in convention, having maturely 
considered the constitution for the United States of America, agreed to on 
the 17th day of September, in the year 1787, by the convention then as- 
sembled at Philadelphia, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, (a copy 
"whereof precedes these presents,) and having also seriously and deliberately 
considered the present situation of this State, do declare and make known — 

That there are certain natural rights, of which men, when they form a 
social compact, cannot deprive or divest their posterity; among which are 
the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring, possessing, 
and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safely. 

That all power is naturally vested in, and consequently derived from, the 
people ; that magistrates, therefore, are their trustees and agents, and at all 
times amenable to them. 



Rep. No. 546. OTT 

That the powers of government may be reassiimed by the people vv^^-en- 
soever it shall become necessary to their happiness. 

That elections of representatives in legislature ought to be free and fre- 
quent ; and all men having sufficient evidence of permanent common in- 
terest with, and attachment to the community, ought to have the right of 
suffrage ; and no aid, charge, tax, or fee, can be set, rated, or levied upon 
the people without their own consent, or that of their representatives so 
elected ; nor can they be bound by any law to which they have not, in like 
manner, consented for the public good. 

That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any 
authority, without the consent of the representatives of the people in the 
legislature, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised. 

That no freeman ought to be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his free- 
hold, liberties, privileges, or franchises, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any 
manner destroyed or deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the 
trial by jury, or by the law of the land. 

That every freeman ought to obtain right and justice, freely and without 
sale, completely and without denial, promptly and without delay; and that 
all establishments and regulations contravening these rights are oppressive 
and unjust. 

That every person has a risht to be secure from all unreasonable searches 
and seizures of his person, his papers, or his property. 

That the people have a right peaceably to assemble together to consult 
for their common good, or to instruct their representatives ; and that every 
person has a right to petition, or apply to the legislature, for redress of 
grievances. 

That the people have a right to keep and bear arms. 

Under these impressions, and declaring the rights aforesaid cannot be 
abridged or violated, and that the explanations aforesaid are consistent with 
the said constitution; and in confidence that the amendments hereafter men- 
tioned will receive an early and mature consideration, and, conformably to 
i\\e fifth article of said constitution, speedily become a part thereof, — we, 
the said delegates, in the name and in the behalf of the people of the State 
of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, do, by these presents, assent 
to and ratify the said constitution. 



No. 79.— (B.) 

Kep07-t of Benjamin Hazard on the extension of suffrage., in 1829. 

The committee to whom were referred certain memorials, having for their 
object an extension of the right of suffrage to all while male residents 
of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who shall pay taxes or train 
in the militia, ask leave to report : 

That they find nothing in those memorials, either of facts or reasoning, 
which requires the attention of the house. If there is anything noticeable 
in them, it is the little sense of propriety manifested in the style in which 
they were drawn up. The committee have not thought it necessary to in- 
quire particularly how many of the signers are native citizens of the State; 



878 llfep. No. 546. 

hxit they are sufRciently informed to be satisfied that a very great pfropor- 
tioii of them are not so ; trnd it is ill calculated to produce a favorable 
6pinion of their qualifications — of those of them, rather, who knew what 
they were signing, (who, on such occasions, are very few) — that persons who 
have adventured, and are every day adventuring among us from other states 
or countries, to better their conditions ; who enjoy, in common with our- 
selves, all the protection and benefits of our equal laws, and upon whose 
departure there is no restraint, should still be restless and dissatisfied unless 
they can introduce here the political systems of the states they have left ; 
^nd in recommending those systems, siiould think themselves at liberty to 
denounce the whole race of our ancestors, as well as the present freemen of 
the State, and their government, as enemies to freedom and republicanism, 
and as having sacrificed justice and principle to self interest. Without 
troubling the house with any further mention of these memorials, the com- 
mittee recommend that the memorialists have leave to withdraw them. 

The people of this State, we are convinced, have no intention to change 
the character of their government by introducing a new and untried system 
€f suffrage ; — by us untried, and tried by others only to manifest its mis- 
chievous effects and the fallacy of the principle upon which it is predicated 
— in the place of ancient institutions adopted by our forefathers, among the 
fundamental principles of their association ; and since, to the present times, 
preservedfand practised upon as the basis of our elective government. 

But as several of the towns, by their instructions to their representatives, 
have manifested some apprehensions and uneasiness upon this occasion ; 
and consideruig, especially, that no longer than the elective franchise is 
preserved in its purity, can the people hope to retain in their own hands the 
power to protect themselves in the enjoyment of any of their other rights ; 
the committee will proceed to mquire into the source from which that fran- 
chise is derived, the basis upon which it rests, or ought to rest, and the 
dangers to which it is most exposed. 

Tlie committee are confident that they shall express the sentiments of the 
house, when they affirm that the right of suffrage, as it is the origin and 
basis of every free, elective government, so is it the peculiar and exclusive 
prerogative of the people, and cannot, without infringing that prerogative, be 
subjected to any other control than that of the people themselves. If repre- 
sentatives of the people, chosen for the ordinary purposes of legislation, could 
assume a control over this rights to limit, curtail, or extend it at will, they 
might, on the one hand, disfranchise any portion they pleased of their own 
electors ; might deprive them of the power ever to remove them ; and thus 
reduce the government to a permanent aristocracy. Or, should they take 
the opposite course, and degrade the elective franchise by stripping it of all 
its necessary qualifications and guards; then, instead of its remaining a great 
privilege and security possessed by the sound part of the community, it 
would become an instrument in the hands of faction — leading straightway 
to anarchy, and ultimately to despotism. A State in which the elective 
franchise can be thus controled by any power out of the people, cannot, 
with any truth, be called republican. It is nothing to say that a legislature, 
chosen by the people, will, it is to be presumed, act with discretion and with 
a view to the interests of the people. So may an absolute monarch rule 
wisely, and devote himself to the welfare of the State; but they are not a 
free people who hold their rights at the discretion of others, one or more. 

The principle would remain the same, whether there be written consti- 



Rep. No. 546. 379 

tutibns or not. The rigflits of the people are not derived from constitutions, 
lior are ihey to be encroached upon because the people may not think it 
necessary to attempt to guard them by means of such instruments ; which, 
after all, very indifferently effect the object for which they are intended. 
They are, on the contrary, by flilse or forced constructions, always perverted 
to justify the assumption of dangerous powers, which the people never 
meant to grant. 

We would not be understood as intimating that this State has no written 
constitution. The instrument which we place at the head of all our digests 
of the laws, is not the less our constitution because its name furnishes a theme 
for cavillers. The people have always held it as their constitution, and 
have more than once manifested their satisfaction with it. It was framed 
and agreed upon, as it purports to have been, by the purchasers, proprietors, 
and settlers of the State ; and its character, as their work, was not at all 
changed by its having been put into the form of a charter. At that time, 
die people, being colonists, could not avoid submitting to have the usual 
reservations, expressive of the royal prerogative, inorafled into it ; but inde- 
pendent of these appendages, it was wholly the work of the people, and was 
purely republican. The whole power of self government was in iheir own 
hands. No constitution, before or since the revolution, has been framed — 
none can be framed — more free and popular. Our separation from the 
mother country perfected this constitution, by cancelling the conditions and 
reservations under which we held it, and leaving the work of the people 
entire. Let strangers, if they please, treat this instrument with levity, and 
hold it up as a reproach to the State, for the sage reason that it was origi- 
nally called a charter; but let us continue to be proud of it, as a lasting 
monument of the free, manly, and enlightened spirit of our forefathers, who 
could at so early a day, and while colonists, frame, adopt, and obtain the 
confirmation of a constitution of self-government .so perfectly republican ; 
and by which all the natural, civil, and political rights and privileges of 
themselves and their posterity were so amply and completely asserted and 
secured. It is a striking evidence of the stability of the people of tliis State, 
that they have not been infected with the rage of the limes for constitution- 
making; and that they have continued to hold the vi^ise institutions of their 
ancestors in too high respect, lightly to change them for new models of con- 
stitutions, which have nothing peculiar to recommend them, except the un- 
substantial allurement of being framed after the revolution. 

The earliest acts of every society necessarily mark out the true Hmits of 
the electiv^e franchisp, and designate those who are qualified to take part in 
the conduct of their affairs. Not women, or minors, or dependants; not 
■persons incompetent, or persons having no estates; but those proprietors 
only who are concerned and interested in the business to be transacted, and 
competent to transact it. These are the original freemen ; and from this 
source the right of suffrage is derived. 

Thus our ancestors, the purchasers, proprietors, and settlers of the State, 
upon their arrival here, by their own act incorporated themselves into a 
body politic ; elected at first their judge and elders, and afterwards their 
governors and assistants, and other officers. They at the same time adopted 
a resolution that "none should be received as inhabitants or freemen but 
by consent of the body :' and by unanimous agreement ordained and de- 
clared their government to be a " democracies or popular government ; that 
is to sai/,'" (using their own language,) " it is in the power of the body of 



380 Rep. No. 546. 

freemen^ orderly assembled^ or the major part of them, to make or consti- 
tute just laws by which they will be regidated, and to depute from among 
themselves such ministers as shall see the/n faithfully executed between 
man and many And as others caine to join them, and by permission pur- 
chased lands, they from time to time admitted to the elective franchise such 
of them as " upon orderly presentation loere found meet for the service of 
the body, and no just exception against them.'''' Such as proved themselves 
unworthy, they suspended or discharged ; and aorain reinstated sucli of them 
as gave proof of better conduct; and none but those regularly admitted 
freemen were allowed to take any part in the affairs of the government ; 
although it appears, from the separate lists kept of freemen and of inhab- 
itants, that there were many of the latter not admitted. 

These were the acts of the freemen — proprietors of Rhode Island. And 
in the year 1647, the towns of Providence and Warwick came into union 
with them, and agreed to the model of government thus established. In 
1662-3, the united body, styling themselves '■'• ilie purchasers and free 
inhabitants of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, seized and pos- 
sessed by purchase and consent of the natives, to their full content, of all 
its lands, islatids, rivers, harbors and roads^^ collected and brought into 
the form of a constitution the principal ordinances of government they had 
before from time to time adopted, and obtained its confirmation from the 
mother country. And under this compact they lived and prospered ; and 
their descendants have continued to prosper as a free State, to the present 
day. 

In 1665, they again turned their attention to the qualifications of free- 
men; and in pursuance of their constitution, or charter, enacted ^^ that all 
men of competent estates, and civil conversation, and obedient to the civil 
tnagistrates, shall be admitted freemefi, upon their desire therein declared 
to the General Assembly, either by themselves, with sufficient testimony 
of their fitness and qualifications as shall by tJie General Assembly be 
deemed satisfactory ; or if, by the chief officers of the totvn or towns where 
they live, they be proposed and declared as aforesaid ; otid that 7ione shall 
have admission to vote for public nfiUcers or deputies, or enjoy any privilege 
of freemen, until admitted by the General Assembly as aforesaid, and their 
names recorded in the general records of the colony.'''' In 1729, (just a cen- 
tury ago,) they enacted that the freehold qualification should be of the value 
of two hundred pounds, or ten pounds annual rent; and in 1742, adopted 
further provisions to prevent frauds on the law. In 1745, they passed the 
following act, viz : " Whereas the manner of admitting freemen in this 
colony is so lax, and their qualifications as to their estates so very low, 
that many persons are admitted who are possessed of little or no property ; 
and it being greatly to be feared that bribery and corruplion have (by the 
encouragement of evil-minded persons, and by reason of such necessitous 
persons being admitted freemen) spread themselves in this government, to 
the great scandal thereof, so that the election of public officers hath 
been greatly influenced thereby; and as the law already made hath been 
altogether ineffectual to prevent the same : Be it therefore enacted. That 
no person whatsoever shall be allowed to vote or act as a freeman in any 
town meeting in this colony, or at any general election, but such only who, at 
the time of such their acting or voting as freemen, are really and truly pos- 
sessed of lands, tenements, or hereditaments, to the full value of four hun- 



Kep. No. 546. 381 

dred pounds, or which shall rent for twenly pounds per annum, being 
their own free estate: or the eldest son of such a freeholder." 

Such are the ordinances which our ancestors thought necessary to pre- 
serve the rights and liberties of themselves and their posterity ; by preserv- 
ing the elective franchise in the hands of the sound part of the community 
— the substantial freehold inhabitants of the State. "Had they not a right 
to adopt those provisions? And have not their descendants, and those 
whom they have associated with them in conformity to those provisions, 
equally a right to preserve and adhere to them? Or is it, indeed, true, that 
other individuals, (wherever they come from.) who have never qualified 
themselves to exercise the elective franchise, and do not possess it, have yet 
a right to complain that they are disfranchised, and treated as slaves, be- 
cause the institutions of the State are not broken down to suit their pur- 
poses? Such complainers mistake their right ; which is, a right to qualify 
themselves as the laws require — not a right to be voters without such quali- 
fication. The right to qualify themselves is a right' common to all ; and 
the laws prescribing the qualifications apply equally to the whole commu- 
nity, without preference to any. Those who would claim more, would claim 
" the privilege of anarchy — the privilege to disturb the peace of society." 

There are some who pretend to consider the right of suffrage as an in- 
herent, natural right, which every man ought to enjoy. A man's absolute, 
inherent rights, are, or ought to be, common to all, without distinction of 
age, sex, or color. Such, for instance, is the right of private property. Is the 
function of voting such a right? Is it not, on the contrary, one of those 
political rights which we derive from the society to which we belong, and 
which, of course, can only exist as a right, according to tlie existing insti- 
tutions of that society? 

There is no phrase in our language more frequently used, and with less 
definite meaning, than "nature," "a state of nature.'' As applied to man, 
and in distinction to the state of society^ we know not what is meant by 
such phrases. Every man necessarily has his first existence in society. 
He has there his parents, at least, and his kindred ; and there he becomes 
the parent of others. The most limited society is that of a family ; and this 
has its patriarchal government. However small the number of men living 
together may be, and although they may have entered into no express com- 
pact, nor adopted any regulations whatever for their government, they un- 
avoidably act upon and influence each other. Their individual rights are 
relative, and their actions are regulated accordingly. What is this but a 
state of society ? Hermits and solitaries themselves (if there are such) were 
bred and brought up in some society or other, from which they have un- 
naturally separated themselves. The truth is, that, as to man, (a social being.) 
a state of society is a state of nature, and the only slate of nature. The end- 
less disquisitions which have been written upon what is termed ^^the condition 
of man in a state of nature,'^ upon '7/ie origin of society, ^^ and ''Hhenature of 
the social compacf,^^ might have afforded amusement, if their sage authors 
and their pupils had contented themselves with dreaming, and telling their 
dreams, without laboring, to the incalculable injury of society, to have them 
admired and received by mankind as the great truths and realities which 
ought to be adopted as the only true basis of practical government. In do- 
ing this, they have practised upon their fellow-men, without regard to their 
welfare, and as objects only upon whom to try their senseless and mischief- 



382 Rep. No. 546. 



working (or, as themselves would say, philosophical) experiments in the 
science of government. 

Of what importance is it whether we consider the elective franchise as a 
natural right, or as a grant from society, as the term itself imports ; when, 
m either case, it must remain subject to every restriction and regulation 
which the paramount rights and interests of the community require? The 
right to acquire, to enjoy, and to dispose of property, is one of our absolute 
rights. But we can only acquire or transfer it by conforming to th.e requi- 
sites prescribed by law. Nor. if dispossessed of it, can we recover it, but 
by the remedies also prescribed by law. And, whatever may be the amount 
of a man's property, if he becomes incompetent to the management of it, it 
may rightly be taken from his control, and put into the hands of a guardian. 
It is a common expression, that a man has a right to do what he j/leases 
with his own ; yet there are many uses to which he is not allowed to put 
his property, because it would be noxious to the rest of the community. 
Every man has a right honestly to acquire property, but his riglit to pos- 
sess and enjoy property accrues and commences only with the acquirement. 
So every man is at liberty to acquire to himself the qualifications which 
will entitle him to the privilege of voting ; and when he has acquired them, 
he will be admitted to that privilege. But, until then, he has no more right 
to claim the exercise of it, than he has to claim a right to property which 
he has not acquired and does not own. There is nothing too preposterous 
or unprincipled to find advocates. If it can be contended that a man pos- 
sesses an inherent, unqualified, uncontrollablo right, without the consent 
of the society to which he belongs, to do an act (whether it be voting or 
any other act) by which the interests of the whole community may be af- 
fected — his own, perhaps, if at all, in a less degree than those of any other 
man — those to whom the exercise of the elective franchise cannot safely 
be intrusted have no more right to complain that it is withheld from them, 
than have minors or other incompetent persons, whose public interests, 
great or small, are taken care of by the qualified part of the community — 
the most trustworthy of all guardians, since it is for their own interest ta 
be so. 

The restrictions by which the welfare of society requires the elective 
franchise to be controlled, do not at all clash with the great truths which 
we all embrace, — that the people alone are sovereign^ and the source of all 
power; that govermne7its are instituted soleli/ for their good ; and that ^i^e 
majority ought to govern. What is it that any man means, when he says 
that a majority of the people ought to govern! In this Slate, the number 
of the people is ninety seven thousand; in South Carolina, it is four hun- 
dred and ninety thousand. Is it meant that a majority of these, in either 
instance, is to exercise the sovereign power, or to elect those who shall gov- 
ern in their stead? No man, however visionary, entertains such an idea. 
Every one, in the outset, excludes all but free males of twenty-one years of 
age and upwards ; and most men exclude all but free white males of lawful 
age. But the whole of these, of every description, are but seventeen thou- 
sand in this State, and but little over forty-six thousand in South Carolina; 
and a majority of them, in that State, is less than a twenty first part of the 
whole number of the people ; and in this State, but a fraction over a tenth 
part of our population. And when we come further to deduct paupers, per- 
sons incompetent, and many others, whom all rational men agree in exclu- 
ding, the disproportion is still much greater. We have included the slaves 



Rep. No. 546. 383 

in the population of South Carolina, because, whatever their condition, they 
are still a part of the people — as much as those of other descriptions, who, on 
account of other disqualifications, are exchided from the exercise of tho 
right of suffrage. Thus the answer which every man must be brought to 
make to the question we proposed, is, that when speaking of a majority of the 
people, he means only a majority of those who are qualified to exercise the 
sovereign power, and to elect their representatives and officers of govern- 
ment. Who are the qualified sovereign people, can, from the nature of the 
case, only be decided by themselves ; for there are none else to decide it, or 
to whom to appeal from the decision. If they should exclude any possess- 
ing the same qualifications as themselves, (a case, we believe, which no- 
where ever happened.) they would act unjustly. Eiit when iliey admit to 
the right of suffrage persons not fit to exercise it, as they are always prone 
to do, then they endanger the liberties of the people, and do an irreparable 
injury to the whole community. 

Can we, then, allow ourselves to doubt that the freemen of I lie State, in 
whose hands its safisty and welfare are deposited, possess adequate power 
to guard and secure the elective franchise from abuse, by all the restrictions 
necessary for that purpose ? Or can we for a moment admit that any in- 
dividual, or class of them, can have any other claim to the exercise of that 
franchise than the legitimate one, which their possessing the wholesome 
qualificalions required by the laws will always give them. 

If it were possible, certainly it would be right, to confine the elective 
franchise to the sound part of the community ; and that none should be in- 
trusted with it but such as are real citizens of the State, have an interest 
in its welfare, and are friends to their country and its free government. 
Unfortunately, it is much easier to define the necessary qualifications, than 
to ascertain how far they are possessed by individuals. But on the side of 
strict qualification there is no danger. None ever flowed from that source. 
Those who are to exercise that power from which all other |iowers are de- 
rived, and by whose votes the whole community afe to be affected, cannot 
be too highly qualified, nor their qualifications too strictly examined and ex- 
acted. And as it is impossible to contrive any rule by which to ascertain 
the moral and civil qualifications of men, we must be contented with adopt- 
ing such a general one as will be most likely to insure the greatest safety, 
with the fewest exclusions. 

It is well expressed in the bill of rights of one of our sister States, that 
''all men having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, 
and attachment to the community, have a right of suffrage." This is sound 
as general principle, but is not sufficiently definite for a rule of practice. A 
permanent interest is in all cases the surest, and in most the only evidence 
of attachment to the community. For although a citizen-born, unless he is 
an unworthy and an unnatural one, will be likely, under any circum- 
stances, to feel some attachment to his native State; yet from others we 
may not expect such attachments, unless they have^a permanent interest at 
stake in the State, and have adopted it as their permanent place of resi- 
dence. And then their attachment is but a secondary one, and is gener- 
ally measured by their interest, and not much to be counted upon until after 
a long term of residence and trial. We know, therefore, of no better general 
rule by which to regulate the right of suffrage, than the rule which requires 
that most probable evidence of permanent interest and attachment which is 
furnished by the ownership of property, and by actual permanent citizen- 



384 Rep. No. 546. 

ship. Let us particularly consider each of these qualifications, that we may- 
satisfy ourselves whether either of them can be dispensed with. The 
ground on which a property qualification appears to be founded, is, that the 
right of property is one of our ijreat, natural, and absolute rights. We 
have, individually, a personal right to defend it ; and a claim upon society 
for its protection against the encroachments of others. Those, therefore, 
who have acquired property, and possess this right, and have an interest ia 
its protection by wholesome laws and a good government, ought to have a 
voice and influence in the enactment of those laws-, and in the government. 
it is usual to speak of property as of little value, compared to life or liberty j 
and this, no doubt, is true, if we amuse ourselves with such comparisons. It 
may be of little consequence to others what amount of property is possessed 
by any individual. To society it is of vastly more importance that every 
man should be secure in the possession of a single foot of land, or a single 
dollar, than that he should be the owner of a township. But to weigh our 
great natural rights against each other, in order to ascertain their relative 
value, is mere speculation. They cannot be so weighed, for they cannot 
be separated. Where there is no security for the right of property, there 
can be none for any of our other rights. Nay, it is only through attempts 
against this right, that our other rights can be assailed; so far is it from 
being true, that the right of property is of minor importance. Break down 
the barrier by which that right is protected, and all will be rapine, violence, 
and bloodshed. 

Thus the whole science of legislation and jurisprudence is exercised in 
application to the rights of property. All the acts of government — nearly 
all the provisions even of our small penal code — are referable to the same 
source — the protection of the rights of property. Nor can the liberties of 
the people ever be in danger where the rights of property are perfectly 
secure ; for it is power over the territories, wealth, and resources of a State, 
which at once forms the temptation, and furnishes the moans of usurpation. 
So long, and only so long, as any government can effectually be restrained 
from touching any more of the private property of the citizens than is ne- 
cessary for its faithful administration, it will never be emboldened to become 
careless of its dependence upon and responsibility to them ; since it will not 
have it in its power to surround itself, to any alarming extent, with those 
hosts of mercenaries, civil as well as military, (especially the former, always 
the most unprincipled and dangerous,) which can only exist upon the spoils 
of the people. 

By security in the rights of private property is not meant merely "the 
impartial administration of equal and expedient laws," (which is said to be 
a good definition of civil liberty,) for such laws may be made, and so ad- 
ministered, by a despotic government ; but the citizen, or rather the subject 
of such a government, has no security for the continuance of the blessing. 
He holds it not as liis right, but at the sufferance of his ruler. The only 
security for the preservation of this right is, that those who possess the right 
should possess the power to protect it. 

And if these are sound principles, it seems to follow, necessarily, that 
those who have no property, or le^ss than the laws now require, as a qualifi- 
cation, are not likely (speaking of them as a class, and not meaning to apply 
the remark to every individual) to feel a common interest with the rest of 
the community in the protection of the right of properly, nor in the general 
object of legislation, nor in the wise administration of justice: cind if so, that 



Rep. No. 540. 3S5 

it cannot bo wise, or safe, or just, to inlriist them with power and control 
over those subjects. 

To remuid us that the possession of property is no certain proof of the 
possession of virtue or patriotism, is advanciny noUiing inconsistent with 
the tact, that those who do possess properly must necessarily feel a stronger 
interest in the preservuiion of the ri<{hl of property. Atid thus it is certain 
thateven the viciousand unprincipled among this class are generally friendly 
to wise and equal laws, and to able and upright courts. Their viciousness 
is shown in a disp'osition to evade the execniion of those laws in tlieir own 
individual cases ; and even in this, the' more they have at slake, the less 
likely they are to trespass on the laws which protect them. We must rec- 
ollect, also, that a great portion of iliose who are without property have re- 
duced themselves to that condition by their ovvu iu)providence, extrava- 
gance, or vices ; and are, therefore, in all resi)ects, unfit to be intrusted with 
any control over the properly or rights of others. 

The other principal evidence of qualihcatiou — perm uient citizenship — is 
at least as essential as that of property. Who, that do not permanently be- 
long to the kState, can have a righr, or can, wiih safety, be permitted to have 
an agency in its laws and government? None, indeed, can feel that attach- 
ment lothe instituiioiis and [)eculiar cusfonis of a State — that respect for the 
memory and priticijiles o[ its founders — that pride in its character and stand- 
ing as a State, and that deep interest in the maintenaiice of its rights and 
privileges, — none iilce those who have l;een brrd and brought up jn its bosom. 
Siinly, then, if any others are to be admitted to sharii equally with these, the 
povi^ers and prerogatives of governing their own native Slate, it ought to be 
those only who have adopted it. in preference to all other States, as their 
permanent place of residence — the only home of ihemselves and their off- 
spring^. Even the>e,as wo have before observed, cannot feel the same strong 
imere&t in it as native citizens. l''lieir ancestors were not among ours, 
'^fheir Uyitural connexions are in other places ; and their haljits, attachments, 
and predileciions have been formed before tliey came. What, then, can we 
expect or claim of those who come merely with a view to some present ob- 
ject of irtiin ; lo seek for some business or employment, to make trial of among 
us, to.be pursued nr not, as they may find their account in remaining here 
a longer or shorter period for that purjiose? — persons who leave their native 
homes from necessity, and whose consirained absence serves to strengihcn 
ti'.eir attachujents lo them; their distaste to all otiier places of residence; 
llieir hopes (d'some day returning to their homes, there to enjoy the fruits 
of ilieir enterprises ubroad. What claims have these upon us, more than to 
t .0 rites of hospitality and tiie protection of our laws? 

'i'iiere would be nothing to apprehend from this source, if none but sub- 
stantial citizens from sister States came here to reside. But sucji'as these 
are under no necessity, and few such have any iiiclinafion, to turn their 
i)acks upon liieir native States. There are exceptions, certdinly. Wo have 
a number of very valuable fellow citizens v/iio are natives of other States. 
These, we trust, make no complaints that they are not sufficiently honored 
and distinguished among us. But many, if not most of those who come, 
are not of the same description. They bring little else with them than the 
prid;' of belonging to larger and (in their estimation) mo.re respectable States^ 
whicii tjiey consider as quite sufScient to .ctnitle, tljem.to distinction here. 
I?:it the evils resulting frorn the admission, upon t'>o. slender qualifications, of 
HHtive citizens of sister States who come to reside here, are drive,n,: wholly 



386 Rep. No. 546. 

from onr thoughts when we come to reflect upon the dangers to be dreaded 
from the indiscriminate (in many States actually indiscriminate) admission 
of strangers from all quarters of the globe — of all nations, races, tribes, and 
tongues, to the exercise of the elective franchise : as if it were a worthless 
thing that could not be abused. Truly, of all the countries upon the face of 
lire globe, this, our country, is tlie most bountiful — bountiful, we fear, to its 
own destruction. As if the American people could not, of themselves, enjoy 
the fruits and bounties of their country, because they were the lords of a 
territory ample enough to aflord the same blessingsto their posterity through 
a thousand generations. As if the descendants of those who made the coun- 
try their own, and made it soveraign and independent, were not able to pro- 
tect it, or to preserve the bkssings bequeathed to ihcm, our government 
stretched out its arms, and invited to the bosom of the country the overflow- 
ings of all nations; invited them, not only to come and help us enjoy the 
good things of the land, but to lake part in governing us and our country. 
It hastened to provide laws for " naturalizing" (as it is termed) and incor- 
porating with American citizens all who should be brought — all of the color 
called white, and who were not called slaves, however abject and servile 
their actual condition might be. And to protect them not only here, but on 
the seas, against the claims of their native countries, a second national war 
was (professed to be) engaged in ; for the prosecution of which, the blood 
and resources of the people were staked and freely expended, and the nation 
burdened with a debt of millions. No wonder that such substantial allure- 
ments were not iield out in vain. Since the creation of the world, never 
v/ere such captivating prospects presented, not only to the forlorn, depressed, 
and debased, but to the restless, ambitions, and aspiring of all countries. 
No wonder they came, and continue to come, by myriads ; those who could 
not otherwise get here, selling themselves for a term of years to any trader 
who would buy and bring them. The importation of this staple commodity 
became a regular branch of business, and U[)wards of twenty seven tliousand 
head were imported from Great Britain alone in a single year; a number 
nearly equal to a third of the whole population of this State. What num- 
bers were brought from all other countries in the same year, we cannot tell. 
A single merchant or mercantile house in New York, we are informed, now 
keeps no less than eighteen ships, wholly and constantly employed in this 
business of importing and supplying us with fellow-citizens and freemen. 
What the wh' le mass, accumulating, as it has been, for near half a c( titury 
since the establishment of our independence, now amounts to, it is beyond 
the powers of calculation to ascertain. 

We shall not be understood as meaning to include all who come here in 
a general description of the common mass of emigrants. We know that 
there are many highly respectable foreigners who have adopted this for 
their country, and who would be an ornament and a valuable acquisition 
to any country. There are also among them many sober, indusirious, 
skillful people, employed in the humbler, and to us quite as useful, walks of 
life. Our remarks are applicable to the vast multitudes of a different de- 
scription; a great majority of whom were, in their own country, in as de- 
graded a ci^ndition as men can be brought to by abject servitude, poverty, 
ignorance, and vice. What consciousness of the dignity and rights of man. 
what conceptions of the principles of free republican institutions, can such 
as these have 7 

The late 5Ir. Jefferson, in his "Notes on Virginia," speaking of the ira- 



Rep No. 546. 387 

policy of encouraging emigrants to this country, who, he says, come mostly 
from despotic monarchies, makes the following remarks : " They will bring 
with them the principles of the governments they leave, imbibed in their 
earliest yonth ; or, if able to throw them ofl', it will be in exchange for nn- 
bonnded licentionsness, passing as usnal from one extreme to another. It 
would bo a miracle were they to stop precisely at the point of temperate 
liberty. These principles, with their language, they will transmit to their 
children. In proportion to their numbers, they will share with us the 
legislation ; they will infuse into it their spirit, warp and bias its directions, 
and render it a heterogeneous and incoherent distracted mass." Yet, to such 
as these, all honors, oliices, and emolasnents here are freely open. The 
l^te law of the United States, requiring foreigners to be propounded a cer- 
tain tinje before being naturalized, was intended to correct the evils expe- 
rienced under former acts. But it atibrds merely a temporary and very par- 
tial relief anywliere : and in some Slates foreigners are admitted upon a 
few months' residence, whether citizens of the United States or not. 

"^rhe evils we have thus entailed upon our posterity, and are experiencing 
ourselves, were inevitable. The hosts ol new- created freemen were soon 
loo numerous not to feel their strength, and make it to be felt. Not con- 
tented with exercising the right of suffrage individually and quietly, they 
organized, or rather were organized by their aspiring leaders, into affiliated 
political societies, bearing their proper national names. These societies, 
established in mo.st, if not all, of the principal cUies, kept up a correspond- 
ence with each other ; held their political meetings ; passed resolves, appro- 
bating and denouncing men and measures; nominating and dictating who 
should be governors, senators, and representatives. State and federal ; and 
even selecting their man for the presidency and vice presidency of the 
United Slates. Nor are their resolves mere idle boasts or threats. They 
have been considered so powerful, that propitiatory addresses and appeals 
are made to them, solicitinsf their countenance and patronage in behalf of 
candidates for the highest offices in the gift of the people, not excepting the 
presidency itself. Tlie control which these societies and people thus exer- 
cise over some of the largest States, and particularly over the great cities, is 
almost unlimited. 

The grand schemes of internal improvement, which of late years have 
been so extensively embarked in, by inviting the loose floating part of the 
foreign population to migrate from State to State, enables multitudes of 
them to exercise the elective franchise in the various States where those 
schemes are in prosecution — particularly those States which require but a 
short term of residence, and no qualifications at all. And we are assured 
that several thousand of these free sutfrage men who were canalling and 
road making, under their superintendents, in one of tfie most populous of 
the western States, by their voies were the means of displacing: some of the 
most valuable of its representatives to Congress, and liad a great effect in 
the choice of the presidential electors, if they did not turn the scale, in that 
State. 

The people of those States {and we may rejoice that the New Eng- 
land Stales are such) which are so fortunate as to possess few temptations 
for these emigrants, have been left, unmolested, to manage their own 
State affairs as they were managed by their fathers before them. But 
no State can escape its share of a national misfortune. The relative 
weight and influence of the States, and the apportionment of State repre- 



388 Eep. No. 546. 

sentatioi) in the Federal Governmcnl, are greatly affected by the vast 
amount of foreiirn population. And tlie character of a lar^re portion oL' 
tliat representation is also affected by t!i3 same influences. Nor can it be 
supposed that the Niitional Governnietjt iiself will remain wholly unaffected 
by them. But tliose influences are most biii>-hiing to the morals. r)rincip!es, 
stability, and character of the nation itseU. How can a country, who;-o 
native citizens are undistinguished, and can exercise no prerojjatives but in 
commun with an immense, muliifarious, and exoiic population — strangers 
to oiie ancUher, as much as to the native citizens, — how much can sucii a 
couniry liope ever to attain io that exaltation o( national character, without 
which a naiion may became powerful for a iitoe, but can never be gr(;at 
and renowned I There was nothing of which the great ancient republics, 
as long us they remained nncorru[)ted, were so proud and tenacious as of 
the riglit of cinzenship. No strangers were ever h^)nored or trusted with 
them, but upon some signal service rendered to the State ; and all were 
held to be sirrmgers to the country, but those who wer-e iifheritors of its 
glory and bound in its destinies. Thus every citizen was allied to his 
countr^r, and identiiied v/ith it; and hence that inextinguishable spirit of 
patriotism, that innate love oi coimlry. that devotedness to its glory, and 
that lofty pride of najiona! character, which signalized the peofsle.of th.ose 
Stales, and carried them to heights of grandeur and power to wiiicii the 
world paid fiomage. To be called '• ;i Spartan," '-an Athenian," or '-a Ro- 
nian," was greater honor than to be a prince. Nor is their fame still at all 
diminished. Even to this day. all civflized people employ the terms '• Gre- 
cian" and •' Roman" to designate v^^hatever they deem m.ost perfect in the 
arts, in eloquence, refinement, and wit, in language, history, and poetry, as 
well us in viriue, patriotism, heroism, and glory. 

But this our inlaiit nation claims the merit of making a new mid livdi/ 
(xpcriittciit iiirepiihlicau <rovernnieitt; and there is every rea^-on to believe 
that the experiment would iie successful, if its success depended upon the 
j\merican people, with a view to whose character and principles (lie new- 
government wus framed. But tiiis has not been permitted by our second 
race of philos.)phers. We must be universal philanthropists. We must 
not only preserve equality amoi^g ourselves, but must n;ake all mntikind 
equal with n-^. No matter how worthless the materials, the moment thpy 
are brought to our iiands, they a'.e to be converted into republicans and pa- 
triots — Aiiivricaii. patriots ; and they shall instantly become high-principled 
and enlightened Ireemen, shall perfectly comprehend all the principles and 
pur[)nses of our republican institutions, .uid shall be rulers over the land. 

V\ is but f -.riy si:; years since our independence was acknowledged, and 
no more than tifty three since it was clainud; Once in every year we cel- 
ebrate its era ; and then v.-e reliearse over the deed-^ and vidues of our an- 
cestors ; their enterprise and hardihood; llieir perils, trials, and sufferings 
in 'this then imm::;nse Vviiderness ; their unconquerable spirit of republican- 
ism ; their achievements, triumplis, and flnal success. And well- may we 
be thus proud of the past. But we can feel little pride in the reflection liiat 
this same country — so gained and settled, once so peopled, enfranchised, 
exalted, and ruled by a race of patriots and heroes —already has become 
everybody's country; and that a real American descendant ol' that race is 
now almost a stranger in his native land. 

Vv'e are called a new country, and a young people, who are trying a new 
experiment in a free government ; and thus we are flattered into the grute- 



Rep. No. 546, ' 089 

fill persnr\sion that ours are a virtuous people, nnhackneyed in the rices and 
corruptions of tiie old governments and people. 'I'his is a most dangerous 
error. Our government, to be sure, as an independent one, is new ; and so 
is the country a new one, and ought to be the parent country of a young 
and virtuous race of people. But the fact is, that, new as the country is, ii 
is already, in a great measure, in possession of a population as per.ecily in- 
itiated in all the njysteries of vice, as conversant in all the scenes of de- 
pravity, and as old and ripe, as the population of the oldest countries, of 
which it made a part bef ire it got here — and by no means a better part. 
In short, that it embraces every grade of people, of every description aud 
character, that can be found in any of the oldest and most depraved coun- 
tries of the Old World. 

(Jan there be any stronger reason for guarding, while we may, the elec- 
tive fraucliise with the trreatest vigilance and strictness, that it may be pre- 
served as long as possible in the hands of the sound part of the community? 

Whether this lias lieen a healthy grov/th of the nation ; v/heiher Americans 
are made liappier or more virtuous by means of this accuumlation of hetero- 
geneous foreign population ; whether three millions of Auiericm citizens, 
who composed the nation when Us independence commenced, with all the 
means of subsisLf-nce in die greatest abuiidimce, would not have mullipiied 
sufficiently fast ; whether the genuine descendants of the great founders 
and fathers of this nation would not have inherited their virtues, their love 
of freedoMi, and their innnovable firmness and spirit in its maintenatice ; 
and whether such an nncontamir)ated race of native freemen would not have 
attained to a lofiier elevation of national character, and have ex-dted their 
nation to hi^lier destinies and a more commanding rank among the nations 
of the earth ; — these are considerations which it is now painful, because 
useless, to dwell upon. Nor can it be necessary that we should dwell upon 
them, in order to convince ourselves how infinitely important it is, that, if 
we do not strengthen, we should at least do nothing to impair the strength 
of those institutions by which alone the nianagement of onr own State 
and its concerns can be preserved in the hands of its own substantial, legiti- 
mate freemeii. 

Those who do not rn\se tlicir thoughts to the elective franchise as the 
only safeguard of the people's rights, and value it ordy as it may be made 
most available in the political market, arc, of course, iniiuical to all pro- 
visions calculated to preserve it in its purity, and most of all to those re- 
quiring a fresliold qualification. Onr ancestors foresaw, from the beciiuiing, 
that the ownership and possession of a conipetent freeb.old in the town 
where the freeman is to vote, would prove to be the only sure evidence 
either of actual citizenship or permanent interest in the town or State. The 
public records show the title to the freehold,' and its value is apparent ; or, 
if questionable, is ascertained by appraisers. But, if a pecuniary or per- 
sonal property qualification were to be substituted, what evidence, in the 
slightest degree to be depended upon, could be expected in one case out of 
a hundred? Loose, verbal* declarations, to be sure, would not be wanted 
as long as votes are wanted ; and, by means of them, any number of vagrant 
voters might be transplanted into any and every town in the State. Iti 
those States where the experiment has been tried, it was foiuid to residtiti 
worse than luiiversal suffrage ; it was imiversal suffrage broug[)t almut by 
perjury, bribery, and corruption. In addition to the frauds committed by 
means of false swearing, it was the practice to provide some tnticle valued 



390 Rep. No. 546. 

at the amount required. A watch, for instance, wbidi was made to serve 
for any number of recruits, who, thus quahfied, were marched up to the 
polls one after another, attended by a guard to prevent any of them from 
runnintf off with his qualification. 

To free themselves from this prostitution of the elective franchise, the 
States which had felt its effects resorted loan expedient in vogue in most of 
the other States. By that expedient, the payment of a tax is the only evi- 
dence required of the voter's properly. This scheme is not liable to the 
same objections as the other, on the score of frauds; but comes almost, if 
not quite, as near to universal sutlrage. For nothins: but actual pauperism 
is in fact excluded, when the right of suffrage may be thus bouglit for a 
mile, in the name of a tax, twice the amount of which a dexterous beggar 
might, perhaps, acquire by his trade every day in the week. This tax 
qualification, therefore, is, in truth, merely a nominal one. It furnishes 
no evidence either tiiat tlie voter is worth anything, or is any more than an 
occasional, temporary resident. In short, it does not afford the slightest 
security to the elective franchise. It is also a strong objection to this spe- 
cies of qualification that it rests with a set of assessors to make and unmake 
freemen at pleasure — a power which they may sometimes be tempted to 
exercise with a view to the support of the party they belong to, and upon 
which they depend for their posts and emoluments. 

We all remember the frauds upon the right of suffrage, by means of 
spurious deeds, which were formerly practised even in this Siate, where 
that right was so strictly guarded by our election laws. Those frauds at 
tht; time furnished an argument in favor of universal suffrage, on the 
ground that all regulations were futile and abortive. It is true that they 
could not here be practised to any alarming extent, and have since been ef- 
fectually suppressed. But the recollection of them ought to make us aware 
of the desperate extremities to which party men, in high party limes, (each 
party condemning the practice as unprincipled, but justifying itself by the 
example of the other,) will go to effect their pur[)oses. 

But those who fivor universal suffrage, mnke no account of such con- 
siderations. They would not allow put)lic safety and welfare to have any 
weight in competition wiifi what they denominate republican principle. We- 
do not forget that they profess not to be in favor of universal suffrage; but 
the doctrines they advocate result in the same thing, and nothing better. 
It is assumed, as a great principle, (of some kind or other.) that all who 
contribute towards the support of government by paying a tax, or training 
in the militia, or (according to some) by working on a highway, have a 
right to a voice in the choice of their rulers. Thus, if a set of assessors rate 
a man for a shilling tax ; or a militia captain puts his name on the roll and 
gives him a holiday, training;, and treat; or if a surveyor calls upon hitn (a 
stout foreigner, perhaps) for half a day's work (or play) upon a road — which 
the man would not be likely to decline, when, as tfie price of it, he is to 
possess himself of a valuable privilege always commanding a price in the 
market ; — in either of these cases, the man i^ to be transformed at once into 
n freeman. And men thus qualified are to be hailed as part of the sover- 
eign people, and marched up to the freeman's meeting, there to balance the 
votes of as many of the most substantial native freeliolders and freemen ; — 
and that, too, in questions which may vitally affect the very safety and weU 
flire of the State. What wretched conceptions must that man have of the 
importance of the right of suffrage, who can thus estimate it! Is there 



Rep. No. 546. 3&1 

any such preposterous principle as this, — that fixes a petty price upon the 
elective franchise, without regard to fitness or unfitness for the exercise of 
it? Whoever pays a tax, pays it for the protection which the laws extend 
to himself and his property, (if he has any;) whoever works on a highway 
is required to do so because he has the use of it ; and whoever trains in the 
mihtia is required to do so by the laws of Congress. But does either or all 
of these acts fnrnish any evidence that the man is qualified, or at all fit to 
be intrusted with the exercise of the all important right of sntiVage ; and to 
interfere in the afiturs of government? And is he to exercise that power, 
whether fit or not? It is true that the possession of a freehold estate is no 
positive proof that the possessor is worthy to be a freeman. But making all 
reasonable allowances for exceptions, the probability is, that those who 
possess, and especially those who have acquired for themselves a competent 
freehold, are more industrious, prndent, and substantial; are more perma- 
nently settled, and feel greater interest in, and attachment to the Slate, in 
which they are owners and cultivators of the soil, than those who have 
either squandered the inheritance earned for them by their fathers, or have 
failed to acquire any fur themselves ; although the acquisition was to be 
accompanied by this so much coveted right of suflVage. We are awnre tliat 
there are many worthy citizens not possessed of the freehold qualification. 
But these are constantly acquiring it for themselves. And, in this country, 
almost every man of industry and good conduct — every good citizen, in 
short — is almost certain speedily to acquire (if he will) a sutficient freeliold 
qualification. And, in the meantime, this class of citizens, equally with all 
others, enjoy the benefit of the wise provisions by which the elective fran- 
chise is guarded from abuse. Still, it is true, there will remain some whole- 
some citizens, whom ill fortune and unavoidable circumstances prevent from 
qualifying themselves. Of these, we hope there are but few, and we regret 
there should be any. They will reflect that no general rule can be made 
so perfect as to be free from all exceptions; and when they see tiie manage- 
ment of aftairs in the hands of tfie substantial part of the community, (as 
far as this can be accomplished,) they will not desire that a general rule, 
best for the whole, should be broken down or relaxed on their individual 
account, when that prostration of the rule would take away all value from 
the privilege itself, by letting in at the same time multitudes of others, of a 
diflerent character, to exercise it witliout reirard to the welfare of the com- 
munity. Nor do we believe that any complaints are made by this class of 
citizens. We know that most of those who do acquire sufficient freeholds 
are seldom in any haste to qualify themselves to take a part in the political 
intrigues and contests of the day. And most of them are urged forward to 
be propounded and admitted, and to attetid town meetings, by persons who 
take more interest in the matter than they do ihcinselves. 

There is one other class of citizens of whom we have not taken any no- 
tice : we mean chose who do possess sufficient property to qualify them- 
selves, and do not choose to. Such persons have as little right to complain 
as those who do possess sufficient freeholds, and will not be at the trouble 
of having themselves propounded ; as little right as they would have to 
complain that carriages are not provided for them, at the public expense, to 
carry them to town meetings. If any of those who, having it fully in their 
power and at their own option to quality themselves for voters as soon as they 
please, are so indifferent to the privilege, or so engrossed by more profitable 
pursuits, or so greedy that they will not spare the small sum of one hundred 



392 Rep. No. 546. 

and thirty fonr dollars to purchase a freehold, because it might ^\ve iheiii a 
Jhttle less profit, they ought, at least, to remain quiet and peaceable citizens. 
For should any of iheu), instead of qualifying tlittnselves like good citizens, 
suffer themselves to be drawn into nnschievons cabals, and to act conspic- 
uous parts in clamorous and disorderly meetings, set on foot by troiiblesome 
demagogues and noisy political agitators, to answer their own purposes, they 
woiild give hut a poor promise ol iheii suilalileness to become freemen : and 
the lunger they centinue unqualified, the belter. We are, however, per- 
suaded thai there are very few, if any, of sucli a description of persons. 
Coniplaints sucli as we now hear are almost always made, not by, but in 
the name of, those who are (or would be if left to themselves) jierfeclly sat- 
isfied with tilings as they are. 

Thus some people are greatly scatidalized at the privilege of oldest sons 
to be voters, when, probably, there is no instance of complaint on that score 
from the brothers. But it seems (hat this is a moustrous feature in our sys- 
tem, because, in feudal limes and countries, the oldest son was sole heir to 
the estate of ilic lather : and as we have abrogated that doctrine, and de- 
clared all the children to be equally entitled to inherit, it is inferred that if 
the oldest son is admitted to be a voter, tlie others ouglit equally to be ad- 
mitted. This seems to us not to be very good reasoning. The right'of the 
oldest son to vote is not derived from the fisher, nor has it atiy connexion 
with the inheritance of his property. If it had, the daughters ongljt to 
share in it as nuich as the sons, llui it is a privilege granted to that son by 
the freemen, and does not in any vv^ay diminisli or detract from any right or 
claim of his brothers or sisters. Suppose the oldest son possessed no such 
privilege, and the subject was now, for the first time, to be considered by 
the freemen; — what conclusions would ihey probably come to? They 
would, no doubt, be desirous of extendmg the privilege to as many of the 
citizens as could be saftly intrusted with it ; and if they should be of opin- 
ion (;is it is probable they would) that it would be safe in the hands of sons 
of freeholders and freemen, though it mi_,o:lit not be in the hands of those 
who are neither freeholders nor sons ot them, they would then consider 
whether it should l)e extended to all, or a part of those sons. It is not to be 
conceived that the freemen would be disposed to make any unnecessary dis- 
tinction between their own sons. But here it would forcibly occur to them 
that to extend the privilege to all their sons, would make a very unequal 
distribution of infiuence among those who had many sons and those u'ho 
had few or none. They would, therefore, tu^cessarily and properly discard 
this plan ; and, as the most equal one, in which all would be likely to agree, 
they would give the privilege to one son only of every iVeemen liaving a 
son : and this, as a matter of course, would be the oldest son. For. if there 
were no reasons for preferring, there could be none for passing by htm, vvhen 
establishing a general rule, by which one only of the sons can be taken. 
And if all the sons of the freeholders were to be consulted, there can be no 
doubt that they would malce the same selection. The privilege is not grant- 
ed (as some suppose) as a favor to the oldest son, with a view to distinguish 
him above his brothers, but because it is deemed safe and expedient iIkU it: 
should be exercised by some one of the sons; and t'lie oldest is fixed upon 
by common consent. He is more easily designated than others. A second or 
third son might not exist; and to selfct the youngest would be going out of 
the way to show a preference. The privilege, besides, in many cases, would 
lemain nnenjoyed for years by the youngest son. while it might be enjoyed 



Rep. No. 546. 393 

if in the hands o( the oldest. Fie is presiniicd to hove more experience aiKl 
niaturity of jodgment. In all well reonlated faniilies, the rider broiher is 
looked up to hy the young'er patt of the lasiNiiy not only with alTection, hut 
wish respect and confidence as tiieir safest friend and adviser, next to their 
parents. He is iau^rlii to be so by those parents; and expected to supply 
iheir places, to the utmost of his power, vv'heii their own parental care should 
be withdrawn. And he is generally sensible of the sacredness of the trust, 
und faithful in the observance of it. Tijose wlio would mar such fanfiily 
ties by excitiuiif jealousies in younger brothers against the elder, because he 
temporaiily exercises a privilege which one of them only can exercise, are 
but indilFerent friends to society. If.then, the sound judiiments of the free- 
men would lead them to approve ol such a rule, if it d:d not already exist, 
they would hardly be deterred from adopting it, by being remnsded tliat, in 
old feudal countries, oldest sons are sole heirs to their fathers' property. Nor 
would they believe that any principle of justice required them to deny the 
grant of a privilege to one of their sons, because they would not make sim- 
ilar grants to all the rest of them. With regard to the general operation of 
this provision, we believe that it materially favors the nuddlins: and poorer 
classes of freeholders, who, in numbers, irreaily exceed the more wealthy 
class. 

Upon our piincipal subject — the necessi y of requiring a freehold quali- 
fication — we have only further to remark, that it has a strong tendency to 
check the monopoly of large landed estates in the hands of a few individu- 
als; and operates as an incitement to meritorious young men to acquire for 
themselves u privilege, from participating in whicli many, though not all, 
of the unworthy are excluded. — a privilege which ought to be intrusted to 
those only who are profouiidly sensible of its importance, and of the respon- 
sibility whicli the possession of it imposes upon them. 

We have often been told how far we are behind our sister States in our 
coiiceptions of free crovernment ; and have been called upm to follow their 
example, and act upon their enlightened views of the universal right of 
suifrage. It would be wise for us to profit by the wisdom of others ; but not 
wise to surrender our own judgments to theirs without conviction. Let us, 
then, take such a view of those provisions in other constitutions, v; hie h re- 
late to this subject, as will enable us to form a just estimate of the improve- 
ments they are supposed to contain. 

Of the twenty-tijur Slates already embraced in the Union, Virginia and 
Rhode Island require a freehold qualification for voters. Connecticut re- 
quires a freehold of seven pounds yearly value, or the payment of taxes, or 
one year's service in the militia, (unless excused.) and that the volers shall 
have gained a. stUleracut hi the Estate ; and turning to the laws of that State 
to ascertain what the applicant has to do to gain r selllenunt^ we find that if 
he comes from a sisler State, he must reside at least one year in the town in 
Connecticut where he is to gain his settlement, and must be possessed, in his 
owii rio-ht, in fee, of real estate in that State of the value of three hundred 
and thirty four dollars, free of incumbrance, the deed of which shall have 
been one year on record; and without such substantial recommendation, 
he gains no settlement, unless especially favored by the authority of the 
towti. Maryland requires a freehold of fifty acres, or property to the 
amount of thirty pounds. North Carolitid, requires a freehold of fifty acres 
10 vote for senators ; the payment of taxes to vote for county members; and 
a freeh.old to vole for town representatives. South Carolina, a freehold of 



394 Rep. No. 546. 

fifty acres, or payment of taxes. Tennessee^ a freehold in the county where 
the vote is given, unless (he voter is resident there. New Jersey requires 
fifty poujjds prodamatimt. money, clear estate. New York requires that 
the voter shall pay taxes, (unless exempted.) or serve in the militia, (unless 
excused,) or be assessed to labor on the highway; in which case he must 
be ihree years an inhabitant of the Stated and one year of the town or 
county where he votes, Mississippi requires payment of taxes or enrol- 
ment in the militia. Seven other States, viz: New Hampshire, Massa- 
chusetts, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, Georgia, and Louisiana, require 
only the payment of taxes as evidence of property. The remaining seven, 
viz : Maine, Vermont, Kentucky, Illinois, Alabama, Indiaiia, and Mis- 
souri, require no property qualification, nor any equivalent or substitute. 
The constitutions of all the States, except three, expressly exclude females. 
In two of those three, they are excluded by construction ; and in the other 
(New Jersey) where females formerly voted, in high party times, they are 
now excluded by act of the legislature, amending the cojistitntion. 
Thirteen of the States expressly exclude all people of color. The other 
eleven, viz : Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont. Nev) York^ 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North. Carolina, Georgia, and 
Tennessee, admit,^ or do not expressly exclude them. But one of these 
(New York) makes a marked distinction between her while and her colored 
voters; requiring of the latter freehold estates, for which they pay taxes of 
two hundred ana fifty pounds value, and three years', instead of one year's, 
residence. One State excludes paupers; another, paupers and persons 
under guardianship; a third adds Indians not taxed, to these exclusions. 
Connecticut requires the qualification of a good moral character ; and Ver- 
mont requires peaceable and quiet behavior and an oath. Pennsylvania 
and Delaware allow the sons of voters to vote for one year after coming of 
age. Every State requires a residence of a shorter or longer time, from 
three months up to three years. Every State excludes all under twenty- 
one years of age. Five of them only require citizenship of the United 
States. 

Such are the various modes in which the elective franchise is disposed 
of by the constitutions of different States. And who can fail to perceive in 
them those incongruities which always show themselves when impracti- 
cable theories are attempted to be strained into practice? While reading 
some of them, we could not have been greatly surprised to have found it 
solemnly ordained, that no qualifications of any kind are necessary, or ought 
to be required, to ett title men freely to e.ferciso the elective franchise at all 
times and in all places, 'wherever they may happen to sojourn. And yet, 
after all the sacrifices made of practical utility and public safety to theo- 
retical right, the same instruments, in every instance, contain other features 
wholly irreconcilable with that predominant doctrine. By what right is it 
that the whole of one of the sexes are unceremoniously excluded? They 
are as intelligent, discreet, and industrious; are more highly cultivatedj 
and more correct in habits?, manners, and morals ; and what is of great im- 
portance, they are generally more permanent residents in their native 
States; more identified with, and more strongly attached to them, than our 
own sex. Their claims, therefore, are quite as strong as those of the sex 
by whom (hey are excluded. And why, then, are they excluded? Those 
who are influenced only by considerations of public utility, are at no loss 
for an answer. The exercise of the elective franchise, as it is everywhere 



Rep. No. 546. 395 

exercised at the polls, would be inconsistent with those peculiar virtues and 
characteristics of the sex ; and would impair those social ties and relations 
which ought to be held sacred. It is expediency^ therefore, and that only, 
which jusiities the exclusion. Tlie abstract principle of right, upon which 
the constitutions we speak of are professedly i)ased, forbids such exclusions. 
How, then, can those who profess to act upon that principle justify a flagrant 
violation of it, upon the plea of expediency^ which in most other instances 
they sacrifice to it? If practical public utility is to be consulted at all, it 
ought to be consulted throughout, as the only sound principle of action; 
and it is an abuse of that principle, and of the very name of public good, 
to resort to it only when we have no otiier means of escapiiiij the too glaring 
absurdities which our favorite systen)s and theories would run us into. 
Where, then, is the consistency of those constitutions, which, professing the 
principle of a universal right of suftVage, exclude, at a sweep, the most 
meritorious half of society on the score of sex, and one half of the remainder 
on the score of age ; and then proceed to admit Indians, negroes, and others 
called people of color — all persons, in short, of every description, not ex- 
cepting paupers, persons under guardianship, foreigners, strangers, servants, 
dependants, or convicts even, and without the least regard to qualifications 
of any kind? — as if all living things in the human shape (except females, 
and tliose who lack a single day or more of tlie precise age of twenty-one 
years) are worthy agents to exercise the f)ower of appointing those wiio are 
to rule over the people, and to hold in their hands tijo lives, liberties, rights, 
and property of the whole community. 

ft would seem that men Ibnd of theories, are ever most attached to those 
which are most visionary and baseless. Nothing short of such a propensity 
could, we think, have blinded any rational man to the impolicy of admitting 
people of color, upon any terms, in this country, to the exercise of the right 
of suffrage. Without insisting that the African race labor under any pecu- 
liar mental or physical disabilities, it is enough to remark, that diflerent 
races (if we may not say difterent species) of men can never be so far 
assimilated as to embrace the same views of the common good ; or to 
unite in pursuing the same common objects and interests. What, then, 
must be the consequences when a distinct race of men, whom nature her- 
self has distinguished by indelible marks, and whom ihe most zealous 
asserters of their equality admit to be, if not a distinct species, at least 
a variety of the human species, are invested with the right of suffrage, 
and brought up to the polls to act a part in the political contests with 
which the country is continually agitated ? Whether justly or not, they 
will always continue to be looked upon, and treated, as an inferior order of 
beir.gs. And they, on their part, will never cease to remember, with feel- 
ings of bitterness and hatred, the long abject condition of their species. 
No degraded race of men was ever yet satis^fied with being raised to a foot- 
ing of equality. They never feel that equahty, nor believe it to be ac- 
knowledged by others. They remain unsatisfied until they have gained 
an undisputed ascendency. It is not in nature for them to feel grateful for 
the grant of privileges which they consider as their own by right, and as 
having been tyrannically withheld from them. On the contrary, every 
step they are advanced does but strengthen the hostility of their spirit, by 
giving ihem a nearer prospect of triumph and revenge. There are kw, 
we believe, so infatuated as to think that this race of people can ever be so 
incorporated into the mass of society as to form one identical people, freed 



SCO Eep. No. 546. 

from all (races of former distinction, Nofhini,'', indeed, but the most de- 
praved taste, feelinjjs, and principles, can hrmg any man to wisli for such a 
conditio;] of tliiniTS. 'I'he laws of our nature will not he suspended, 
or chano-ed. to realize the speculations of dreaming theorists. But until 
this siudl come to pass, this peculiar race must remain by themselves and 
act by themselves — not in harmony and , as equals, but in subserviency or 
hostility, or both, by turns. If in New England these evils are less per- 
ceptible, it is only because the source of thetn is more confined. Yet even 
here, in some of the large cities, where the people of color chiefly resort, 
much trouble and inconvenience have frequently been occasioned by them. 
But in those States where slaves are held, and must of necessity continue 
to be held, however reluctantly on the part of holders, the most serious 
evils must result from the admission of a mixed multitude of freed blacks 
and people of color, to form an intermediate class between the slaves and 
the proprietors. An ill-boding connexion and intercourse will be kept up 
between the tree people of color and the slaves, tending to render the latter 
discontented and unruly, and leading to continual plotiings and mischiefs'. 
We are far from bein2" advocates for slaverv : but we are convinced that 
great as the ermr of introducing slaves into this country may have been, ii 
would be a far greater error and evil even to resort to the experiment of con- 
%''eriing thnm into freemen in the same country in which they are held as 
slaves. Such an experiment would only end in the final extermination of 
those people themselves, as well as in the destruction of great portions of 
those by whom they are held. 

But the feature in the constitutions we have been speaking of least iu 
harmony with the doctrine of universal right of suffrage, (which, in 
other respects, is carried to such extremes in those instruments.) is the 
striking difference they make in the qualifications of the electors, and of 
those whom they are allowed to elect. In none of those States (except 
Connecticut) can a single one of the electors, who is barely qualified to act 
as such, be himself elected a representative, much less a senator. In most 
of those States a senator or representative (with some difference as to 
amount) must possess a clear freehold estate of very considerable extent, 
from one hundred to five hundred acres, and of value from one hundred 
pounds to one tiiousand dollars. In one Stale, the freehold must be worth 
■five hundred pounds sterling; and in another, a thousand pounds sterling 
clear of debt. And where real and personal property together make the 
qualification, the amount required is still much greater, in one State, in 
addition to a freehold of five hundred acres, the candidate must own ien 
negroes. The term of residence, also, must be much longer than is re- 
quired for voters, viz: from one to seven years; and the candidates must be 
of more mature age, viz: from twenty-two up to thirty five years, in dif- 
ferent States. 

Could the framers of those constitutions more clearly have manifested 
their own consciousness of the extreme worthiessness to which they had 
degraded the elective franchise, and their apprehensions of the ruiticus 
consequences which must result from that degradation, than in this attempt 
to guard against those consequences, by an expedient so inconsistent with 
the principle they had acted upon in regulanng that franchise? Consider- 
ing the claim to be a voter, and the claim to be voted for, (or not to be ex- 
cluded from being voted for,) to be of precisely the same character, and 
that, if there is any positive right in the one case, there is the same right in 



Rep. No. 546. 397 

the other, we cannot perceive ihe consistency of prohibiting^ those w!io 
have the right to vote irom voting for one anoilier, or lor any other persons 
except those pointed ont to them. 

Upon this view of the constitutions of other States we heg leave to in- 
qune wlierein the freedom of the people, as reijards the elective franchise, 
is better consulted and secured by any one of ilic-se constitutions than it 1s 
by oiir own insiitutioijs ? 

Your committee are too deeply impressed v/itli tlie importance of the 
subje-^^.i refined to their consideration, to close tliis report without present- 
ing at least a partial viev-- (since they can do no more) of tiie dangers by 
whicii a tree people are encompassed, without hope of escape, when Hie 
eleciive franchise is suflered to tall into the hands of those who are at all 
liaies the fit and ready instruments of am()itious individuals. Power over 
the people and their rights, in a free Stale, can only be obtained, in the first 
instatice, by the aid of voters. That a i^reat portion ul the community 
make it the study and business of their lives to possess themselves of as 
much of this power as possible, at]d, by means of it, to support ihems.-lves 
at tiie pu!)lic expense, we know full well. But how it is liiat tjjis distinct 
class of people succeed, and invest themselves with offices and honors, with 
fees, salaries, and emoluments, wlien, if compared with the rest of the peo- 
ple, in point ot worth and merit, they Vi/onld be foiiiid to he be!ov\^ an 
average — how it is, in short, that the people" themselves are used by the 
politician as the implements of his trade, — this mystery we can only com- 
prehend by considering' the mixed materials — the vaiious classes and de- 
scriptions of people of which society everywhere; is composed.. 

That inequality in the condition of men, of whicii Nature herself is the 
primary cause — bestowing, as she does, her gifts of intellectual and physical 
powers and faculties profusely upon souje; upon others, andotliers, through 
every gradaiiot:, less and less liberally; and finally, upon very many alford- 
iiig nothing better liiati mere negative qualities — feebleness of capacity and 
lameness of spirit — which leaves them witiiout tlie power, and even the in- 
clination, ever to enter into competition with those more bountilully en- 
dowed; the inequality thus originating and increased without limits by 
artiljcial and acquirc'd advantages and influences, — this it is by wiiicii 
every cominnnity is divided into distmct clat-ses. which in the progress ol 
socit-ty become more and more stronyiy marked. 

i:Jui the character tlms stamped upon the frame of society would, of itself, 
be of less importance, were it not for the advantages taken of it by the 
strong over the weak, the ambiiious over the depend:mt. In a. common- 
wealih like that of the United Stales, the thousands and tens of tbonsands 
of olfict'S, dignities, and honors, suijpiried ;nid ao-grandized by millions and 
tens of millions of revenues rej^ulaily collected, without failure, from the 
people, for that service; — these mighty temptations generate and bring 
iortli a countless host ol aspirants of every grade and cliaracter, who de- 
vote their time and faculties to ihc study and practice of politics ns a trade, 
upon their success in which ail iheir best prospects in life depend. These 
form a distinct class or profession, having separate interests, a.nd being 
clearly maiked and disunguished from the rest of the community, by the 
peculiar character of liieir occupations, Ihe inslrumems with which (they 
work, and the value and description of the products of tlseir skill .and labor. 
And of these there is always a double set — those who are in possessioti of 
the posts of otTice, with their connexions and adherents, expecting ofiices 



398 Rep. No. 546. 

and favors, and those who are unceasingly struggling to dispossess them. 
This class has never existed in any country, without there being found, in 
the oppo&ite extreme, a numerous class of dependant instruments; and 
between these two, and subjected to the encroachments of both, are the in- 
dustrious classes of the people by whom the otliers are sustained and sup- 
ported. 

We may shrink from tlie idea of an aristocracy: but the best historians 
inform us that iliere was never yet a commonwealth without even its order 
of hereduary nobility, Tlie federal constitution has guarded against the 
introduction of titles of nobility. So did the celebrated Tuscan cities ; and yet 
they had them. And that there is in ihis country, as well as in every other, 
however free,an aristocracy of office, naturally and unavoidably produced by 
the power, patronage, and influence inseparable from the possession of all the 
great and minor offices of government, we must be dull indeed not to know. 
And although we have no title of nobility, yet, as the republic of Holland 
had its " high mighiincsses^^ so we have our excellencies, honorables, and 
wnrshipfuls ; titles with which those who are exalted to them are as proud 
(or vain) of them as the dukes and earls of other countries of their titles. 
They all feel the same love of power, and distinction, and emoluments, by 
whatever titles they are called. 

It will not be supposed, we trust, that our remarks are intended to apply 
to any particular administration, past or present, or to any particular party 
or individuals. Different parties may and will advocate and j'ursue difl.er- 
ent poliiical schemes, in which they may all of them be more or less right 
•or wrong. We have no idea that in point of political virtue and patriotism 
one political party can claim any preference over another; we speak solely 
€l the natural tendency of all republican governments, and of the natural 
propensities and influences which will inevitably govern all men (with few 
exceptions) who are in possession of power, or are in pursuit of it. 

It is true that the people ought to put the most liberal construction upon 
the conduct of their rulers ; to make every reasonable allowance for tlie 
errors they may commit, and firmly and effectually to aid and support them 
in the perlormance of (heir official duties. But all this they may do with- 
out forgetting that it is the disposition and tendency of all governments to 
strengtiien their own hands, and increase their own powers by encroach- 
ing upon those of the people ; and that, in short, the best that can be said 
of ihem, is, that they are a necessary evil. It is not true that men in power 
feel none but a common interest with the body of the people. They do, 
and will ever feel a far stronger, personal, individual interest in perpetu- 
ating and increasing their own power; and will, most of them, in further- 
ance of these private purposes, employ the addiiional influence derived from 
their offices, to increase the number of their adherents and instruments. 

We apprehend that the people generally are little aware of the number 
and strength of this powerful body, or of their almost resistless influence 
and control over the suffrages and elections. 'J'he number of men depend- 
ant upon the post office establishuient alone, including postmasters, depu- 
ties, clerks, contractors, agents, carriers, and others, amounts to more than 
thirty thousand. The numbers employed under the other departments, 
(especially thai of the treasury,) are also immense ; and considering, on the 
one hand, the w'illingne.ss of Government to enlarge the sphere of their 
patronage, and, on the other, the greediness of individuals to obtain offices, 
even the most insignificaDt, it may reasonably be supposed that offices have 



Rep. No. 546. 399 

been, from time to time, and will contiriue to be, unreasonably multiplied. 
Should the project, which has been partially adopted, of applying ihe sur- 
plus revenues to the purposes ot internal iniproveirients, be carried to the 
extent which it may be, there will no lono;er be any bounds to the patronage 
of Government. We have nothing to say here upon the subject of the con- 
stitutionality of that project. We speak only of its eflects in connexion 
with the subject before us. If the surplus revenue can be so disposed of, 
there can be no bar to the exaction of additional revenue to any amount, by 
direct taxaiion, or otherwise, to be applied to the same purposes; and who 
can calculate the power of a political engine by wNch entire States maybe 
moved with ease — at least so long as they enjoy the exclusive benefit of the 
revenues drawti from other Slates ! 

The numbers of those interested in Slate offices are, of course, much 
greater: and, however we may rt-grei it, we must be aware that State and 
national politics, parties, and influences, have got to be but too closely con- 
nected, "^rhe immense patronage possessed by the General Government 
has been found, in every State, greatly to influence, and iti most of them 
finally to control, the State elections and politics. 

Thus is created and organized an army of civil officers, a hiuidred 
times more numerous, and a thousand times more efficient and formidable, 
than any military army that could be embodied in this coiuilry, with views 
hostile 10 its freedom. And the discipline of the military is not more strictly 
enforced, than is that of the civil host. Whoever steps out of the ranks of 
the latter, immediately is deprived of his office. Their whole efforts are 
concentrated and directed to the same point and object — the furtherance of 
their own exclusive political interests. The course laid down for them 
may be right or may be wrong; but they have no power ot choosing for 
themselves. U, in the opinions of any of them, that course be ever so 
wrong, or ever so injurious to the public welfare, still they are compelled 
to preserve it ; for they will not sacrifice their own immediate, individual 
interests to any considerations of the public good. Nor is the public ser- 
vice the primary object in tlic selections of these hosts of ofljcers. On 
the contrary, one half, or nearly one htdf, of the people are excluded by 
party; and upon the same principle of action, the selections from the other 
half are made with a view to the strength of the party. And thus we find 
that the men who obtain offices are generally those busy, forward, intriguing 
politicians, whose claims, boldly asserted, cannot be safely overlooked, 
however unqualified they may be to perform the duties of the offices they 
demand ; while better men, in all respects better qualified for the public 
service, are passed by without notice. 

And this powerful political body is not more strong in its numbers and 
discipline than it is in its means of sustaining itself All its members, in 
addition to their personal exertions and influence, will very readily con- 
tribute a portion of their pay to secure to themselves the continued enjoy- 
ment of the residue. Or, should any of them be backward in doing so, 
their compeers will be sure to coerce them to pay their quotas. The po- 
litical uses to which the thousands of post otfices with which the whole 
United States are thickly studded over, may be put. should that im- 
mense establishment ever be prostituted to such uses — as it certainly may- 
be — must be apparent to every man. And should the numberless local 
paper money banks be gained, (and we know that great party uses are al- 
leady made of ihena, and may be certain that there will be a great struggle 



400 Rep. Ko. 546. 

of pnrtics (o obtain the control of sr.ch an engine,) and shonld the equally 
minibeiless political printing preeseSj all of which are in the service and 
ninny of thcni in llie pay of one parly or another, and loo many of which 
are enijiloyed in niisniforniinu' and misleadiuij tlie pnblic mind — should 
these also be brouwhl into connbination and co-operation wiili the post 
offipe esiabli?hinent, then will the free people o( this cotintry become sen- 
sible of a pressure under wiiicli it will be happy, shall they be able to bear 
up. 

The maxims of pohcy wliich the leading political men of ail parlies have 
openly adojjted and practised upon, are in direct hostility to the interests 
of the people, and tend inevitably to the subversion of their rights. Some 
of those niaxims are: that every man who claims to act according to his 
own convictions of rig! it and wrong, and will not agree to go thoroughly 
with a party, ought to be discountenanced by all patties: that every man 
is bound to support the njeasuros of his party and approve of their nomina- 
tions to office, however fully convinc--^d he may be that these measures are 
unwise and injurious to the public ituerest, or that the met) ))roposed for 
offices are v/hoily unfit to be trusted with them: lliat, in politics, the end 
justifies ti]e m^aiis ; or, in other words, that in jioiuics honesty is not the 
best policy. It is an alarming fact tliat such pernicious doctrines as these 
are openly avowed and justified by men who, in their private concerns, 
hold a high standing in the community; doctrines which approacfi very 
near to the noted mnxim of Machiavel, that '-'men. ous;ht nevtr to commit 
crimes by the halves.'''' 

These truths are obvious, and we see them exemplified in the progress 
of all parties. (Jan we then be blind to the consequent, self evident truths, 
than an aristocracy of cilice and power, such as exists in this, and must 
necessarily exist m every republic, attaches itself to the democracy of the 
country mainly, if not solely, for the purpose of self aggrandizement ; that 
it will continue to court and flatter that democracy s(^ long- as it needs its 
support and fears its strengtli; and that while most profuse in its profes- 
sions of devote dness to the viall and service of the people, it is incessantly 
laboring to sfrono-tiicn its own lianr's by increasing the num.bcr of its de- 
pendants and multiplying the instrumcnts^of its power/ 

If these things are plain to our vievp, can we not also see that if the gre;xt 
right of sutlVage, upon wliich the ML'elfare and existence of the common- 
wealth, as a republic, depends— the only power whieii tlie sound part of 
llie community possess of protecting tliemsi>lves from the encroachments 
of ambition — if this power is {.ut into the hands oi' that class of people 
whicii, though, it contains some wholesome citizens, embraces at the same 
time all the loose atid floating; all the dependant and tnercenary popula- 
tion ; all th'ose who, having little or nothirjg at slake themselves, care little 
or nothing for th'e rights of others ; people who, in voting, exercise no 
judgment of {heir own, nor have any wish to form any; taking their im- 
pulses and directions from their leaders, and ready to fight their battles, not 
inei'eiy by voting, but by every species and excess of brawling and violence 
to which those lead.'rs may instigcite them : — can we not see that to put 
power into such hands, itistead of adding to the number of real freemen, 
wotild be to multiply the instruments whereby ambition may enable itself 
to set tiiof-e freenuMi at defiance .^ Some idea of the character of the new- 
made voters may be formed from the fact, that the whole increase of popii- 
latian in this S a'e (probably amounting to ten or twelve thousand) during 



Rep. No. 546. 401 

the last ten or twelve years, this whole increase has been in the mannfac- 
turing districts, including the town of Providence as their centre. What 
a spectacle would our freemen's meetings exhibit, should they ever be filled 
by hosts of mercenary voters ! Even now, we know that angry feelings, 
looks, and language, and sharp disputes, are but too much indulged in. 
And in many places where free suffrage prevails, we constantly hear of 
affrays, violence, and even bloodshed ; each party spiriting on its reck- 
less retainers to get possession of the polls, and to intimidate its opponents. 
And the consequence is. that great numbers of sober minded, peaceable 
freemen, are disgusted with such scenes, and keep away from the polls^ 
where they know they will be abused and insulted for exercising the rights 
of freemen. 

We ought to recollect that all the evils which may result from the ex- 
tension of suffrage will be evils beyond our reach. We shall entail them 
upon our latest posterity without remedy. Open this door, and the whole 
frame and character of our institutions are changed forever. 

It is not safe for any nation to flatter itself that it will always be wiser 
and better than all others have been. The Athenian and Roman repub- 
lics, great, renowned, and proud of their liberties as they were, were sub- 
verted, one after the other, and enslaved by the instrumentality of this same 
engine of universal suffrage. The moment that was introduced, the 
brokers of offices and sellers of their country publicly spread their tables, 
upon which they counted out their bribes to the voters. 

For the committee, 

B. HAZARD. 



No. 80.— (C.) 
Resolutions of the General Assembly. 

The following resolutions were passed by the General Assembly at the 
January session, A. D. 1841. upon a memorial from the town of Smitlifield; 
to enlarge the representation from that town to the General Assembly : 

Resolved by the General Assembly, (the Seriate concurring with the 
House of Representatives therein,) That the freemen of the several towns 
in this State, and of the city of Providence, qualified to vote for general offi- 
cers, be, and they are hereby, requested to choose, at their semi annual town 
or ward meetings in August next, so many delegates, and of the same qual- 
ifications as they are now respectively entitled to choose representatives to 
the General Assembly, to attend a convention to be holden at Providence 
on the first Monday of November, in the year of our Lord 1842, to frame a 
new constitution for this State, either in whole or in part, with fall powers 
for this purpose ; and if only for a constitution in part, that said conven- 
tion have under their especial consideration the expediency of equalizino- the 
representation of the towns in the House of Representatives, 

Resolved, That a majority of the whole number of delegates which all 
the towns are entitled to choose, shall constitute a quorum, who may elect 
a president and secretary, judge of the qualifications of the members, and 
establish such rules and proceedings as they may think necessary; and any 
town or city which may omit to elect its delegates at the said meetings in 
26 



402 Rep. No. 546. 

August, may elect them at any time previous to the meeting of said conven- 
tion. 

Resolved^ That the constitution or amendments agreed upon by said 
convention shall be submitted to the freemen in open town or ward meet- 
ings, to be hoiden at such time as may be named by said cpnvention. 
The said constitution or amendments shall be certified by the president 
and secretary, and returned to the secretary of state, who shall forthwith 
distribute to the several town and city clerks, in due proportion* one thou- 
sand printed copies thereof, and also fifteen thousand ballots, on one side of 
which shall be printed "Amendments (or constitution) adopted bjj the con- 
vention hoiden at Providence on the first Monday of November last;"' and 
on the other side, the word '•' approve" on the one half of said ballots, and 
the word " reject" on the other half. 

Resolved^ That at the town or ward meetings to be hoiden as aforesaid, 
every freeman voting shall have his name written on the back of his ballots, 
and the ballots sliall be scaled up in open town or ward meetings by the 
clerks, and, with lists of the names of the voters, shall be returned to the 
General Assembly at its next succeeding session ; and the said General As- 
sembly shall cause said ballots to be examined and counted, and said amend- 
ments or -constitution being approved of by a majority of the freemen vo- 
ting, shall go into operation and effect at such time as may be appointed by 
said convention. 

Resolved^ That a sum not exceeding three hundred dollars be appropri- 
ated for defraying the expenses of said convention, to be paid according to 
the order of said convention, certified by the president. 



No. 81.— (D.) 
Petition of Elisha Dilliiig/ta?}i a7id others. 

To the honorable the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island: ■ 

The undersigned, inhabitants and citizens of the Slate of Rhode Island, 
would respectfully represent to your lionorable body, that they conceive that 
the dignity of the State would be advanced, and the liberties o! ilie, i)eople 
better secured, by the abrogation of the charter granted unto tins State by 
King Charles II of England, and by the establishment of a constitution 
which should more effectually define the authority of the executive and legis- 
lative branches, and more strongly recognise the rights of the citizens. 

Your petitioners would not take the liberty of suggesting to your honora- 
ble body any course which should be pursued, but would leave the whole 
affair in your hands, trusting to tlie good sense and discretion of the Gene- 
ral Assembly. 

Your petitioners would further represent to the General Assembly, that 
they conceive that an extension of suffrage to a greater portion of the white 
male residents of the State would be more in accordance with the spirit of 
our institutions than the present system of the State, and for such extension 
they ask. Your petitioners would not suggest any system of suffrage, but 
would leave the matter to the wisdom of the General Assembly. 

Upon both the prayers of- your pelitioiiersj they would ask the immediate 



Kep. No. 546. 40^ 

and efficient action of the General Assembly ; and, as in duty bound, will 
ever pray. 

[Signed by Elisiia Dillingham and 5S0 others.] 

[Endorsed.] Petition of Elisha Dillingham and others for an abrogatioa 
of charter and establishment of a constitution. 

H. R., Jamiarij 21, 1S41.— Received, and laid on the table. 

T. A, J., Clerk. 

A true copy from the files of the House of Representatives of the State 
of Rhode Island. 

THOMAS A. JENCKES, 

Clerk of said House. 



No. 82.— (E.) 

-A declaration of principks of the Rhode Island Suffrage Association^ 
tnade 7th day of February, 1S41, and the I3th of April, 1841. 

Believing that all men are created free and equal, and that the possession 
of pro[)erty should create no political advantages for its holder; and be- 
lieving that all bodies politic should iiave for their foundation a bill of 
rights and a written constitution, wherein the rights of the people should 
be defined, and the duties of the people's servants strictly pointed out and 
limited ; and believing that the State of Rhode Island is possessed of 
neither of these instrumenis, and that the charter under which she has her 
political existence is not only aristocratic in its tendency, but that it lost all 
its authority when the independence of the United States was declared; 
and fiirthermore, believing that every State in the federal compact is en- 
titled, by the terms of that compact, to a republican form of government, 
and that any form of government is anti-repubiican and aristocratic which 
precludes a majority of the people from participating in its affairs, and that 
by every right, human and divine, the majority in the State should govern ; 
and furthermore, and finally, believing that the time has gone by when we 
are called upon to submit to the most unjust outrages upon our political 
and social rights : therefore, 

Resolved, That the poirer of the Stale should be vested in the hands of 
the people; and that the people have a right from lime to time to assemble 
together, either by themselves or their representatives, for the establishment 
of a republican form of government. 

Resolved, That whenever a mnjority of the citizens of this State, who 
are recognised as citizens of the United States, shall, by their delegates in 
convention assembled, draught a constitution, and the same shall be accepted 
by. their constituents, it will be, to all intents and purposes, the law of the 
State. 

Resolved, That the cause of suffrage can only be carried forward by the 
diffusion of correct doctrine on this subject. Therefore, the friends of the 
cause are under an imperative obligation to aid by their patronage and in- 
fluence in giving a wider and more extended circulation to the organ of 
this association, the New Ao-e, 



404 Kep. No. 546. 

Resolved^ That we earnestly recommend to the good citizens of this 
State who are in favor of a just and equal government — or, in other words, 
a government of the people — to form associations in every town in the 
State ; and that their secretaries be requested to correspond with the secre- 
taries of other associations, so that a convention may be called to adopt the 
plan this evening proposed, or some other plan which they, in their wisdom, 
shall devise. 

Resolved, That, in the opinion of this association, the two most impor- 
tant objects to be gained in the formation of a constitution, are equal repre- 
sentation and a liberal extension of suffrage. Therefore, we are of opinion 
that, to accomplish these objects, all who are interested should be allowed 
to participate in its formation. 

At a meeting of the said suffrage association holden at Providence on 
the 13lh of April, 1S41, the foregoing declaration was reiterated, and the 
following resolution passed : 

Resolved, That, for the purpose of promoting the furtherance of the 
cause in which we have engaged, we have determined on a parade, to be 
held on the 17th inst., and that we invite the citizens generally to meet on 
the occasion. 



No. 83.— (F.) 

Resolutions adopted at a mass meeting of the friends of svffrnge, held at 
Newpo7't, May 5, 1841, setting forth the principles of the suffrage move- 
merit. 

Whereas it is the undeniable right of the people, at all times, peaceably to- 
assemble for consultation and conference touching the government under 
which they live, and which they assist in supporting ; and independently to 
utter and set forth, on such occasions of meeting to^^^ether, their views, sen- 
timents, and plans relative to the correction, as well of defects in the organ- 
ization of government, as of faults in the administration of the same : We„- 
a portion of the people of this State, now assembled at Newport in mass con- 
vention, from all parts of the State, and acting on behalf of the great body 
of our unenfranchised fellow-citizens, do declare their and our opinions and. 
purposes in the following 

RESOLUTIONS: 

1. Resolved, That it is repugnant to the spirit of the declaration of 
American independence, and derogatory to the character of Rhode Island 
republicans, to acknowledge the charter of a British king as a constitution 
of political government. While we venerate the illustrious names of Roger 
VVilliams and John Clarke, to whose untiring ability and perseverance the 
colony of Rhode Islond was indebted for this grant from the throne of Eng- 
land, so well adapted at the time to the wants of his Majesty's subjects, and 
so liberal in its concessions, — we are at the same time aware that in almost 
ail respects, excepting the immortal declaration and guaranty of religious 
freedom, it has become insuflicient and obsolete ; that it should be laid aside 
in the archives of the State, and no longer be permitted to subsist as a bar- 
rier against the riglits and liberties of the people. 

2. Resolved, That, in the opinion of this convention, on the occurrence 



Rep. No. 546. 405 

of the American Revolution, when the ties of allegiance which bound the 
subjects of this colony to (he throne of England were dissolved, the rights 
of sovereignty, in accordance with the principles of republican government, 
passed to the whole body of the people of this State, and not to any special 
or favored portion of the same ; that tlie whole people were and are the just 
and rightful successors of the British king, and as such were and are enti- 
tled to alter, amend, or annul the form»ancl provisions of government ;iien 
and now subsisting, with the sole restriction imposed by the constitution of 
the United States; and, in their original and sovereign capacity, to devise 
and substitute such a constitution as they may deem to be best adapted to 
the general welfare. 

3. Resolved, That no lapse of lime can bar the sovereignty inherent in 
the people of tliis State; and that their omission to form a constitution, and 
their toleration of the abuses under which they have so long labored, are to 
be regarded as proof of their long suffering and forbearance, rather than as ar- 
guments against their power and their capacity to right themselves, wiien- 
ever, in their opinion, redress from the governments at present subsisting is 
hopeless. 

4. Resolved^ That the time has now fully arrived for a vigorous and con- 
centrated effort to accomplish a tliorough and permanent reform in the po- 
litical insiitutions of this State. 

5. Resolved^ That a system of government under which the legislative 
body exercise power undefined and uncontrolled by fundamental laws, ac- 
cording to its own "especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion," 
and limits and restricts, and makes and unmakes the people at its pleasure, 
is anti-republican, and odious in its character and operations, at war with 
the spirit of the age, and repugnant to the feelings of every right-minded 
Rhode Island man, and ought to be abated. 

6. Resolved, That the public good imperatively reqjiires that the powers 
of the legislature, and rights of the citizens, should be defined and fixed by 
a written State constitution. 

7. Resolved, That the representation of the towns in the General Assem- 
bly, as originally established by the provisions of the charter of King Charles 
II, had reference to the then existing population of the same, and was at that 
time not unfairly adjusted to it; but that, by the great increase of popula- 
tion in the towns, the existing apportionment has become exceedingly une- 
qual and unjust in its operations ; and that a new assignment of representa- 
tives among the towns, according to population, will be an indispensable ar- 
ticle in a constitution for this State. A majority of the representatives to 
the General Assembly are now elected by towns containing less than one- 
third of the population of the State; and some of the towns, from twice to 
twenty times what they are entitled to, under the jtist principles of distribu- 
tion above named — an inequality not uncommon in the monarchies of Eu- 
rope, but, with the single exception of Rhode Island, unknown in the Uni- 
ted States. 

8. Resolved, That, at the foundation of this State, and long after, property 
in land was not only the principal property of the citizens, but was so easily 
attainable, that a landed qualification for voters (first definitely established. 
in the colony by the legislature in 1724) excluded only a small portion of 
the people from political power; but that the circumstances of the people 
have since greatly changed, and the existing qualification for voting has 
the effect, contrary to the designs of those who first established it, of exclu- 



406 Rep. No. 546. 

ding the great majority of 16,000, or 25,000 over the age of twenty-one 
years, from all political privileges and participation in the affairs of govern- 
ment ; and that, although we entertain a high and becoming respect for 
farmers, and their just influence in the State, we are not insensible to the 
merits of their younger sons — of the mechanics, the merchants, the working 
men, and others — who own no land ; and that we are of opinion that the 
longer continuance of a landed qualification for voters is a great injusticej 
and is contrary to the spirit and principles of a republican government ; and 
that a constitution for this State will be altogether insufficient, unsatisfac- 
tory, and impracticable, that does not restore to the body of the people of 
this State the rights and principles of American citizens. 

9. Resolved, That a continuance of the provisions of the charter relating 
to representation, and of the act of the legislature requiring a freehold es- 
tate to entitle a citizen to vote for public officers, has the effect not only to 
vest the control of the General Assembly, as we have before seen, in less 
than one-third of the population, but, as the voters in this third are only a 
third part of the whole number of male adult citizens, this further effect 
also — the most odious of all — of placing the control of the Assembly and the 
State in one ninth part of its adult population ; or, in other words, in the 
hands of less than three thousand men out of twenty five thousand who are 
over twenty-one years of age. 

10. Resolved, That such a state of things is a bold and hardy defiance of 
all popular rights, and is a total departure from the principles advanced at 
the first session of the General Assembly in the year 1647, who then sol- 
emnly declared and voted that the government of this State should be a 
democracy. 

1 1. Resolved, That the American system of government is a government 
of men, and not of property ; and that while it provides for the ample protec- 
tion and safe enjoyment and transmission of property, it confiers upon it no 
political advantages, byt regards all men as free and equal, and exacts from 
them no price for the exercise of their birthright ; and that, therefore, the un- 
doubted rights and privileges of the people, as well as the true honor and pros- 
perity of the State, can only be completely obtained and permanently insured 
by a written constitution, whose fiamers shall be chosen from the people of 
the towns, in proportion to population, and which shall be approved and rati- 
fied by the people at large ; and that, in the exercise of this high act of sover- 
eignty, every American citizen, whose actual permanent residence or home 
is in this State, has a right to participate. And we accordingly pledge our- 
selves individually to each other, and collectively to the public, that we will 
use our unremitting exertions for such a constitution, in the way that has 
been described. 

12. Resolved, That we disclaim all action with or for any political party 
in this great question of State rights, reserving to ourselves individually our 
own opinions on all matters of State or national politics, which we call upon 
no man to sacrifice; and that we heartily invite the earnest co-operation of 
men of all political parties in the cause which we have at heart, and which 
we believe to be the cause of liberty, equality, and justice to all men. 

13. Resolved, That the General Assembly should have called the con- 
vention to frame a constitution in such a manner as to apportion the dele- 
gates to the convention among the several tovvns, according to population, 
and to give to every American citizen as aforesaid the right of voting for 



Rep. No. 546. 40T 

delegates and for the constitution which may be proposed for the ratifica- 
tion of the people. 

14. Resolved^ That the friends of reform in each town be requested forth- 
with to establish an association for the purpose of a better organization for 
correspondence, and generally for the promotion of the objects of this con- 
vention. 

15. Resolved^ That a State committee of eleven persons be appointed by 
this convention to correspond with the associations of the several towns, and 
to carry forward the cause of reform and equal rights, and to call a conven- 
tion of delegates to draught a constitution at as early a day as possible. 

16. Resolved, That the State committee be requested to obtain, without 
delay, a list of all the citizens in tiie several towns who are ready to vote for 
and sustain a constitution based on the principles hereinbefore declared, and 
to present the same at the adjourned meeting. 

17. Resolved, That the State committee be requested to prepare and send 
forth an address to the people of this State on the subjects contained in the 
foregoing resolutions, and to report proceedings at an adjourned meeting. 

18. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to the gov- 
ernor, to the lieutenant governor, and to each member of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, wliose attention is especially and respectfully 
asked to the resolution relative to the call of the convention for framing a 
constitution. 

19. Resolved, That the support and patronage of all the friends of reform 
are urgently requested in behalf of the " New Age," a newspaper exclusively 
devoted to the cause which we have this day assembled to promote. 

20. Resolved, That these resolutions be signed by the president and sec- 
retaries of the convention, and published in the several newspapers through- 
out the State, and that the publishers be requested to give them a gratuitous 
insertion in their respective papers. 

21. Resolved, That tliis convention, when it adjourns, will adjourn to 
meet at Providence on the olh day of July next. 

The following gentlemen were then appointed a State committee, in ac- 
cordance with the 15th resolution : 

Ncivport county. — Hon. Char'es Collins and Hon. Dutee J. Pearce. 
Providence county. — Samuel H. Wales and Benjamin Arnold, jr. 
Washington coiuUy. — Wm. S. Peckham and Sylvester Himes. 
Kent county. — Silas Weaver and Emanuel Rice. 
Bristol county. — Samuel Allen and Benjamin M. Bosworth. 



No. 84.— (G.) 

Resolutions adopted at a mass 7neeting of the friends of suffrage held at 
Providence, R. 1., July '5, 1841. 

Resolved, That on this, the anniversary (5th July, 1841) of our nation- 
al independence, we recur, with emotions of deep and patriotic gratitude^ 
to the principles, the measures, and the men of the American Revolution, 

Resolved, That the doctrines of liberty and equality, first promulgated 
in modern times by the immortal founders of our State, and re-asserted by 



408 Rep. No. 546. 

the illusliioLis author of ihe declaration of independence, lie at the founda- 
tion of all that is just and free in our political institutions; and that the 
vindication of these doctrines, when impaired, and the development of 
them in all their force and effect, are duties of the most sacred and impera- 
tive obligations, and enjoined upon us by the venerable fathers, who, being 
dead, yet speak to us, by our character as republicans and as men, and by 
our regard to the rights and interests of our successors. 

Resolved^ That, in the language of Jefferson, '-It is not only the right, 
but the duty, of those now on the stage of action, to change the laws and 
institutions of government, to keep pace with the progress of knowledge, 
the lights of science, and the amelioration of the condition of society;" — 
and that "nothing is to be considered unchangeable, but the inherent and 
unalienable rights of man." 

Resolved, That the political institutions of this State have long since 
lost their character of liberty and equality, which belong to a republic; 
and that, inasmuch as in the words of Washington, "the basis of our po- 
litical institutions is the right of the people to make and to alter their con- 
stitutions," it has now become the duty of the people of Rhode Island, act- 
ing upon the principles which have been recited, and animated by the ex- 
ample of their patriotic ancestors, to apply with a firm hand, without un- 
necessary delay, and in their original and sovereign capacity, the necessary 
corrective to existing political evils, by the formation and adoption of a 
written republican State constitution. 

Resolved, " That we unanimously and cordially re-aflirm the views, sen- 
timents, and plans" set forth in their resolutions by the convention of the 
friends of equal rights, held at Newport on the 5th day of May last ; and 
that, inasmuch as the General Assembly of this State, at their last session, 
in .lune, have finally decided that the freeholders are exclusively the people 
of Rhode Island, and have denied to the great majority of the people, so 
far as it is in their power thus to deny, any participation in the convention 
to be held in November next, the time has now fully arrived for the peo- 
ple, in their original and sovereign capacity, to exercise their reserved 
rights; and that we hereby approve the call by the State committee of the 
people's convention, on the basis of the resolutions aforesaid, at an early 
day, for the formation of a constitution. 

Resolved, That when the constitution, so framed, shall be adopted by 
a majority of the v^diole people of the State, by their signatures or other- 
wise, as the convention may j^rovide, we will sustain and carry into effect 
said constitution, by all necessary means ; and that, so far as in us lies, we 
will remove all obstacles to its successful establishment and operation : and 
we hereunto solemnly pledge ourselves to each other and the public. 

Resolved, That we hail with pleasure tlie presence among us of the 
venerable remnants of our revolutionary worthies; and entertain the hope 
that they may be spared to witness anolf.er nnniversary, when they will 
be deemed not only worthy of shedding their blood for the defence of their 
country, but of voting for their rulers, and of taking an equal share of the 
concerns of government. 

Resolved, That we enter our solemn protest against the principles upon 
which the landholders' constitution is called, as by that call a large ma- 
jority of the people of this State are excluded from a participation in the 
choice of delegates to frame a constitution, by the provisions of which 
they are to be governed. 



Rep. No. 546. . 409 

Resolved^ That we deny the aiUhority of the legislature to proscribe or 
prevent any portion of our fellow-citizens, who are permanent residents 
of tliis State, from a participation in the organization of the government, 
which is to affect the rights and privileges of all. 

Resolved, That it is contrary to the spirit of a republican government 
for a minority to make laws that shall bind the majority; and that we wiU 
resist, to the utmost of our ability, a government that shall not acknowledge 
the just rights of the whole people. 

Resolved, That we will use all hojjorable means within our power to 
have every American citizen, who is a permanent resident in this State, 
represented in the convention for framing a constitution that shall define 
the powers of the legislature, and secure to the people the free exercise of 
their rights and privileges. 

By a vote of said mass convention, the following gentlemen were added 
to the State committee, viz: 

Newport county. — Silas Sisson. 

Providence county. — Henry L. Webster. Philip B. Sliness, and Metcalf 

Blarsh. 
Bristol county. — Abijah Luce. 
Kent county. — John Brown and John B. Sheldon. 
WasJiinglon, county. — Wager Weeden and Charles Allen. 



No. 85.— (Ha.) 

Resolutions of the General Assembly, passed at the May session, 1S4.\, in 
amendment oj resolutions passed at the January session, same year. 

At the May session of the General Assembly, 1841, the following resolu- 
tions passed in amendment, or in addition, to those passed in January of the 
same year, "^rhey are as follows, viz : 

Resolved by the General Assembly, {the Senate concurring with the 
House of Re])resentatives therein.) That the delegates from the several 
towns to the State convention to be holden in November next, for the pur- 
pose of framing a State constitution, be elected on the basis of population 
in the following manner, to wit : Every town of not more than eight hun- 
dred and fifty inhabitants may elect one delegate ; of more than eight hun- 
dred and fifty, and not more than three thousand inhabitants, two dele- 
gates ; of more than three thousand, and not more than six thousand 
inhabitants, three delegates ; of more than six thousand, and not more than 
ten thousand inhabitants, four delegates : of more than ten thousand, and 
not more than fifteen thousand inhabitants, five delegates ; of more than 
fifteen thousand inhabitants, six delegates. 

Resolved, That the delegates attending said convention be entitled to re- 
ceive from the government treasury the same pay as members of the Gene- 
ral Assembly. 

Resolved, That so much of the resolutions to which these are an amend- 
ment as is inconsistent therewith, be repealed. 



410 Eep. No. 546. 

No. 86.— (J a.) 

A call to the jjeople of Rhode Island to assemble in convention. 

At a mass convention of the friends of equal rights and of a written repub- 
lican constitution for this State, held at Newport on the 5th day of May, 
1841, the following persons were appointed a State committeEj for the 
furtherance of the cause which the convention had assembled to promote, 
viz: 

Nnoport county. Bristol county. 

Benjamin M. Bosworth, 
Charles Collins, Samuel S. Allen, 

Dutee J. Pearce, Abijah Luce. 

Silas Sisson. 

Kent county. 

Providence county. hjmanuel Kice, 

Silas Weaver, 

Samuel H. Wales, John B. Sheldon. 
Benjamin Arnold, jr., 

Welcome B. Sayles, Washington county. 

Henry ],. Webster, Sylvester Himes, 

Philip B. Stiness, Wager Weeden, 

Metcalf Marsh. Charles Allen. 

The State committee were directed to " carry forward the cause of reform 
and equal rights, and to call a convention of delegates to draught a constitu- 
tion alas early a day as possible." 

At an adjourned meeting of said mass convention, held at Providence on 
the oth day of July, the instructions before given were reaffirmed, and the 
committee were directed to call a convention of the people, on the basis of 
the resolutions passed at Newport, " at an early day, for the formation of a 
constitution." 

Pursuing these instructions, the committee held a meeting at Providence 
on the 20th of .luly; and, in conformity with the eleventh resolution adopted 
at Newport, which prescribes tlie call of a convention of the people at large, 
to be represented in proportion to population, passed, unanimously, the fol- 
lowing resolution for the call of a popular convention : 

Voted, That we proceed to issue a call for the election of delegates to 
take place on the last Saturday in August, (the 28th day,) to attend a con- 
vention to be holden at the State house in Providence, on the first Monday 
in October, (the 4th day,) for framing a constitution to be laid before the 
people for their adoption. 

Voted, That every American male citizen, of twenty-one years of age and 
upwards, who has resided in this State one year preceding the election of 
delegates, shall vote for delegates to the convention called by the State 
committee, to be held at the State-house in Providence on the first Monday 
in October next. 

Voted, That every meeting holden for the election of delegates to the 
State convention shall be organized by the election of a chairman and 
secretary, whose certificate shall be required of the delegates. 

Voted, That each town of one thousand inhabitants, or less, shall be en- 



Rep. No. 546. 411 

titled to one delegate; and for every additional thousand, one delegate 
shall be appointed ; and the city of Providence shall elect three delegates 
from each ward in the city. 

Voted, That the chairman and secretary be directed to cause one thou- 
sand handbills to be printed and distributed through the State, containing 
the call for a convention oWelegates. 

Voted, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the chairman 
and secretary, and be published. 

On motion, voted, That this meeting stand adjourned, to meet at this 
place on the 1st day of September, at 11 o'clock, a. m. 

Fellow CITIZENS : We have discharged our duty in a call of a conven- 
tion of the whole people, to provide for the attainment and security of those 
invaluable rights which have been so long withheld from them, and without 
which they are but subjects and slaves in a state only nominally republican. 
Depend upon it that a spirit has been aroused in this State, which can- 
not be intimidated nor repressed; which has suffered long, until patience 
has ceased to be a virtue ; and which, regarding the republican institutions 
everywhere else enjoyed but here, and prompted by our venerable and 
patriotic ancestors, the tirst to assert the true principles of religious and po- 
litical freedom, will brook no further delay ; and which cannot be more ap- 
propriately expressed than when we say, in behalf of the great majority of 
the people — Give us our rights, or we will take them. 

We ask fur nothing that is not clearly right, and we are determined \o 
submit to nothing so manifestly wrong as the corrupt and anti-republican 
system of government which has so long subsisted m Rhode Island by the 
forbearance of the people. 

Bear in mind that there is no constitutional mode of amending our gov- 
ernment, except by the people at large, in whom, as the successors of the 
king of England, the sovereign power resides and remains unimpaired by 
any lapse of time, or toleration of past abuses. 

That there is no bill of rights in this State, except that granted by the 
legislature, and which they can at any moment resume and annul. 

That the General Assembly is a body irresponsible to the majority of the 
people, restricted by no constitutional rule of action, virtually omnipotent, 
making and unmaking the people, doing and undoing what it pleases, ac- 
cording to its "especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion," in imi- 
tation, upon a smaller scale, of the monarchy of Great Britain. 

That the system of representation to this Assembly is also the rotten 
borough system of Great Britain, now partially reformed ; by which system, 
in this State, a third of the freemen and one-ninth of the people command 
the House of Representatives. 

That, by reason of the landed qualification, which it is impossible for the 
great majority to obtain, two-thirds of the people are ousted of the birthright 
acquired for them by their fathers ; and are governed, taxed, compelled to 
do military duty, and subjected in all respects to the will and pleasure of 
one-third, with the sole restriction imposed by the constitution of the United 
States. 

Instead of enumerating other particulars, we only say, look at the history 
of Rhode Island legislation. 

Fellow-citizens, it is these evils to which the great unenfranchised ma- 
jority, acting in their original, sovereign capacity, propose and intend to- 



412 Rep. No. 546. 

apply an efFiCtiial remedy. We ask your aid and assistance in this good 
work. We respectfully urge upon you to assist in the election of delegates 
to the popular convention to be held in October next — not as the friends or 
opponents of any political party now existing in this State, but as the friends 
of justice, of humanity, of liberty, of equalright^of well regulated consti- 
Jtutional government. 

Do not be deceived by the freeholders' convention called for November 
next. It is a gross fraud upon the people. The designs of its originators 
was to chrystalize, in a stronger form, the present statute provisions relative 
to suffrage, and to place them beyond the reach of amendment, except by 
the hand of force. 

Once more, we say to the unenfranchised mass of our brethren and fellow- 
citizens, — ^our rights are in 5'our own hands. Assert and vindicate them 
like men determined to be free. See to it that a meeting for the choice of 
delegates is duly held in every town, and that its proportional number is 
regularly elected. Summon your friends and neighbors to the work ; and, 
rely upon it, that a constitution framed by such a convention, and signed 
by a majority of the people, will be promptly acquiesced in by the minority; 
will be vigorously sustained ; and will become, without delay, the undisputed, 
paramount law of our State. 

By order, and in behalf of the State committee. 

SAMUEL H. WALES, Chairman. 
Benjamin Arnold, Secretary. 

Providence, Juli/ 24, 184L 



No. 87.— (J 6.) 

Addreiis of the Slate committee appointed by the suffrage convention at 
Newport, May 5, 1S41, /or the purpose of calling a convention to form a 
constitution for the State, 

Fellow-citizens: The undersigned, a committee of those friendly to 
the formation of a State constitution, and to the extension of suffrage in this 
Stale, beg leave to address you on the important subject, and to call your 
attention to som.e of the considerations which actuate the friends of reform, 
as v/eli as to the means considered by them best calculated to effect the ul- 
timate object in view. In doing this, it is neither our intention nor dispo- 
sition to create feelings of hostility between our fellow-citizens who may 
honestly differ from each other on the question of expediency or political 
right, but to excite the public mind to calm discussion and rational inves- 
tigation ; being morally certain that such a course will fully develop the 
justice of our cause, and lead to the consummation of our wishes in a man- 
ner that shall give universal satisfliction. 

To all who are acquainted with human character and human passions, 
it is well known that power and pre eminence constitute darling objects of 
ambition ; and that human ingenuity, aided by interest and prepossession, 
and more especially sanctioned by custom, habit, and the force of educa- 
tion, is seldom at a loss for the semblance of argument to satisfy us of our 
right to that which we hold in possession. 

For these reasons, we can readily account for the hostility hitherto man- 
ifested by a great proportion of the landholders of Rhode Island against re- 
form in our State government, and an extension of the right of suffrage, 



Rep. No. 546. 41.5 

without attributing to them t[ie unqualified determination to act with injus- 
tice towards others. The manner in which the territory of the State was 
originally acquired, the form of government estabhshed under the auspices 
of the British crown, the quiet submission of the people to that form of gov- 
ernment since the Ameritan revolution, the principles in accordance with 
it, handed down from generation to generation, and the firm convictions of 
the friends of the present system that it is most conducive to the best inter- 
ests of the State, — all operate on the landholders ; and honestly, in most in- 
stances, we have reason to believe, they are thus induced to act against what 
we deem to be the rigiits of others. 

That the original colonists of Rhode Island, settling on lands they had 
purchased as a company, had the incontrovertible right, as proprietors un- 
der the crown, to institute such rules and regulations for the management 
of their affairs as they pleased, and as the grant from the crown permitted 
them to do, it is believed no one will deny. And as, at the period of the 
Revolution, no measures were instituted to change the form, to conform to 
the change of circumstances ; and as, also, they liave hitherto neglected to 
effect such a change, the impression has come down to the present period,, 
that .the original form of government still continues in full force, by virtue 
of the right of the original colonists to institute it; and that it cannot right- 
fully be changed, but either by the voluntary act, or at least the consent, 
of their successors in possession. As we ask for nothing but the right, per- 
mit us to examine this point. 

It must be recollected that the original settlers of Rhode Island neither 
claimed nor exercised any other rights than were granted and guarantied by 
the British crown. Their jurisdiction, therefore, was neither original nor 
independent, but was both derived and subordinate; and its entire force 
was the royal sanction and guaranty. And even their right to the soil, by" 
purchase of the natives, could have given them no exclusive right of pos- 
session, but by force of the royal patent. Did the same or simifar circum- 
stances now exist, it is readily acknowledged that the non-freeholders 
could set forth no legal claim to participation in the government, and but 
two events (one or botli) could occur to extend to them that privilege, or to 
legalize the claim. In t.he first instance, the freemen might grant it ; in the 
second place, the royal charter might be revoked, or be rendered null and 
void by the destruction of the royal authority. 

It cannot be doubted that, had the entire British realm been revolution- 
ized, instead of only her American colonies, and the declaration of the uni- 
versal national equality of man been adopted as the basis of government,, 
the people of Rhode Island, in common with all their fellow-citizens of the 
nation, would have been thrown back on their natural rights, and released 
from their subjection to the royal vv^ill, claimed and exercised the right to 
frame and adopt a government in obedience to the will of a majority only. 
In no other way could a legitimate government have been formed; for the 
only governmental power and authority, except what originally resided in 
the people themselves, would thus b.ave been annihilated. 

Such principles would have been the character and effect of the revolu- 
tion under Oliver Cromwell, had he and his associates proceeded on the 
principles adopted by our revolutionary f;ithers ; and such also the French 
revolutions of 1792-93, and of 1830. But the American revolution produced 
precisely the state of affairs in the revolted colonies as though the king 



414 Eep. No. 546. 

had been, driven from the throne, royalty proscribed, monarchy abolished, 
all ranks and distinctions among men obliterated, the government dissolved, 
and its powers restored, to be exercised of right by the whole people. 

As to the colonies, all this did take place ; ami no statesman who values 
his reputation as such, will hazard the assertion, that the slightest claim of 
force in our government can be erected on the grant and sanction of 
our former sovereign or Iiis successors. On what, then, does the claim 
rest? First, on the ownership of the soil. Did our landholders still con- 
tinue simply a body corporate, permitted to regulate their company affairs 
under a former jurisdiction, that ground would be valid. But circum- 
stances have changed. The body corporate has merged into a sovereign 
and independent State. The I'ery acts by which that sovereignty and in- 
dependence were declared and established, created freeholders and non-free- 
holders a body of political equals. It recognised the original rights, and 
not the acquired privilege of the "governed," without discrimination, to ex- 
ercise powers inherent in them, and '^indefeasible'^ as well as " ujialicnable^'^ 
to be consulted and heard, and also to act on the question how they should 
or would be governed. Tlie freemen or landholders of Rhode .Island 
consented to this act and to these principles. On that condition the State 
was incorporated into the American Union. From that moment she placed 
herself under a new jurisdiction — the government of the people. And from 
that moment, also, the people — all the people — whom the American revo- 
lutionary and constitutional principles recognised as the original source and 
rightful possessors of all political power, resumed, and might have expe- 
rienced, the right to erect a government for themselves. 

But, in the second place, it is confidently asserted, that the people having 
quietly submitted to the government as it is, that government has become 
prescriptive ; and that thus the non freeholders have lost their right to de- 
mand or effect a change, even if they possessed it. We do not thus view 
the subject ; and we believe those who assert this principle are altogether 
in error. That our government is prescriptive, we admit ; but we do not 
admit that it can invalidate an original right. A government by prescrip- 
tion, or by custom, certainly cannot claim the force of one that lias receiv- 
ed the formal sanction of the people ; and if it could, we. as republicans, 
assert, without fear of contradiction, that a majority of the '■'-governed'''' 
have, at any time, and on any occasion, a right to change their govern- 
ment — a right which, being inherent, unalienable, and indefeasible, not 
•even they can part wiih by their free and voluntary act ; much less can it 
be taken from them by prescription, or by precedent, or by any act of their 
predecessors. We declare it, therefore, as our solemn conviction — a convic- 
tion strengthened and confirmed by the principles and acts of the most em- 
inent statesmen — that a majority of the citizens of this, or of any other State, 
have the incontrovertible right, at any time they may choose, to assemble 
together, and, either by themselves or by their delegates, to alter, amend, 
annul, or reform their government, at pleasure; aivvays controlled by the 
dictates of natural law, that the legitimate end of government is the good of 
the whole in general, and of each individual in particular. To suppose 
that, under such a political system as that of the American Union, the fun- 
damental principle of which is the sovereignty of the people, one generation 
can bind those who succeed it to any principles or form of government, or 
that prescription or custom should divest them of their right of change, is 






Rep. No. 546. 415 

preposterous. It is, moreover, the doctrine of tyranny ; and, once estab- 
lished, the sovereignty of the people is destroyed. 

Without fear of contradiction, tiierefore, we aver that, even had the pres- 
ent form of government been formally sanctioned by the people of Rhode 
Island, (which it never was.) they could be bound to its provisions no 
longer than during their own pleasure. The original power and sove- 
reignty of the people are never relinquished. They cannot be ; for they 
are imalievahle and indefeasible. They are merely delegated, to be exer- 
cised for certain purposes ; and whenever those who dti gated them become 
satisfied that the contemplated object has not been, and will not be, given 
by their exercise, they have the right to resume them, and to use them 
as they please. Such is the doctrine of natural law, and such also is the 
doctrine of the declaration of American independence, v^^hich has been en- 
grafted on the American constitution. 

It is in vain that the portion of Rhode Island citizens called freemen, or 
a part of them, assert that a change in the form and principles of our gov- 
ernment is inexpedient, inasmuch as it is asserted by them that a change 
could not benefit the State. This is an assertion only, and rests on mere 
speculative conjecture. Right claims precedence of expediency. It is enough 
for ns to know (and on this point we are certain) that a majority of the cit- 
izens of the State are deprived, by the existing government, of the rights 
which their Creator bestowed on them, and which the principles that con- 
stituted the very basis of the national government sanction and guaranty. 
A participation in the government of the State they have a right to demand 
and assume. It is not a question wlietiier the minority are willing to in- 
trust the exercise of the political power in the hands of a majority, or pre- 
fer to retain it themselves; the question is not, Will the State be better or 
worse governed in consequence of the change? It is a simple question of 
individual right; and the claim is one which cannot be successfully de- 
nied. The disfranchised citizens [are] among the '■'•governed'''' — among those, 
therefore, for whose benefit government is, or should be, instituted — among 
those from whom the powers of government are, or should be. derived. Hence 
their right is unquestionable to a voice as to the disposition of those pow- 
ers and their exercise, and the fitness of the government and its adaptation 
to the end proposed — the good of the governed. This is their riglit. This 
right they claim. They constitute the majority. With them, therefore, is 
the right lo decide. And they presume themselves to be, and will be found 
to be, as capable of judging correctly, and acting as wisely, as to the true 
ends of government, as are the minority, who now exercise all its functions. 
It will be time enough to talk of the result, after the change has been eifect- 
ed. If it be evil, the people will not long submit to it : if good, right will 
have been done, and the welfare of the State secured. 

But why talk of the present system of government? We have no fixed 
system. Every system of government, or anything else, is made up of 
certain fundamental rules and principles, from which those who act upon 
it are not at liberty to depart. Every science and art has its fixed rules and. 
principles, and these constitute their system ; the constitution — the work 
of the people — of the governed — fixing metes and bounds to the power and 
authority of the several departments, prescribing definite principles of ac- 
tion, and circumscribing the legislative, executive, and judicial servants of 
the nation, by limits they dare not overstep. Such is the case with all the 
States, except our own. Tbese are the only legal barriers against usurpa- 



416 Rep. No. 546. 

tion, misrule, and deceplion. When these are violated, at the expense of 
official perjury, the people have their remedy under those systems of gov- 
ernment ; but, without them, the minority, and even the disfranchised ma- 
jority, have no other security for their dearest rio^hts than force and arms — 
always precarious, and frequently resulting in violence and blood. The 
only guarantee of rights to the people of Rhode Island is the constitution of 
the United States, We.havenoconstiliuion — no system of government. Even 
the right of franchise, the " basis of every free elective government," and the 
most valuable privilege of the free citizen, is in the hands of the legislative 
body, unguarded by any popular barrier, to be moulded to any form the 
majority of the legislature may think proper, to gratify their ambition, or 
to promote party objects. Thus the right of suffrage is the subject of con- 
tinual fluctuation and change at the hand of parties, as one or the other 
may obtain the power, and as may appear best calculated to perpetuate its 
hold on power, and to baffle the efforts of opponents. It is a solemn fact, 
and one that admits of no denial, that the General Assembly may, if a ma- 
jority of that body choose, at its very next session, and without a moment's 
warning to the people of the State, repeal every syllable of law relative to 
the elective franchise, and enact another law as entirely different from it as 
possible — and, indeed, effect one entire change in the policy of the State ; 
and there is neither constitution, law, nor precedent to the contrary. Should 
such abuses occur, where is the remedy of the people? No constitutional 
principles are violated, because we have none to violate. Precedents could 
not be appealed to, because all precedent in Rhode Island is but a contin- 
ual exhibition of the exercise of unqualified and unlimited legislative 
power. Laws could not be resorted to, because all former ones having been 
repealed, new ones would have been enacted to suit the occasion. An ap- 
peal to the legislature would, of course, be fruitless, as that body would not 
sit as judges to condemn themselves. Resort to courts of law would be 
useless, as they have no constitutional principles to guide them. Their 
criterion is the legislative action. And, except when provisions of the con- 
stitution of the United States are involved, or questions of common law, the 
courts of Rhode Island, the creatures of legislative power, exist, sit, and act, 
only to carry out the legislative will ; whereas, in other States, the people 
can always appeal from that will, through the courts themselves, to the 
constitution which they have adopted : thus,, by means of the action of 
their own original power, compelling both courts and legislative bodies to 
act within the limits the people themselves have marked out. 
• But, we repeat it, the people of Rhode Island have no one of the above 
safeguards. From the town council to the chief justice of the highest 
court ; from the voter in the Mouse of Representatives, to the Governor 
who presides at the Senate body — all are free from constitutional restraint, 
all free from popular restraint. The sole power centres in the General As- 
sembly; and that power is independent, and politically omnipotent. To 
what resort, then, can the people flee for redress, when that power shall 
have been grossly abused? There are but two modes left them: 1. The 
ballot-box. 2. The resumption and exercise of their original and natural 
rights and powers. 

First, then, to the ballot box. And now let us turn our attention to this 
subject for a moment, and see how far that resort would be available. 

Suppose, then, the advocates of right and justice, or the friends of the 
present government and laws, should come forward with sufficient strength 



Rep. No. 546. 417 

at the polls to eject from the seat of power men who had rendered themselves 
obnoxious by acts of usurpation and misrule : what stronger guarantee would 
you receive from their successors that they would reform abuses, than the in- 
dividual pledges of (perhaps) ambitious and interested political partisans? 
And even should pledges be redeemed, what assurance could you have that 
another body, in another year, would not revisit you with greater evils than 
thos€ which had been removed ? Each General Assembly, the State being 
destitute of constitutional provisions, is an independent body, acting solely on 
its own responsibility,guidedonly by its own principles of action, and its own 
rules : and the people have no other means of restraint upon their actions, than 
the distant view of the ballot box, and which each General Assembly might 
previously regulate, by changing the tenure and qualifications of the elec- 
tive franchise to suit themselves. Tiie committee would appeal to every 
reflecting, high-minded, and honorable man, and ask, in all candor and sin- 
cerity, if the rights and privileges free by nature, and free by the laws and 
constitution of our common country, should be thus intrusted to chance, or 
to fortune, or (what is still worse) to the hands of political partisans, to be 
manufactured, at pleasure, into political capital, to aid the cause of aspiring 
ambition? Can any people be safe under such circumstances? Under 
them, what man that is free to day, can have the assurance that he will not 
be a skive to-morrow? What, then, remains, but for the people to resume 
and exercise their original rights, and to frame for themselves a constitu- 
tion of government, which shall guard and protect them against the exer- 
cise of arbitrary power, by prescribing limits to legislative action. 

We feel certain that the freemen (or, in other words, the present voters 
of the State) would spontaneously, and without legal formality, assemble 
and institute means of redress, in case their ov/n rights were thus invaded. 
Thus have the rights of our disfranchised citizens been invaded, without in- 
termission, from the period of the American Revolution. As far as they are 
concerned, they have been the subjects of continual usurpation and misrule ; 
and so far have even their civil rights been trampled on, that, without the 
sanction oi o. freeman^ or landholder's name, as a master vouches for his 
slave, they are not known in law, or permitted to appear as parties, to ask 
for justice at the hands of a judicial tribunal ; and all this in the very flice 
of the fundamental political doctrine of our nation, that the power is in the 
governed, and that from them all the just powers of government are derived. 

Thus circumstanced, it is quite apparent that the disfranchised citizens 
of Rhode Island, and who constitute a majority of the whole people, can 
find no redress through the ballot box, from which, by law, they are ex- 
cluded. Nor is it mucli more likely that they will derive it from legislative 
aid ; the members of the legislature being exclusively the representatives of 
the minority, who wield the power. JNor yet is there more to hope from 
the freemen or landholders themselves at the polls, unless, contrary to what 
has heretofore happened, a majority of them have become willing that right 
and justice should supersede the lust of power. 

The committee are happy to believe that a very considerable change has 
taken place, in this respect, within a short period ; and that a very respect- 
able body of the landholders are now advocates for a written constitution, 
to be framed and adopted by the people, and a liberal and permanent sys- 
tem of suffrage placed beyond the reach of legislative control and interfe- 
rence. The committee congratulate the friends of the cause on this auspi- 
27 



418 Rep. No. 546- 

cions circumstance; still it must not be disguised that much yet remains to 
be done. 

'J he friends of reform must depend on their own active energies. The 
laws of the State are against them ; the legislative authority is against them; 
the custom of more than half a century is against them ; and, no doubt, the 
opinions, interests, political aspirations, and the prejudices and prepossessions 
of a majority of tlie landed interest are against them. To the innid mind, 
and to tlie mind that has not investigated the subject, all these may present 
a powerful hostile array; but were they ten thousand times more powerful 
even than they appear, the rights and privileges of a solitary American citi- 
zen are fully worthy of the struggle. However forbidding the obstacles 
that may present themselves — however dark and frowning the aspect of the 
opposition — however tlireatening the arm of power suspended over us, — ' 
they are mere shadowy and unsubstantial forms, and a single act of the ma- 
jority of the whole people of Rhode Island will be found sufficient to sweep 
them all away. The people — the " ?mmerical fores'^ — have but to proclaim 
their will, to resume their original powers, and assert their original rights. 
It is but for the people to arouse themselves to action, to array themselves 
in the majesty of their strength, and to speak with united voice, " We, 
THE PEOPLE," decree it, is a legitimate sanction to the warrant that con- 
signs an unequal government to the grave. " We, the people," the' para- 
mount power of a free elective government, have but to speak, and their 
voice must be obeyed, for their will is the fountain of government and laws. 

'• We, THE PEOPLE," are the original depositary of power, and the only 
source whence government derives its sanction, its strength, and its sup- 
port; and government thus framed and adopted, must be legitimate — must 
rise superior to all others, and must be sanctioned and sustained by our 
national councils. For. under the auspices of a free, elective republic, 
based on the great principles of natural equality and of the popular sover- 
eignty, what authority shall interpose to defeat the will of the popular ma- 
jority, expressed in the formation of a government on similar principles? 
We repeat it, therefore, the people have but to put forth their energies to 
resume and exert their original rights and powers, and to speak and act; 
to assemble of their own accord ; to repudiate the existing government of 
the State ; to frame and adopt another more congenial to human rights, 
and to organize themselves under it as a body politic, which a free people 
have at all times the right to do; and demand the fulfilment of the con- 
stitutional pledge which guaranties to every State in the Union a republi- 
can form of government. To do this, fellow citizens, is your only availa- 
ble and certain course. To do this, unanimity, at least, of action must 
mark your conduct. Among a 2;reat body of men contending for their 
rights, some conflicting feelings and opinions on minor points must exist. 
Of these, among ourselves, probably the most prominent and important is, 
on what shall be the final extent of the elective franchise, or who shall be 
admitted to vote at elections? This question is frequently put, and by it 
your opponents hope to scatter dissension in your ranks, and to defeat your 
j)urpose. But be it borne in mind that this is a question which now is not 
the time to answer; nor does it belong to us to answer it. We cannot 
hope to attain our object without mutual concessions. As the friends of 
popular rights, it becomes us individually to abide content by the will of 
the majority ; and it is confidently believed that no one has united himself 
with us, and espoused our cause, who will not cheerfully give his sanction 



Rep. No. 546. 419 

to such provisions for the government and well-being of the State as a ma- 
jority may approve. To the final decision of the majority, then, let the 
above question be referred, and not permitted to disturb our harmony, or 
prevent the cordial union and exercise of all our energies to promote the 
forward progress of our great and just cause. Be firm ; be united ; press 
forward with zeal and alacrity; use all honorable means to insure success, 
and you cannot fail to obtain it. 

In due time, the committee, to whom the duty has been intrusted, will 
issue the call for primary meetings, preliminary to the call of a State con- 
vention. Meanwhile, we would urge it on every one engaged in the cause, 
to use his eftorts to harmonize tlie views and feelings of its friends, to 
awaken their zeal, and arouse them to action ; that thus, when the period 
shall have arrived when it shall be deemed expedient to attempt the con- 
summation of ilie grand object, there may be no faltering; and that all, 
like one man, with one body, one heart, one soul, and one object in view, 
to be gained by one means, may come forth at the call, and practically 
manifest the indon^itabie resolution to rescue, preserve, and perpetuate the 
rights of freemen. 

On you, fellow-citizens, under God, depends the issue. If yoti are re- 
solved, firm, and immovable, you must succeed ; and you will thus trans- 
mit to your posterity an invaluable legacy, for which they will bless you. 
If, through supineness and neglect, you should fail of the object, you leave 
yourselves — and it may be also your descendants — demi-slaves, subject to 
the exercise of arbitrary power, and destitute of a constitutional guaranty 
for a solitary right, political or civil. Your aid, one and all, is confidently 
expected. Let not the friends of freedom in Rhode Island and our sister 
States be disappointed. Let "God and the right" be your motto. Let 
us remember that "in union there is strength." Move with energy 
and act with vigor, and your efibrts will and must be crowned with success. 

State committee. 

Newport — Charles Collins, Dutee J. Pearce. 

Providence — Samuel H. Wales, W. B. Sayles, Benjamin Arnold, jr. 

Bristol — Benjamin M. Bosworth, Samuel S. Allen. 

Kent — Emanuel Rice, Silas Weaver. 

Washington — William S. Peckham, Sylvester Himes, 



At a meeting of the above committee, June 11, 1841, on motion, 
Voted, That the secretary be directed to transmit a copy of this address 
to each of the editors of the newspapers in this State, and request them 
10 give it a gratuitous insertion in their respective journals. 

BENJAMIN ARNOLD, Jr., Secretary. 



420 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 88.— (R.) 

Const iiution as finally adopted by the people^ s conventioji, ivhich assembled 
at Providence un the Itith day of November, 1841. 

We, the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, grateful to Almighty God for his blessing vouchsafed to the '' lively 
experiment" of religious and political freedom here ='held forth" by our ven- 
erated ancestors, and earnestly imploring the favor of his gracious provi- 
dence towards this our attempt to secure upon a permanent foundation the 
advantages of well ordered and rational liberty, and to enlarge and trans- 
mit to our successors the inheritance that we have received, do ordain aiid 
establish the following constitution of government for this State. 

ARTICLE I. 
Declaration oj principles and rights. 

1. In the spirit and in the words of Roger Williams, the illustrious foun- 
der of this State, and of his venerated associates, we declare '"that this gov- 
ernment shall be a democracy," or government of the people, " by the ma- 
jor consent" of the same "only in civil things." The will of the people 
shall be expressed by representatives freely chosen, and returning at fixed 
periods to their constituents. This State shall be, and forever remain, as 
in the design of its founder, sacred to "soul liberty," to the rights of con- 
science, to freedom of thought, of expression, and of action, as hereinafter 
set forth and secured. 

2. All men are created free and equal, and are endowed by their Creator 
with certain natural, inherent, and unalienable rights; among which are life^ 
liberty, the acquisition of property, and the pursuit of happiness. Govern- 
ment cannot create or bestow these rights, which are the gift of God ; but 
it is instituted for tlie stronger and surer defence of the same, that men may 
safely enjoy the rights of life and liberty, securely possess and transmit prop- 
erty, and, so far as laws avail, may be successful in the pursuit of happiness. 

3. All political power and sovereignty are originally vested in. and of right 
belong to, the people. All free governments are founded in their authority, 
and are established for the greatest good of the whole number. The peo- 
ple have therefore an unalienable and indefeasible right, in their original, 
sovereign, and unlimited capacity, to ordain and nistitute government, and 
in the same capacity to alter, reform, or totally change the same, when- 
ever their safety or happiness requires. 

4. No favor or disfavor ought to be shown in legislation toward any man, 
or party, or society or religious denomination. The laws should be made 
not for the good of the few, but of the many ; and the burdens of the State 
ought to be fairly distributed among its citizens. 

5. The diffusion of useful knowledge, and the cultivation of a sound mo- 
rality in the fear of God, being of the first importance in a republican State, 
and indispensable to the maintenance of its liberty, it shall be an impera- 
tive duty of the Legislature to promote the establishment of free schools, 
and to assist in the support of public education. 

6. Every person in this State ought to find a certain remedy, by having 
recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which may be done to his 



Rep. No. 546. 421 

lights of person, property, or character. He onorht to obtain right and jus- 
tice freely and wilhont purchase, completely and without denial, promptly 
and without delay, conformably to tlie laws. 

7. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vio- 
lated ; and no warrant shall issue but on complaint in writing upon prob- 
able cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and describing as nearly as 
may be the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized. 

8. No person shall be held to answer to a capital or other infamous charge, 
unless on indictment by a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land 
or naval forces^ or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war 
or public danger. No person sliall be tried, after an acquittal, for the same 
crime or offence. 

9. Every man being presumed to be innocent until pronounced guilty 
by the law, all acts of severity, that are not necessary to secure an accused 
person, ought to be repressed. 

10. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor 
cruel or unusual punishments inflicted ; and all punishments ought to be 
proportioned to the offence. 

11. All prisoners shall be bailable upon sufficient surety, unless for cap- 
ital offences, when the proof is evident or the presumption great. The priv- 
ilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in 
cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety shall require it. 

12. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the privilege of a 
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury; be informed of the nature 
and cause of the accusation; be confronted with the witnesses against him; 
have compulsory process to obtain them in his favor, and at the public ex- 
pense, when necessary ; have the assistance of counsel in his defence, and 
be at liberty to speak for himself Nor shall he be deprived of his life, lib- 
erty, or property, unless by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land. 

13. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, and in all criminal 
cases the jury shall judge both of trie law and of the facts. 

14. Any person in this State, who may be claimed to be held to labor or 
service, under the laws of any other Slate, Territory, or District, shall be en- 
tuled to a jury trial, to ascertain the validity of such claim. 

15. No man in a court of common law shall be required to criminate 
himself 

16. Retrospective laws, civil and criminal, are u.njust and oppressive, and 
shall not be made. 

17. The people have a right to assemble in a peaceable manner, without 
molestation or restraint, to consult upon the pubhc welfare; a right to give 
instructions to their Senators and Representatives ; and a right to apply to 
those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances, for 
the repeal of injurious laws, for the correction of faults of administration, 
and for all other purposes. 

18. The liberty ot the press being essential to the security of freedom in 
a State, any citizen may publish his sentiments on any siil>ject, being re- 
sponsible for the abuse of that liberty ; and in all trials for libel, both civil 
and criminal, the truth, spoken from good motives, and for justifiable ends, 
shall be a sufficient defence to the person charged. 

19. Private property shall not be taken for public uses without just com- 



422 Rep. No. 546, 

pensation, nor unless the public good require it ; nor under any circum- 
stances, until compensation shall have been made, if required. 

20. The military shall always be held in strict subordination to t!ie civil 
authority. 

21. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without 
the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in manner to be pre- 
scribed by law. 

22. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free, and all attempts 
to influence it by temporal punishments, or burdens, or by civil incapacita- 
tions, tend to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness : and whereas a prin- 
cipal object of our venerated ancestors in their migration to this country, 
and their settlement of this State, was, as they expressed it, to hold forth a 
lively experiment, that a flourishing civil State may stand, and be besS 
maintained, with full liberty in religious concernments : We therefore de- 
clare that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious 
worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor be enforced, restrained, molest- 
ed, or burdened in his body or goods, nor disqualified from holding any 
office, nor otherwise suffer, on account of his religious belief; and that all 
men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in 
matters of religion; and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, 
or affect their civil capacities ; and that all other religious rights and privi- 
leges of the people of this State, as now enjoyed, shall remain inviolate and 
inviolable. 

23. No witness shall be called in question before the legislature, nor in 
any court of this Slate, nor before any magistrate or other person author- 
ized to administer an oath or affirmation, for his or her religious belief, or 
opniions, or any part thereof; and no objection to a witness, on the ground 
of his or her religious opinions, shall be entertained or received. 

24. The citizens shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise all the rights 
of fishery, and privileges of the shore, to which they have been heretofore 
entitled under the charter and usages of tliis State. 

25. The enumeration ofihe foregoing rights shall not be construed t> 
impair nor deny others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE II. 
Of electors and the right of suffrage. 

1. Every white male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty- 
one years, who has resided in this State for one year, and in any town, city, 
or district ol the same for six months, next preceding the election at which 
he offers to vote, shall be an elector of all officers who are elected, or may 
hereafter be made eligible by the people. But persons in the military, naval, 
or marine service of the I'nited States, shall not be considered as having 
such established residence, by being stationed in any garrison, barrack, or 
military place in any town or city in this State. 

2. Paupers and persons under guardianship, insane, or lunatic, are exclu- 
ded from the electoral right; and the same shall be forfeited on conviction 
of bribery, forgery, perjury, theft, or other infamous crime, and shall not 
be restored unless by an act of the General Assembly. 

3. No person who is excluded from voting, for want of the qualificatioa 
first named in section first oi this article, shall be taxed, or be liable to do 



Rep. No. 546. 428 

military duty; provided that nothing in said first article shall be so con- 
strued as to exempt from taxation any property or persons now liable to be 
taxed. 

4. No elector who is not possessed of, and assessed for, ratable property 
in his own right, to the amount of one hundred and fifty dollars, or who 
shall have neglected or refused to pay any tax assessed upon him, in any 
town, city, or district, for one year preceding the town, city, ward, or district 
meeting at which he shall offer to vote, shall be entitled to vote on any 
question of taxation, or the expenditure of any public moneys in such town, 
city, or district, until the same be paid. 

5. In the city of Providence, and other cities, no person shall be eligible 
to the office of mayor, alderman, or common councilman, who is not taxed, 
or who shall have neglected or refused to pay his tax, as provided in the 
preceding section. 

6. The voting for all officers chosen by the people, except town or city 
officers, shall be by ballot ; that is to say, by depositing a written or printed 
ticket in the ballot-box, vviihont the name of the voter written thereon. 
Town or city officers shall be chosen by ballot, on the demand of any two 
persons entitled to vote for the same. 

7. There shall be a strict registration of all qualified voters in the towns 
and cities of the State ; and no person shall be permitted to vote, whose 
name has not been entered upon the list of voters before the polls are opened. 

8. The General Assembly shall pass all necessary laws for the prevention 
of fraudulent voting by persons not having an actual, permanent residence, 
or home, in the State, or otherwise disqualified according to this constitu- 
tion ; for the careful registration of all voters, previously to the time of vo- 
ting; for the prevention of frauds upon the ballot-box; for the preservation 
of the purity of elections ; and for the safekeeping and accurate cotinting 
of the votes ; to the end that the will of the people may be freely and fully 
expressed, truly ascertained, and effectually exerted, without intimidation, 
suppression, or unnecessary delay. 

9. The electors shall be exempted from arrest on days of election, and 
one day before, and one day after the same, except in cases of treason, fel- 
ony, or breach of the peace, 

10. No person shall be eligible to any office by the votes of the people, 
who does not possess the qualifications of an elector. 

ARTICLE III. 
Of the distribution of powers. 

1. The powers of the government shall be distributed into three depart- 
ments — the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. 

2. No person or persons connected with one of these departments shall 
exercise any of the powers belonging to either of the others, except in cases 
herein directed or permitted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

OJ the legislative department. 

1. The legislative power shall be vested in two distinct Houses : the one 
$0 be called the House of Representatives, the other the Senate, and both 



424 Rep. No. 546. 

toofether the General Assembly. The concurrent votes of the two Houses 
shall be necessary to the enactment of laws ; and the style of their laws 
shall be : Be it enacted by the General Assembly, as follows. 

2. No member of the General Assembly shall be eligible to any civil office 
under the authority of the State, durn)g the term for which he shall have 
been elected. 

3. If any Representative, or Senator, in the General Assembly of this 
State, shall be appointed to any office under the Government of the Tnited 
States, and shall accept the same, after his election as such Senator or Rep- 
resentative, his seat sliall thereby become vacant. 

4. Any person who holds an office under the Government of the United 
States may be elected a member of the General Assembly, and may hold 
his seat therein, if, at the time of his taking his seat, he shall have resigned 
said office, and shall declare the same on oath, or affirmation, if required. 

5. No member of the General Assembly shall take any fees, be of counsel 
or act as advocate in any case pending before either branch of the General 
Assembly, under penalty of forfeiting his seal, upon due proof thereof. 

6. Each House shall judge of the election and qualifications of its mem- 
bers ; and a majority of all the members of each House, whom the towns 
and senatorial districts are entitled to elect, shall constitute a quorum to do 
business; but a smaller nuisiber may adjourn from day to day, and may 
compel the atttiudance of absent n)embers, in such manner, and under such 
penalties, as each House may have previously prescribed. 

7. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its 
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds 
of the members elected, expel a member ; but not a second time for the 
same cause. 

8. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the 
same when required by one fifth of its members. The yeas and nays of 
the members of either House shall, at the desire of any five members pres- 
ent, be entered on the journal. 

9. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for 
more than two days, nor to any other place than that at which the General 
Assembly is holding its session. 

10. The Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases of civil process, 
be privileged from arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and 
for two days before the commencement, and two days after the termination 
of any session thereof. For any speech in debate in either House, no mem- 
ber shall be called in question in any other place. 

11. The civil and military orficers, heretofore elected in grand committee^ 
shall hereafter be elected annually by the General Assembly, in joint com- 
mittee, composed of the two Houses of the General Assembly, excepting as 
is otherwise provided in this constitution ; and excepting the captains and 
subalterns of the militia, who shall be elected by the ballots of the mem- 
bers composing their respective companies, in such manner as the Gene- 
ral Assembly may prescribe ; and such officers, so elected, shall be approved 
of and commissioned by the Governor, who shall determine their rank ; and, 
if said companies shall neglect or refuse to make such elections, after being 
duly notified, then the Governor shall appoint suitable persons to fill such 
offices. 

12. Every bill and every resolution requiring the concurrence of the two 
Houses, (votes of adjournment excepted,) which shall have passed both 



Rep. No. 546. 425 

Houses of the General- Assembly, shall be presented to the Governor for 
his revision. If he approve of it, he shall sign and transmit the same to 
the Secretary of State ; but, if not, he shall return it to the House in which 
it shall have originated, with his objections thereto, which shall be entered 
at large on their journal. The House shall then proceed to reconsider the 
bill; alid if, after such reconsideration, that House shall pass it by a majority 
of all the members elected, it shall be sent with the objections to the other 
House, which shall also reconsider it ; and, if approved by that House, 
by a majority of all the members elected, it shall become a law. If the bill 
shall not be returned by the Governor within forty-eight hours (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall become 
a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly, 
by their adjournment, prevent its return ; in which case, it shall not be a 
law, 

13. There shall be two sessions of the General Assembly in every year ; 
one session to be held at Newport, on the first Tuesday of June, for the 
organization of the government, the election of officers, and for other busi- 
ness ; and one other session on the first Tuesday of January, to be field at 
Providence, in the first year after the adoption o( this constitution, and in 
every second year therealter. In the intermediate years, the January ses- 
sion shall be forever hereafter field in the counties of Washington, Kent, or 
Bristol, as the General Assembly may determine before tlieir adjournment 
in June. 

ARTICLE V. 

Of the House of Representatives. 

1. The House of Representatives shall consist of members chosen by the 
electors in the several towns and cities, in their respective town and ward 
meetings, annually. 

2. The towns and cities shall severally be entitled to elect members ac- 
cording to the apportionment which follows, viz: Newport to elect five; 
Warwick four; Smiihfield five; Cumberland, North Providence, and Scit- 
uate, three ; Portsmouth, Westerly, New Shoreham, North Kingstown, 
South Kingstown, East Greenwich, Glocester, West Greenwich, Coventry, 
Exeter, Bristol, Tiverton, Little Compton, Warren, Richmond, Cranston, 
Charlestown, Hopkinton, Johnston, Foster, and Burrillville, to elect two ; 
and Jamestown, Middletown, and Barrington, to elect one. 

3. In the city of Providence, there shall be six representative districts, 
which shall be the six wards of said city ; and the electors resident in said 
districts, for the term of three months next preceding the election at which 
they offer to vote, shall be entitled to elect two Representatives for each 
district. 

4. The General Assembly, in case of great inequality in the population 
of the wards of the city of Providence, may cause the boundaries of the 
six representative districts therein to be so altered as to include in each dis- 
trict, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants. 

5. The House of Representatives shall have authority to elect their own 
Speaker, clerks, and other officers. The oath of office shall be administered 
to the Speaker by the Secretary of State, or, in his absence, by the Attorney 
General. 

6. Whenever the seat of a member of the House of Representatives shall 



426 Rep. No 546. 

be vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, the vacancy may be filled 
by a new election. 

ARTICLE VI. 
Of the Senate. 

1. Tlie State shall be divided into twelve senatorial districts ; and each 
district shall be entitled to one Senator, who shall be annually chosen by 
the electors in his district. 

2. The first, second, and third representative districts in the city of 
Providence, shall constitute the fiist senatorial district; the fourth, fifth, 
and sixth representative districts in said city, the second district; the town 
of Sinithfield, the third district; the towns of North Providence and Cum- 
berland, the fourth district ; tlie towns of Sciiuate, Glocester, Burrillville, 
and Johnston, the fifth district ; the towns of Warwick and Cranston, the 
sixth district; the towns of P]ast Greenwich, West Greenwich, Coventry, 
and Foster, the seventh district ; the towns of Newport, Jamestown, and 
New Sjjoreham, the eighth district; the towns of Portsmouth, Middletown, 
Tiverton, and Little Compton, the ninth district ; the towns of North Kings- 
town and South Kingstown, the tenth district; the towns of Westerly, 
Charlestown, Exeter, Richmond, and Hopkinton, the eleventh district; the 
towns of Bristol, Warren, and Barrington, the twelfth district. 

3. The Lieutenant Governor shnll be, by virtue of his office. President 
of the Senate; and shall have a right, in case of an equal division, to vote 
in the same ; and also to vote in joint committee of the two Houses. 

4. Wiien the government shall be administered by the Lie;iteuant Gov- 
ernor, or he shall be unable to attend as President of the Senate, the Senate 
shall elect one of their own members President of the same. 

5. Vacancies in the Senate, occasioned by death, resignation, or other- 
wise, may be filled by a new election. 

6. The Secretary of State shall be, by virtue of his office, Secretary of 
the Senate. 

ARTICLE VII. 
Of impeachinents. 

1. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeach- 
ment. 

2. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate; and when sitting for 
that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. No person shall be con- 
victed, except by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected. When the 
Governor is impeached, the chief justice of the supreme court shall pre- 
side, with a casting vote in all prehminary questions. 

3. The Governor, and all other executive and judicial officers, shall be 
liable to impeachment ; but judgments, in such cases, shall not extend fur- 
ther than to removal from ofiice. The party convicted shall, nevertheless, 
be liable to indictment, trial, and punishment, according to law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Of the executive deparinient. 

\. The chief executive power of this State shall be vested in a Governor, 



Rep. No. 546. 427 

who shall be chosen by the electors, and shall hold his office for one year, 
and until his successor be duly qualified. 

2. No person holding any office or place under the United States, this 
State, any other of the United States, or any foreign power, shall exercise 
the office of Governor. 

3. He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed. 

4. He shall be commander in chief of the military and naval forces of 
the State, exc^'pt when called into the actual service of the United States; 
but he shall not march nor convey any of, the citizens out of the State, 
without their consent, or that of the General Assembly, unless it shall be- 
come necessary in order to march or transport them from one part of the 
State to another, for the defence thereof. 

5. He shall appoint all civil and military officers whose appointment is 
not by this constitution, or shaU not by law, be otherwise provided for. 

6. He shall, from time to time, inform the General Assembly of the con- 
dition of the State, and recommend to their consideration such measures 
as he may deem expedient. 

7. He may reqtiire from any militaryofficer, or any officer in the execu- 
tive department, information upon any subject relating to the duties of his 
ofiice. 

8. He shall have power to remit forfeitures and penalties, and to grant 
reprieves, commutation of punishments, and pardons after conviction, ex- 
cept in cases of impeachment. 

9. The Governor shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com- 
pensation which shall not b.'- increased nor diminished during his contin- 
uance in office. 

10. There shall be elected, in the same manner as is provided for ti.e 
election of Governor, a Lieutenant Governor, who shall continue in office 
for the same term of time. Whenever the office of Governor shall become 
va(;aut by death, resi^aiation, removal from office, or otherwise, the Lien- 
tenant Governor shall exercise the office of Governor until another Gov- 
ernor shall be duly qualified. 

U. Whenever the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall 
both become vacant, by death, resignation, removal from office, or other 
wise, the President of the Senate shall exercise the office of Governor until 
a Governor be duly qualified ; and should such vacancies occur during a 
recess of the General Assembly, and there be no President of the Senat3, 
the Secretary of State shall, by proclamation, convene the Senate, that a 
President may be chosen to exercise the ofiice of Governor. 

12. Whenever the Lieutenant Governor or President of the Senate shall 
exercise the office of Governor, he shall receive the compensation of Gov- 
ernor only ; and his duties as President of the Senate shall cease while he 
shall continue to act as Governor; and the Senate shall fill the vacancy 
by an election from their own body. 

13. In case of a disagfreement between the two Houses of the General 
Assembly respecting the time or place of adjournment, the person exercis- 
ing the office of Governor may adjourn them to such time or place as he 
shall think proper ; provided that the time of adjournment shall not be ex- 
tended beyond the first day of the next stated session. 

14. The person exercising the offir^e of Governor may, in cases of special 
necessity, convene .the General Assembly at any town or city in this State, 
at any other time than hereinbefore provided. And, in case of danger from 



428 Rep. No. 546. 

the prevalence of epidemic or contagions diseases, or from other circum- 
stances, in tlie place in which the General Assembly are next to meet, he 
may, by proclamation, convene the Assembly at any other place within the 
State. 

15. A Secretary of Stale, a General Treasnrer, and an Attorney General, 
shall also be chosen annually, in the same manner, and for the same time, 
as is herein provided respecting the Governor. The dnties of these offi- 
cers shall be the same as are now, or may hereafter be, prescribed by law. 
Should there be a failure to- choose either of them, or should a vacancy 
occur in either of then- offices, the General Assembly shall fill the place by 
an election in joint committee. 

16. The electors in each county shall, at the annual elections, vote for 
an inhabitant of the county to be sheritF of said county, for one year, and 
until a successor be duly qualified. In case no person shall have a ma- 
jority of the electoral votes of his county for sheriff', the General Assembly, 
in joint committee, shall elect a sheriff from the two candidates who shall 
have the greatest number of votes in such county. 

17. All commissions shall be in the name of the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, sealed with the seal of the State, and attested 
by the Secretary. 

ARTICLE IX. 
General provisions. 

1. This constitution shall be the supreme law of the State ; and all laws 
contrary to, or inconsistent with the same, which may be passed by the 
General Assembly, shall be null and void. 

2. The General Assembly shall pass all necessary laws for carrying this 
constitution into effect. 

3. Tho judges of all the courts, and all other officers, both civil and mil- 
itary, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to the due observance of this 
constitution, and of the constitution of the United States. 

4. No jurisdiction shall, hereafter, be entertained by the General Assem- 
bly in cases of insolvency, divorce, sale of real estate of minors, or appeal 
from judicial decisions, nor in any other matters appertaining to the juris- 
diction of judges and courts of law. But the General Assembly shall con- 
fer upon the courts of the State all necessary powers for aflbrding relief 
in the cases herein named ; and the General Assembly shall exercise all 
other jurisdiction "and authority which they have heretofore entertained, 
and which is not prohibited by, nor repugnant to, this constitution. 

5. The General Assembly shall, from time to time, cause estimates to be 
made of the ratable property of the State, in order to the equitable appor- 
tionment of State taxes. 

6. Whenever a direct tax is laid by the State, one-sixth part thereof 
shall be assessed on the polls of the qualified electors : provided that the 
tax on a poll shall never exceed tlie sum of fifty cents ; and that all per- 
sons who actually perform military duty, or duty in the fire department, 
siiall be exempted from said poll tax. 

7. The General Assembly shall have no power hereafter to incur State 
debts to an amount exceeding the sum of fifty thousand dollars, except in 
time of war, or in case of invasion, without the express consent of the peo- 



Rep. No. 546. 429 

pie. Every proposition for such increase shall be submitted to the electors 
at the next annual election, or on some day to be set apart for that purpose ; 
and shall not be farther entertained by the General Assembly, unless it re- 
ceive the votes of a majority of all the persons votin^. This section shall 
not be construed to refer to any money that now is, or hereafter may be, 
deposited with this State by the General Government, 

8. The assent of two thirds of the niembers elected to each House of the 
General Assembly shall be requisite to every bill appropriating the public 
moneys, or property, for local or private purposes; or for creating, con- 
tinuing, altering, or renewing any body politic or corporate, bankiug cor- 
porations excepted. 

9. Hereafter, when any bill creating, continuing, altering, or renewing 
any banking corporation, authorized to issue its promissory notes for circu- 
lation, shah pass the two Houses of the General Assembly, instead of being 
sent to the Governor, it shall be referred to the electors for their considera- 
tion, at the next annual election, or on some day to be set apart for that 
purpose, with printed tickets containing the question — Shall said bill (with 
a brief description thereof) be approved, or not? and if a mnjority of the 
electors voting shall vote to approve said bill, it shall become a law ; other- 
wise not. 

10. All grants of incorporation shall be subject to future acts of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, in amendment or repeal thereof, or in anywise affecting the 
same ; and this provision shall be inserted in all acts of incorporation here- 
after granted. 

11. The General Assembly shall exercise, as heretofore, a visitatorial 
power over corporations. Three bank commissioners shall be chosen at 
the June session for one year, to carry out the powers of the General As- 
sembly in this respect. And commissioners for the visitation of other cor- 
porations, as the General Assembly may deem expedient, shall be chosen 
at the June session, for the same term of office. 

12. No city council, or other government, in any city, shall have power 
to vote any tax upon the inhabitants thereof, excepting the amount neces- 
sary to meet the ordinary public expenses in the same, without first submit- 
ting the question of an additional tax, or taxes, to the electors of said city; 
and a majority of all who vote shall determine the question. But no elec- 
tor shall be entitled to vote, in any city, upon any question of taxation thus 
submitted, unless he shall be qualified by the possession, in his own right, 
of ratable property to the amount of one hundred and fifty dollars, and shall 
liave been assessed thereon to pay a city tax, and shall have paid the same, 
as provided in section fourth of article two. Nothing in that article shall 
be so construed as to prevent any elector from voting for town officers, and, 
in the city of Providence, and other cities, for mayor, aldermen, and mem- 
bers of the common council. 

13. The General Assembly shall not pass any law, nor cause any act or 
thing to be done, in any way to disturb any of the owners or occupants of 
land in any territory now under the jurisdiction of any other State or States, 
the jurisdiction whereof may be ceded to, or decreed to belong to, this State; 
and the inhabitants of such territory shall continue in the full, quiet, and 
undisturbed enjoyment of their titles to the same, without interference in 
any way on the part of this State. 



430 Rep. No. 546. 

ARTICLE X. 
Of elections. 

1. The election of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of stale, 
general treasurer, attorney general, and also of senators and representatives 
to the General Assembly, and of sheriffs of the counties, shall be held on 
the third Wednesday of April annually. 

2. The names of the persons voted (or as governor, lieutenant governor, 
secretary of state, general treasurer, attorney general, and sheriffs of the 
respective counties, shall be put upon one ticket ; and the tickets shall be 
deposited by the electors in a box by themselves. The names of the per- 
sons voted for as senators and as representatives shall be put upon separate 
tickets, and the tickets shall be deposited in separate boxes. The polls for 
all the officers named in this section shall be opened ai«the same time. 

3. All the votes given for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of 
state, general treasurer, attorney general, sheriffs, and also for senators, shall 
remain in the ballot-boxes till the polls be closed. These votes shall then, 
in open town and ward meetings, and in the presence of at least ten quali- 
fied voters, be taken out and sealed up, in separate envelopes, by the moder- 
ators and town clerks, and by the wardens and ward clerks, who shall cer- 
tify the same, and forthwith deliver or send them to the Secretary of Slate, 
whose duty it shall be securely to keep the same, and to deliver the votes 
for State officers and sheriffs to the Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives, after the House shall be organized, at the June session of the General 
Assembly. The votes last named shall, without delay, be opened, counted, 
and declared, in such manner as the House of Representatives shall direct ; 
and the oath of office shall be administered to the persons who shall be de- 
clared to be elected, by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and in 
the presence of the House : provided that the sheriffs may take their engage- 
ment before a Senator, judge, or justice of the peace. The votes for Sena- 
tors shall be counted by the Governor and Secretary of State within seven 
days from the day of election ; and the Governor shall give certificates to 
the Senators who are elected. 

4. The boxes containing the votes for representatives to the General As- 
sembly in the several towns shall not be opened till the polls for representa- 
tives are declared to be closed. The votes shall then be counted by the 
moderator and clerk, who shall announce the result, and give certificates 
to the person selected. If there be no election, or not an election of the 
whole number of representatives to which the town is entitled, the polls for 
representatives may be re-opened, and the like proceedings shall be had, 
until an election shall take place: provided, however, that an adjournment 
of the election may be made to a time not exceeding seven days from the 
first meeting. 

5. In the city of Providence, and other cities, the polls for representatives 
shall be kept open during the whole time of voting for the day ; and the 
votes in the several wards shall be sealed up, at the close of the meeting, 
by the wardens and ward clerks, in the presence of at least ten qualified 
electors, and delivered to the city clerks. The mayor and aldermen of said 
city or cities shall proceed to count said votes within two days from the 
day of election ; and if no election, or an election of only a portion of the 
representatives whom the representative districts are entitled to elect, shall 
have taken place, the mayor and aldermen shall order a new election to be 



Rep. No. 546. 431 

held, not more than ten days from the day of the first election ; and so on, 
till the election of representatives shall be completed. Certificates of elec- 
tion shall be furnished to the persons chosen, by the city clerks. 

6. If there be no choice of a senator or senators at the annual election, 
the governor shall issue his warrant to the town and ward clerks of the 
several towns and cities in the senatorial district or districts that may have 
failed to elect, requiring them to open town or ward meetings for another 
election, on a day not more than fifteen days beyond the time of counting 
the votes for senators. If, on the second trial, there shall be no choice of a 
senator or senators, the Govert]or shall certify the result to the Speaker of 
the House of Representatives; and the House of Representatives, and as 
many senators as shall have been chosen, shall forthwith elect, in joint 
committee, a senator or senators, from the two candidates who may receive 
the highest nimiber of votes in each district. 

7. if there be no choice of Governor at the annual election, the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives shall issue his warrant to the clerks of 
the several towns and cities, requiring them to notify town and ward meet- 
ings for another election, on a day to be named by him, not more than 
thirty nor less than twenty days beyond the time of receiving the report 
of the committee of the House of Representatives who shall count the votes 
for Governor. If on this second trial there shall be no choice of a Gov- 
ernor, the two Houses of the General Assembly shall, at their next session, 
in joint committee, elect a Governor from the two candidates having the 
highest number of votes, to hold his office for the remainder of the political 
year, and until his successor be duly qualified. 

8. If there be no choice of Governor and iiieutenant Governor at the 
annual election, the same proceedings for the choice of a Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor shall be had as are directed in the preceding section : provided, that 
the second trial for the election of Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall 
be on the same day : and also provided, that, if the Governor shall be 
chosen at the annual election, and the Lieutenant Governor shall not be 
chosen, then the last named officer shall be elected in joint committee of 
the two Houses, from the two candidates having the highest number of 
votes, without a farther appeal to the electors. The Lieutenant Governor, 
elected as is provided in tins section, shall liold his office as is provided in 
the preceding section respecting the Governor. 

9. All town, city, and ward meetings for the choice of representatives, 
justices of the peace, sheriffs, senators. State officers, representatives to Con- 
gress, and electors of President and Vice President, shall be notified by the 
town, city, and ward clerks, at least seven days before the same are held. 

10. In all elections held by the people under this constitution, a majority 
of all the electors voting shall be necessary to the choice of the person or 
persons voted for. 

11. The oath, or a^irmation, to be taken by aU the officers named in this 
article shall be the following: You, being elected to the place (of gover- 
nor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, general treasurer, attorney 
general, or to the places of senators or representatives, or to the office of sher- 
iff or justice of the peace,) do solemnly swear, or severally solemnly swear, 
or affirm, that you will be true and faithful to the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, and that you will support the constitution 
thereof; that you will support the constitution of the United States; and 
that you will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of your afore- 



432 Rep. No. 546. 

said office, to the best of your abilities and understanding: so help you 
God ! or, this affirmation you make and give upon the peril of the penalty 
of perjury. 

ARTICLE XI. 
Of the Judiciary. 

1. The judicial power of tiiis State shall be vested in one supreme court, 
and in such other courts, inferior to the supreme court, as the Legislature 
may, from time to time, ordain and establish : and the jurisdiction of the 
supreme and of all other courts may, from time to time, be regulated by the 
General Assembly. 

2. Chancery powers may be conferred on the supreme court ; but no 
other court exercising chancery powers shall be established in this State, 
except as is now provided by law. 

3. The justices of the supreme court shall be elected in joint com- 
mittee of the two Houses, to hold their offices for one year, and until 
their places be declared vacant by a resolution to that effect, which shall 
be voted for by a majority of all the members elected to the House in which 
it may originate, and be concurred in by the same vote of the other House, 
without revision by the Governor. Such resolution shall not be entertained 
at any other than the annual session for the election of public officers; 
and, m default of the passage thereof at the said session, the judge, or 
judges, shall hold his or their place or places for another year. But a judge 
of any court shall be removable from office, if, upon impeachment, he shall 
be found guilty of any official misdemeanor. 

4. In case of vacancy by the death, resignation, refusal, or inability to 
serve, or removal from the State, of a judge of any court, his place may be 
filled by the joint committee, until the next annual election ; when, if elect- 
ed, he shall hold his office as herein provided. 

5. The justices of the supreme court shall receive a compensation, which 
shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. 

6. The judges of the courts inferior to the supreme court shall be annu- 
ally elected in joint committee of the two Houses, except as herein pro- 
vided. 

7. There shall be annually elected by each town, and by the several 
wards in the city of Providence, a sufficient number of justices of the 
peace, or wardens resident tlierein, with such jurisdiction as the General 
Assembly may prescribe. And said justices or wardens (except in the 
towns of New Shoreham and Jamestown) shall be commissioned by the 
Governor. 

8. The General Assembly may provide that justices of the peace, who 
are not re-elected, may hold their offices for a time not exceeding ten days 
beyond the day of the annual election of these officers. 

9. The courts of probate in this State, except the supreme court, shall re- 
main as at present established by law, until the General Assembly shall 
otherwise prescribe. 

ARTICLE XII. 
Of education. 

1. All moneys which now are, or may hereafter be, appropriated, by the 



Rep. No. 546. 4B3 

?inthority of the State, to public education, shall be securely invested, and 
remaitj a perpetual fund for the maintenance of free schools in this State ; 
and the General Assembly are proliibited from diverting said moneys or 
fund (rom this use, and from borrowmg, appropriating, or using the same, 
or any part thereof, lor any other purpose, or under any pretence whatso- 
ever. But the income derived from said moneys or fund shall be annually 
paid over, by the general treasurer, to the towns and cities of the State, for 
the support of said schools, in equitable proportions : provided, however, 
that a portion of said income may, in the discretion of the General Assem- 
bly, be added to the principal of said fund, 

2. The several towns and cities shall faithfully devote their portions of 
said annual distribution to the support of free schools ; and, in defiiult there- 
of, shall forfeit their shares of the same to the increase of the fund. 

3. All charitable donations for the support of free schools, and other pur- 
poses of public education, shall be received by the General Assembly, and 
invested and applied agreeably to the terms prescribed by the donors : pro- 
vided the same be not inconsistent with the constitution, or with sound pub- , 
lie policy ; in which case, the donation shall not be received. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Amendmejits. 

The General Assembly may propose amendments to this constitution by 
the vote of a majority of all the members elected to each House. Such 
propositions shall be published in the newspapers of the State ; and printed 
copies of said propositions shall be sent by tlie Secretary of State, with the 
names of all the ujemliers who shall have voted thereon, with the yeas and 
nays, to all the town and city clerks in the State ; and the said propositions 
shall be by said clerks inserted in the notices, by them issued, for warning 
the next annual town and ward meetings in April, and the town and ward 
clerks shall read said propositions to the electors when thus assenibled, with 
the names of all the Representatives and Senators who shall have voted' 
thereon, with the yeas and nays, before the election of Representatives and= 
Senators shall be had. If a majority of all the members elected at said 
annual meetings, present in each House, shall approve any proposition thus 
made, the same shall be published, as before provided, and then sent to the- 
electors in the mode provided in the act of approval; and, if then approved 
by a majority of the electors who shall vote in town and ward meetings, 
to be specially convened for that purpose, it shall become a part of the con- 
stitulion of the State. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Of the adoptioyi of the constitution. 

1. This constitution shall be submitted to the people, for their ado^ption 
or rejection, on Monday, the 27th day of December next, and on the two 
succeeding days ; and all persons voting are requests d to deposite in the bal- 
lot boxes printed or written tickets in the following form : 1 am an Ameri* 
can citizen, of the a^e of twenty-one years, and have my permanent resi- 
dence, or home, in this State. I am (or not) quali^ed to vote under the ex- 
isting laws of this State. I vote for (or against) the constitution formed by 
28 



434 Rep. No. 546 

the convention of the people, assembled at Providence, and which was pro- 
posed to tlie people by said convention on the 18th day of November, I84L 

2. Every voter is reqnested to wiite his name on the face of his ticket ; 
and every person entitled to vote as aforesaid, who, from sickness or other 
causes, may be nnable to attend and vote in the lown or ward meetings as- 
sembled for voting upon said constitniion, on the days aforesaid, is requested 
to write his name upon a ticket, and to obtain the signature, upon the liack 
of the same, of a person who has given in his vote, as a witness thereto. 
And the moderator, or clerk, of any town or ward meeting convened for the 
purpose aforesaid, shall receive sncli vote, on cither of the three days next 
succeeding the three days before named for voting on said constitution. 

3. The citizens of the several towns in this State, and of the several 
wards in the city of Providence, are requested to hold town and ward meet- 
ings on the days appointed, and for the purpose aforesaid ; and also to choose, 
in each town and ward, a moderator and clerk, to conduct said meetings, 
and receive the votes. 

. 4. The moderators and clerks are required to receive, and carefidly to 
keep, the votes of all persons qualified to vote as aforesaid, and to make 
registers of all the persons voting; which, together with the tickets given 
in by the voters, shall be sealed up, and returned by said moderators and 
clerks, with certificates signed and sealed by them, to the clerks of the con- 
vention of the people, to be by them safely deposited and kept, and laid be- 
fore said convention, to be counted and declared at their next adjourned 
meetino-, on the I2th day of January, 1842. 

5. This constitution, except so ujuch thereof as relates to the election of 
the officers named in ihe sixth section of this article, shall, if adopted, go 
into operation on the first Tuesday of May, in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and forty two. 

6. So much of the constitution as relates to the election of the officers 
named in this section shall go into operation on the Monday before the 
third Wednesday of April next preceding. The first election under this 
constitution, of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Gen- 
eral Treasurer, and Attorney General, of Senators and Representatives, of 
slierifTs for the several counties, and of juslices of the peace for the several 
towns, and the wards of the city of Providence, shall take place on the 
Monday aforesaid. 

7. The electors of the several towns and wards are authorized to assem- 
ble on- the day aforesaid, without being notified, as is provided in section 
9th of article 10. and without the reg'ist ration required in section 7lh of ar- 
ticle 2, and to choose moderators and clerks, and proceed in the election of 
the officers named in the preceding section. 

8. The votes given in at the first election for Representatives to the Gen- 
eral Assembly, and for justices of the peace, shall be counted by the modera- 
tors and clerks of the towns and wards chosen as aforesaid ; and certificates 
of election shall be furnished by them to the Representatives and justices of 

"the peace elected. 

9. Said moderators and clerks shall seal up. certify, and transmit to the 
House of Representatives all the votes that miy be given in at said first 
election for Governor and State officers, and for Senators and sheriffs ; and 
the votes shall be counted as the House of Representatives may direct. 

10. The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, at the first ses- 



Rep. No. 546. 485 

mox) of ilie same, qualify himself to administer the oath of office to [he mem- 
bers of the House, and to other officers, by taking and subscribing the same 
oath in the presence of the House. 

1 1, The first session of the General Assembly shall be held in the city of 
Providence on the first Tuesday of May, in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-two, with such adjournments as may be necessary; but 
all other sessions shall be held as is provided in article 4 of this consti- 
tution. 

12. If any of the Representatives, whom the towns or districts are entitled 
to choose at the first annual election aforesaid, shall not be then elected, or 
if their places shall become vacant during the year, the same proceedings 
may be had to complete the election, or to supply vacancies, as are directed 
concerning elections in the preceding sections of this article. 

1.3. If there shall be no election of Governor or Lieutenant Governor, or 
of both of these officers, or of a Senator or Senators, at the first annual elec- 
tion, the House of Representatives, and as many Senators as are chosen, 
shall forthwith elect, in joint committee, a Governor or Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor, or both, or a Senator or Senators, to hold their offices for the re- 
mainder of the political year; and, in the case of the two officers first named, 
until their successors shall be duly qualified. 

14. If the number of justices of the peace determined by the several 
towns and wards on the day of the first annual election shall not be then 
chosen, or if vacancies shall occur, the same proceedings shall be had as are 
provided for in this article in the case of a non election of Representatives 
and Senators, or of vacancies in iheir offices. The justices of the peace 
thus elected shall hold office for the remainder of the political year, or 
until the second annual election of justices of the peace, to be held on such 
day as may be prescribed by the General Assembly. 

15. The justices of the peace elected m pursuance of the provisions of 
this article, may be engaged by the persons acting as moderators of the 
town and ward meetings, as herein provided; and said justices, after ob- 
taining their certificates of election, may discharge the diuies of their office, 
for a time not exceeding twenty days, without a commission from the Gov- 
ernor. 

16. Nothing contained in this article, inconsistent with any of the pro- 
visions of other articles of the constitution, shall continue in force for a 
longer period than the first political year under the same. 

17. The present government shall exercise all the powers with which 
jt is now clothed, until the said first Tuesday of May, one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-two, and until their successors, under this constitution, 
shall be duly elected and qualified. 

18. All civil, judicial, and military officers now elected, or who shall 
hereafter be elected by the General Assembly, or other competent author- 
ity, before the said first '^ruesday of May, shall hold their offices, and may 
exercise their powers, until that time. 

19. All laws and statutes, public and [irivate, now in force, and not re- 
pugnant to this constitution, shall continue in force until they expire by 
their own limitation, or are repealed by the General Assembly. All con- 
tracts, judgments, actions, and rights of action, shall be as valid as if this 
constitution had not been made. All debts contracted, and engagements en- 
tered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against 
the State as if tbis constitution had not been made. 



436 Rep. No. 546. 

20. The supreme court, established by this constitiition, shall have the 
same jurisdiction as the supreme judicial court at present esiabhshed ; and 
shall have jurisdiction of all causes v/hich may be appealed to, or pending 
in the same: and shall be lield at the same times and places in each 
county, as the present supreme judicial court, until the General Assembly 
shall otherwise prescribe. 

21. The citizens of the town of New Shoreham shall be hereafter ex- 
empted from military duty, and the duty of serving as jurors in the courts 
of this Sti.te. The citizens of the town of Jamestown shall be forever here- 
after exempted from military field duty. 

22. The General Assembly shall, at their first session after the adoption 
of this constitution, propose to the electors the question, whether the word 
"white," in the first line of the first section of article 2 of the constitution, 
shall be stricken out. The question shall be voted upon at the succeeding 
annual election; and if a majority of the electors voting shall vote to strike 
out the word aforesaid, it shall be stricken from the constitution ; otherwise, 
not. If the word aforesaid shall be stricken out, section 3d of article 2 shall 
cease to be a pari of the constitution. 

23. The president, vice presidents, and secretaries shall certify and sign 
this constitution, and cause the same to be published. 

Done in convention, at Providence, on the 18th day of November, in the 
year one thousand eight hundred and forty one, and of American inde- 
pendence the sixty-sixth. 

JOSEPH JOSLIN, President of the Convention. 

WAGER WEEDEN, I yice Presidents 
SAMUEL H. WALES, ^ ^^^ce ^/esi«e«fs. 

Attest: 



William H. Smith, 
John S. Harris, 



Secretaries. 



No. 89.— (Lc.) 

Resolutions of the people's convention, declaring the adoption of the peo- 

fle's constitnlion. 

Whereas, by the return of the votes upon the constitution, proposed to 
the citizens of this State by this convention on the ISlh day of November 
1841, it satisfactorily appears that the citizens of this State, in their original 
and sovereign capacity, have ratified and adopted said constitution by a 
large majority ; and the will of the people, thus decisively made known, 
ought to be implicitly obeyed and faithfully executed : 

We do, therefore, resolve and declare that said constitution rightfully 
ought to be, and is, the paramount law and constitution of the State of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

And we do further resolve and declare, for ourselves, and in behalf of 
the people whom we represent, that we will establish said constitution, and 
sustain and defend the same by all necessary means. 

Resolved, That the officers of this convention make proclamation of the 
return of the votes upon the constitution; and that the same has been 
adopted, and has become the constitution of this State ; and that they cause 
said proclamation to be published "in the newspapers of the same. 



Rep No. 546. 



437 



Resolved, That a certified copy of the report of the committee appointed 
to count tlie votes upon the constitution, and of these resohuiot}s, and of 
the constitution, be sent to his excellency the Governor, with a request that. 
he communicate the same to the two Houses of the General Assembly. 



The undersigned, who were appointed on the 12tli day of January, 1842, 
a committee of the people's convention, to examine and count the votes 
upon the constitution proposed to the people by said convention, on the 
18th day of November last, which said votes were given in on the 27th day 
of December last, and on the five subsequent days, report that they have 
attended to the duty of their appointment, and they present to the coiiven- 
tion the followiflo- statement of the result: 



Providence — 

First ward - 
Second ward 
Third ward 
Fourth ward 
Fifth ward 
Sixth ward 



Smilhfield 

Scituate 

Gloeester 

Cumberland 

Cranston 

Johnston 

North Providence* 

Foster 

Burrillville 



Newport 

Portsmouth 

New Shorehamt 

Jau)estown 

Middletown 

Tiverton 

Little Compton 



County of Providence. 



* - 



Freemen, 


Non-tVeemen 


162 


362 


90 


281 


165 


472 


142 


357 


245 


519 


255 


506 


1,059 


2,497 


3S2 


956 


208 


316 


195 


207 


294 


598 


167 


237 


141 


206 


214 


469 


124 


114 


149 


134 


2,933 


5,734 


County of Newport 




319 


883 


71 


55 


102 


30 


18 


13 


8 


22 


102 


172 


19 


25 


639 


1,200 



Total, 

524 
371 
637- 

499 
764 
761 



3,556 

1,338 
524 
402 

892 
404 
347 
(>83 
238 
283 

8,667 



,202 

126 

132 

31 

30 

274- 

44 



1,839 



* The votes of five freemen and t)f ihree aon-freemen given in favor of the conslitution, wer« 
rejected (oi informaliiy of the return. . 

t Twcniy six additional voie> tor the constitution vv,ere given by twenty-two freemen and four 
nuii-frteuieD, of which no regular return was made. 



438 



Rep. No 546, 

County of Kent. 



• 


Freemen. 


Non-fieerae».. 


TotaL 


Warwick 


309 


591 


900 


East Green w 


ich - 50 


85 


135 


West Greenwich - 17 


45 


62 


Coventry 


157 
533 


249 
970 


406 




1,503 




Comity of 


Bristol. 




Bristol • 


152 


214 


366 


Warren - 


103 


107 


210 


Barringlon 


28 


24 


52 




283 


345 


628 




County of Washington. 




Westerly 


107 


144 


251 


North Kino^stown - 84 


169 


253 


South Kings 


town - 138 


137 


275 


Charlestown 


64 


36 


100 


Exeter - 


52 


82 


134 


Richmond 


44 


88 


132 


Hopkinton 


83 79 
572 735 

RECAPITULATION OF THE COUNTIES, 


162 




1,307 






Providence 


- 2,933 


5,734 


8,667 


Newport 


639 


1,200 


1.839 


Washington 


572 


735 


1,307 


Kent - 


533 


970 


1,503 


Bristol - 


28a 


345 


628 




4,960 


8,9S4 


13,944 



The whole number of males in this State, over the age of 21 years, as 
nearly as can be ascertained by the census of the United States for the 
year 1840, is 26,142. Deducting at a moderate computation 3,000 persons 
who are not citizens of the United States over the age of 21 years and per. 
manent residents, or who are excluded by being under guardianship, in- 
sane, or convict, and the remainder is 23,142, of whom a majority is 11,572. 
The constitution has received 873 votes more than one-half of all the 
adult males in the State, and 2,372 more than half of all those qualified 
to vote for said constitution by citizenship, age, and residence, as afore- 
said, and an actual majority of 4,746. Deduct from 23,142, the whole 
number who voted for the constitution, (viz: 13,941.) and the remainder is 
9,198; of whom 9,146 did not vote, and 52 voted ag;iinst the constitution^ 
viz: In Smithfield 2; North Providence II; Tiverton 3; Little Oompton 
17; Westerly I ; South Kingstown 10; Warwick 3 ; East Greenwich 6; 
and Warren L 



Rep. No. 546. 



439 



Of the persons who voted. 4,960 are qualified voters under the existino; 
iawsof the State. The greatest number of votes ever pohed by said voters 
was 8,622, at the presidential election in November, 1840; of this number, 
a majority of 1,298 have voted for the constiiution — making, also, as your 
committee beheve, a mnjurity of all the freemen of the State. 

The committee have found ah the returns of votes from the several towns 
and wards to have been reo;ularly made, and accompanied with lists of 
all the persons voting, which lists enumerate the qualified voters, and those 
who are not. Every voter has signed his name upon his ticket: and the 
committee believe that both the voting and the returns have been as regu- 
lar and accurate as at any election ever held in this State. 

A considerable number of votes were returned as having been given by 
freeholders who had not yet been aduiiited freemen; but they were, of 
course, counted with those of the non freemen. 

The committee report to the convention, as the result of their examina- 
tion and count of the votes, that the constitution proposed to the people by 
said convention on the 18ih day of November last, has been adopted by a 
large majority of the citizens over the age of 21 years, having their perma- 
nent residence in the State. 



William James, Chairman. 
John R. Waterman, 
Dutee J. Pearce, 
David Daniels, 
Oliver Cliace, jr., 
Robert R. Carr, 
Ariel Bidlou, 
Thomas W. Dorr, 
Samuel T, Hopkins, 
Alfred Reed, 
Will. (J. Barker, 
Abner Haskell, 
Alexander Allen, 
Willard Hazard, 

Providence, January 13, 1842. 



Welcome Ballou Sayles, 
Sylv. Himes, 
Israel Wilson, 
Jonathan Remington, 
Christ. Smith, 
Ehsha G. Smith, 
Samuel Luther, 
Erasmus D. Campbdl, 
Nathan Bardin, 
Joshua B. Rathbun, 
Nathan A. Brown. 



Wm. H. Smith, 
John S. Harris, 



Secretaries. 



No. 90.— (H 6.) 

AN ACT calling a convention of the people to frame a written cjnstiiution fur this State. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 

Section I. The citizens of the several towns in tliis State, and of the 
city of Providence, are hereby requested to choose, at the semi annual town 
and ward meetings in August next, fir the election of representatives to the 
General Assembly, delegates to a convention to be held at Providence on 
the first Monday of November, 1841, to frame a written constitution of gov- 
ernment lor this State. 

Sec. 2. The delegates to said convention shall be apportioned to the 
towns and city aforesaid, as nearly as may be ia the ratio of one delegate to 
«very thousand inhabitants, as follows; 

Newport shall be entitled to elect 8 delegates. 

Portsmouth " " 2 " 



440 Rep. No. 546. 

Middletown shall be entiiled to elect 1 delegate,, 

Tiverton » » 3 " 

Little Compton « » 1 u 

New Shoreham " u i a 

Jamestown " " I " 

Providence " « ]8 " 

North Providence " " 4 " 

Smithfield " " 9 " 

Cumberland " " 5 " 

Scituate " » 4 " 

Cranston " " 3 " 

Johnston " » 2 " 

Glocester » " 2 " 

Foster " " 2 " 

Burrillville " " 2 " 

South Kingstown " " 4 " 

Westerly " " 2 " 

North Kingstown " " 3 " 

Exeter " " 2 " 

Charlestown " " 1 " 

Hopkhiton " " 2 '' 

Richmond " '^ 1 " 

Warwick " i; 7 cc 

Coventry " " 3 '^ 

East Greenwich " " 2 '^ 

West Greenwich " " 1 " 

Bristol « « 3 '^ 

Warren " « 2 " 

Harrington " " 1 " 

In the city of Providence each ward shall be entitled to three delegates^ 
who shall be chosen by (he resident voters in the same ; and the niayor 
and aldermen of said city shall furnish separate certificates of election to 
the delegates of each ward respectively. 

Sec. 3. Any person who is entitled to vole luider this act, may be elected 
a delegate. 

Sec. 4. Every male inhabitant of this State, of the age of twenty-one 
years, who is a citizen of the United States, and who has resided in this 
State for two years, and in the town or city where he offers to vote for three 
months next previous to the day of town and ward meetings aforesaid, 
(persons insane, under guardianship, or convict excepted,) shall be entitled 
to vote in the choice of delegates, and upon the question whether the con- 
stitution submitted to the people shall be ratified or rejected. 

Sec. 5. Any person who shall be challenged on either of the occasions 
of voting as aforesaid, for want of any of the tpialifications of a voter pre- 
scribed in section 4, shall be examined on oath by the moderator or warden, 
and if he shall swear to his qualification or qualifications, he shall be ad- 
mitted to vote. Any person who shall commit perjury in falsely swearing 
to his qualification or qualifications as aforesaid, shall, on conviction by a 
competent court, be sentenced to the State penitentiary for a term not less 
than three months, nor more than one year. 

Sec. 6. The voters for delegates, and upon the proposed constitution^ 
and under this act, shall vote by ballot. They shall be required to write 
their names upon their ticketSj and they shall deposite their votes in close 



Rep. No. 546. 441 

boxes, to be provided by the clerks for that purpose. It is hereby made the 
duty of the town clerks, and of the wardens in the city of Providence, to 
record in alphabetical lists the name of every voter, as he deposites his vote, 
and to return certified copies of said lists to the offices of the town cleiks, 
and of the city clerk of Providence, to be preserved on file. Every town 
clerk, and every warden, who shall neglect for five days to make such re- 
turn of the certified list of voters aforesaid, shall pay a fine of five hundred 
dollars, to be recovered by indictment, for the use of the State, before any 
competent court. 

Sec. 7. A majority of the whole number of delegates, whom all the 
towns and the city of Providence are entitled to choose, shall constitute a 
quorum, who may elect a president and secretaries, judge of the qualifica- 
tions of the members, and establish such rules of order, and direct such 
'■^l pfoceediijgcj as they think necessary; and every town or city which may 
omit to elect its delegates at said meetings in August, may elect at any time 
previous to the meeting of said convention. 

Sec. 8. The constitution agreed upon by said convention shall be sub- 
mitted to the voters qualified as aforesaid, in open town or ward meetings, 
to be held at such time as may be appointed by said convention. The said 
constitution shall be certified by the president and secretaries, and returned 
to the secretary of state, who shall forthwith distribute to the several town 
and city clerks, in due proportion, for the information of the citizens, thirty 
thousand printed copies thereof; and also forty thousand ballots, on one 
side of which shall be printed "Constitution framed by the convention held 
at Providence on the first Monday of November last ;" and on the other side, 
the word "approve" on half of the said ballots, and the word "reject" on the 
other half. 

Sec. 9. On the days of voting under this act, the polls shall be opened 
in every town, and in the city of Providence, at 10 o'clock, a. m.,and shall 
not be closed liefore sunset. 

Sec. 10. The ballots given for and against the constitution shall be sealed 
up in open town or ward meetings, by the clerks, in the presence of at least 
ten voters, and, with the lists of the name:5 of the voters, shall be returned 
to the General Assembly, at its next succeeding session ; and the General 
Assembly shall forthwitfi cause said ballots to be examined and counted. 
If the said constitution be approved by tlie majority of the citizens voting, 
it shall go into operation and efiect at such time as the convention shall 
have appointed. 

Sec. U. The members of the convention shall receive the same com- 
pensation as the members of the General Assembly, to be paid to them by 
the general treasurer on certificate of one of the secretaries; and a sum not 
exceeding five hundred dollars is hereby appropriated for defraying the ex- 
penses of the convention, to be paid by the general treasurer, according to 
the orders of said convention, certified by its president. 

Sec. 12. Tlie resolutions passed at the .Tanuary session, 1S41, requesting 
the •' freemen" to choose delegates to the convention therein, are hereby re- 
pealed. 

Endorsed — "An act calling a convention," not recommended. 

H. Y. CRANSTON, 

For I he Committee. 
JuxN'E 25, 181L— Rejected— 51 to 10. 



442 ' Rep. No. 546. 

Mr. Atvvell, from the Committee on the Judiciary, to whom the above act 
was referred, reported the same, as a minority report, with the following 
amendments: 

"Strike ont 2d section, and substitute therefor the first resolution of the 
resolves of May, 1841." 

" In section 4th, line 5th, after the word 'excepted,' add the words 'and 
who shall have paid town or State taxes assessed on real or personal estate 
at any time durincr one year next before the time of his such voting.'" 

"In line 1, section 4, insert 'free white' after the first word 'every.'" 

"Add to section 12, the 2d and 3d resolutions on this subject, passed at 
the May session, 1841." 

True copies from the files of the House of Representatives. 

THOS. A. JENCKES, Clerk. 



No. 9l.-(l a, I 6.) 

Copy from the records of the House under date of May 7, 1841. 

"An act calling a convention of the people to frame a written constitution 
for this State. Introduced by Mr. Atwell. Read first time, and referred to 
judiciary committee." 

Under date of Friday^ June 25. 

"The morning was consumed in debate, mostly between Mr. Atwell and 
Mr. Ames, on the act (No. 44 May session) calling a convention of the peo- 
ple to frame a constitution, which was not concluded when the House ad- 
journed till 3 o'clock, p. m. 

" P. M. The discussion was resumed upon the act calling a convention, 
which was participated in by Mr. Ames and Mr. Atwell, and briefly by sev- 
eral others. The House was then called on the passage of the bill, when 
the ayes and noes stood as follows : 

" Jyes. — Messrs. Atvvell, Ballon, Cook, C. G. Greene, Randall, Baker, A. 
Church, jr., Gavit, Hall, C. Robinson.— 10. 

^^ Noes. — Messrs. Ames, Arnold, Babcock, Barber, Bateman, Brayton, 
Brown, Burges. Burton, Chase, Childs, Church, S. Clarke, Cole, Crandell, 
Cranston, Drown, F. Greene, Holbridge, Kenyon, King, Lewis, Low, J. Man- 
chester, W. Manchester, Matliewson, Moss, Mowry, Newton, Pearce, Perry, 
Randolph, W. A. Robinson. Rose, Sands, Shaw, Slocum, Smith, Spencer, 
W. Spragup, A. Sprague, Stead, Taggart, Vaughn, E. Watson, jr., R. H. 
Watson, Weaver, Westcott, Whipple, Wilbour, Wilkinson. — 52. 

" So the bill was lost." 

A true copy from the records of the House of Representatives. • 

THOMAS A. JENCKES, Clerk. 



Rep. No. 543. * 443 

^o. 92 —(L a.) 

Copy of the records of the House of Represent liives, at their January ses- 
sion, 1842. 

Under date of Tuesday. January 11th, the following entry appeals: 

"A bill to alter the day of annual election, to dissolve the constitutional 

convention, and to adjourn the General Assembly in May sine die, was 

presented by Mr. Atwell,and read the first time. 
"February 5. — Indefinitely postponed." 

Under dafe of January 14. 

" Communication from the Governor, enclosing papers from the ' people's 
convention.' 

" February 5. — Indefinitely postponed." 

Under date of January 20, 

"Mr. Atwell called up his act presented at the beginning of the session. 
He moved its reference, together with all the papers communicated by the 
Governor, to a committee of three from each county, to examine the whole 
subject, and investigate the elections and their returns, (the results of which 
had been communicated to the House,) in order to learn if a majority of the 
freemen had voted. The di-bate la^^ted the whole morning. 

"P. M. 'I'he consideration of Mr. Aiwell's motion next came up. This 
was discussed by Messrs, Cranston, Spencer, Whipple, Robinson, J3urges, 
Randolph, and King, until o'clock, when the House adjourned," 



January 21. 

" Mr. Atwell called up the consideration of his motion, which was dis- 
cussed by Messrs. Clarke, Dixon, Bos; worth, and Howe, till after 12 o'clock, 
when the House adjourned. 

" P. M. Mr. At well's motion was then taken up, and debated by Messrs. 
Jackson and Atwell until ti o'clock, when the House adjourned," 

January 22. 

"Mr. Atwell's motion came up for consideration, and was debated by 
Messrs. Atwell, Spencer, Jackson, and Randolph, until past, 12 o'clock, when 
the House was called upon its passage, and it was rejected as follows : 

".4ye5. — Me.ssrs. Atwell, W. S. Burges, Brayton, J. H. Clarke, Gavit, 
Keech, Rose, VV, Sprague, A. Sprague, Slocum, Thurston. — 11. 

" Noes. — The Speaker, Messrs.' Atwood, Arnold, Bosworth, Babcock, 
Browning, Baker, A. Brown, C. Brown, Barton, Barber, F, Burgess, jr., 
Cranston, S. Clarke, D. Clarke, Chase, A. Cimrch, jr., N. Church, Cook, 
Cole, Dixon, Danby, Durfee, Drown, Green, Hoxie, John Hazard, Jere- 
miah Hazard, Howe, King, Kenyon, Lawton, Low, J. Manchester, W. Man- 
chester, Mathewson, Mowry, Newton, Perry, Pearce, Randolph, Reynolds, 
Robinson, Randall, Spencer, Sands, Sherman, Smith, Teflt, 'i'aggart, Wat- 
son, Westcott, Whipple, Weaver, Wilkinson, Wood, Walling. — 57." 



444 • Rep. No. 546. 

No. 93.— (L b.) 
Proposed act to change the day of the annual election^ (^*c. 

Whereas the people of this State have, by a large majority of the resident 
citizens of the same, of the age of twenty-one years, ratified and adopted the 
constitution of government for this State, vvliich was submitted to them by 
the conyention sitting at Providence on tlie 18th day of November hist: and 

Whereas the sovereign power of the State is vested in the people thereof, 
and their will is the paramount law of the State, and, when made known, 
should be implicitly obeyed by the representatives and servants o^the peo- 
ple : therefore, 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows : 

1st. So much of the election law of this State as provides that an election 
of State officers and representatives shall be had on the third Wednesday of 
April is hereby repealed, in order that said elections may take place accord- 
ing to Ihe terms and provisions of the constitution of the people aforesaid. 

2d. The resolutions passed at the January and June sessions of the last 
year, for the call of a convention of the qualified freeholders of the State to 
form a constitution, are hereby repealed, exceptinii so much thereof as pro- 
vides for the pay of the delegates for their past attendance. The clerks of 
said convention are requested to issue certificates to the members for said 
attendance ; and the president of the same is requested to certify all the bills 
of expenses of said convention to an amount not exceeding the sum appro- 
priated by the Assembly for the use of said convention. 

The foregoing is endorsed as follows : 

"Act to change the day of annual election, dissolve the constitutional 
convention, and adjourn sine die. 

"House of Reprksentatives, January 11, 1842. — Read first time be- 
fore the Senate was organized. 

"House of Representatives, January 14, 1842. — Read first time. 
"February 5, lb42. — Indefinitely postponed. 

"J. S. P., aer/i-." 

A true copy from the files and records of the House of Representatives of 
the State of Rhode Island. 

THOMAS A. JENCKES, Clerk. 
February 15, 1844. 



No. 94.— (a a.) 

Copy of an act passed by the General Assembly at the June session, 1842. 

AN ACT to provide for calling a convention of the people of this Slate for the purpose of 
forming a new constitution or form of government for the people thereof 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows : 

Section 1. The people of the several towns in this Slate and of the city 
of Providence, qualified to vote as hereinafter provided, are hereby requested 
at the town or ward meetings, holden on the last Tuesday of August next, 



Rep. No. 546. 445 

to choose so many delegates as they will be severally entitleti to accordina;^ 
lo the provisions of this act, to attend a convention to be holden at New- 
port on the second Monday of September next, to frame a new constitution 
for this State, either in whole or in part, with full powers for that purpose. 

Sec. 2. A majority of the whole number of delegates, which all the towns 
and city of Providence are entitled to elect, shall constitute a quorum, who 
may elect a president, secretaries, and other officers, judge of the election 
and qualification of members, punish contempts, and establish such rules 
and proceedings as they may deem proper. Said convention may adjourn 
to any place they may think proper. Any town or city which may fail to 
elect its delegates at the time prescribed, may choose them at any time be- 
fore the meeting of the convention, and vacancies from resignation, or 
otherwise, may be filled at any time by a new election. 

Sec. 3. The constitution, or articles, agreed upon by ihe convention, 
shall be submitted to those qnalifii^d to vote as hereinafter provided, in open 
town or ward meetings, to be held on such day or days, and in such time 
and manner as the convention shall direct. The constitution, or articles, 
shall be certified by the president and secretaries, and with the journal and 
papers of the convention deposited in the office of the secretary of state, who 
shall immediately distribute to tlie several town and city clerks, in due pro- 
portion, five thousand printed copies of the constitution, or articles, in pam- 
phlet form, and also thirty thousand ballots, on one side of which shall be 
printed " (Constitution, or articles, proposed by the convention holden at 
iNewport, on the second Monday of September, A. D. 1842;" and on the 
other side thereof shall be written, or printed, the word '•' adopt" on one- 
half of them, and the word '• reject" on the other half. He shall also cause 
said constitution, or articles, to be published in any other manner the con- 
vention may prescribe. 

Sec. 4. At said town or ward meetings, every person voting shall have 
his name written on the back of liis ballot ; and the ballots shall be sealed 
up in open town or ward meeting by the clerks, and, with lists of the voters, 
be returned to the General Assembly at the next session thereof, who shall 
cause the votes to be examined and counted ; and if said constitution, or 
articles, be adopted by a majority of the persons having a right to vote, the 
same shall go into operation at such time or times, and in such manner, as 
shall be appointed by the convention. 

Sec. 5. The delegates to said convention shall be elected upon a basis of 
population according to the census of 1810, as follows : Every town of not 
more than 3,0U0 inhabitants may elect two delegates ; over 3,000, and not 
over 6,000, three delegates ; over 6,000, and not over 10,000, four delegates ; 
over 10,000, and not over 15,000, five delegates ; and over 15,000, six 
delegates. 

Sec. 6. In the choice of delegates to said convention, the following de- 
scription of persons shall be admitted to vote : All those who are qualified 
to vote for general officers by existing laws, and all native male citizens of 
the United States, (except Narragansett Indian.*?, convicts, paupers, persons 
under guardianship and noti compos metitis,) who are of the age of twenty- 
one years and upwards, and who shall have had their permanent residence, 
or home, within this State for the period of three years next preceding their 
voting, and in the town or city wherein they offer to vote for the period of 
one year next preceding such voting, and who shall have had their names 
recorded with the town or city clerk of the town or city in which they shall 



446 Rep. No. 546. 

oiFer to vote, in proper books to be kept by said town or city clerks for that 
piirjiose, at least ten days before the day of voting. In voting upon the 
adoption, or rejection, of said constitution or articles, in addition to those 
who are qnahfied to vote for general officers by the existing laws, all those 
shall be admitted to vote who will be qualified to vole lor general officers 
under the provisions of said constifuuon. or articles, if in force ; but this 
provision shall not be construed to give to any person a riyht to vole at any 
town or ward meeting held under and by virtue of tins act, upon any 
other question or questions than the questions herein specifically named. 

Sec. 7. The delegates shall receive the same compensation for attend- 
ance as members of the Genercl Assembly, payable upon the certificate of 
the secretary. 

Skc. 8. A sum not exceeding five hundred dollars is hereby appropri- 
ated for defraying the expenses of said convention, to be paid out of the 
treasury to the order of the president thereof. 

Sec. 9* It shall be the duty of the town, city, and ward clerks to warn, 
according to law, the meetings hereby appointed, and those which may be 
ordered by said convention. 

Sec. 10. Any fourteen members of the convention, including the presi- 
dent, if there be one, shall have full power and authority to compel the at- 
tendance of absent members. It shall be the duty of the sheriff of the 
county where the convention shall be in session, to attend said convention 
and execute the orders thereof. 

Sec. U. Whenever, in any town or ward meeting holden under this 
act, any dispute shall arise as to any person's residence, or other qualifica- 
tions, the moderator, or warden, or person presiding in said meetings, shall 
have authority to examine under oath the person offering to vote, and other 
persons who may be present, respecting the same, and decide upon his qual- 
ifications, subject to review by the General Assembly. 



No. 95.— (a a.) 

Copy of an act to amend the act calling a convention to frame a fiew con- 
stitution, passed at the June session, 1844. 

AN ACT to amend " An act to provide for calling a convention of the people of this State, 
for the purpose of forming a new constitution or form of government for ihe people ihere- 
ol," passed at June session, A. D. 1842. 

Whereas the convention which assembled at Newport on the second 
Monday of September last, in pursuance of the provisions of the act afore- 
said, have requested this General Assembly to declare the True intent and 
construction of a portion of the fourth section of said act : Therefore, 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly,, as follows : If the constitution 
or articles that may be framed and submitted to the people, under the pro- 
visions of said act, be adopted by a majority of the persons having a right 
to vote, and actually voting upon the question of adopting the same, the 
said constitution or articles shall become the supreme law of the State, and 
shall go into operation at such time or times, and in such manner, as shall 
be appointed by said convention. 

The foregoing is a copy of an act from the published schedule of the 
October session, A. D. 1842, of the General Asse.Tibly. 



Rep. No. 546. 4 47 

No. 96.~(R.) 

Proceedings of the charter assembly^ rfjectiiig Mr. AtweWs bill proposing 
the people'' s constitution for adoption or rejection. 

From (he records of the House of Representatives, at their March session, 
1842, under date of March 30, is the following entry : 

" An act snbmittinir to the people of this State a constitution, or written 
form of government, for their adoption or rejection." 

Offered by Mr. Atwell, and read first time. 

Under date of April 1, Mr. Atwell called up his bill, proposing the " peo- 
ple's constiuuion," for adoption or rejection. The House was called upon 
its passage as follows : 

Ayes — Atwell, W. S. Bnrges, Garrett — 3. 

Noes — The Speaker, Anthony, Atwood, Arnold, Bosworth, Brayton 
Browning, Bai<er, A. Brown, C Brown, Burton, Barber, Cranston, G. W 
Clarke, J. Clarke, I). Clark, Chace, Childs, A. 'Church, jr., N. Chnrch 
Cook, Cole, Dixon, Danby, Dnrfee, Drown, Greene, Hoxie, Howe. Ken 
yon, Keech, Lawton, Low, J. Manchester, W. Manchester, Mathewson 
Mo wry, Perry, Potter, Pearce, Randolph, Rose, Reynolds, Robinson, Ran 
d:ill. Remington, Spencer, Spragne, Shearman, Slocum, Smith, Taggart 
Vaughn, Watson, VVhipple, Weaver, Wilkinson, Wood, Walling — 59.| 

So the bill was rejected by a majority of 56. 

A true copy. 

THOMAS A. JENCKES, Clerk. 

The original act has been mislaid, or taken from the file, so that it cannot 
now be found. 

THOMAS A. JENCKES, Clerk. 



No. 97.— (N a.) 

Organization of the government under the peopWs constittitiofi. 

The Qonstitntion of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
ytions was proclaimed January 13, 1842. 

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. 

On the 3d day of May, 1812, (being the first Tuesday of said May,) the 
general officers and General Assembly of said State, elected under and by 
virtue of the constitution of said State, met in the city of Providence, and 
organized the government. 

Thomas WrOorr, Governor of said State elect, was duly sworn by the 
speaker of the House of Representatives, in the presence of both houses, 
s Amasa Eddy, jr., Lieutenant Governor of said State elect, was duly 
sworn by the speaker, in the presence of both houses. 

William H. Smith, Secretary of Slate elect, was duly sworn by the 
speaker, in the presence of both houses. 

Jonah Titus, Attorney General of State elect, was duly sworn by the 
speaker, in the presence of both houses. 



448 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 98. 

journal of (he Senate under the 2}eople''s constitution. 

In Senate, May 3, 1842. 

On this 3(J day of May, 1842, (heino' the first Tuesday of said May,) the 
Senate of said State elected under and by virtue of the authority of the con- 
stitution of said State, met in the city of Providence. 

Amasa Eddy, jr., president. 

Eli Brown, senator elect of the first senatorial district, is duly sworn. 

Hezekiah Willard, senator elect of the second senatorial district, is duly 
sworn. 

John Paine, senator elect of the third senatorial district, is duly sworn. 

Abner Haskell, senator elect of the fourth senatorial district, is duly sworn. 

Solomon Smith, senator elect of the fifth senatorial district, is duly sworn. 

Benjamin Nichols, s^iator elect of the sixth senatorial district, is duly 
sworn. 

Benjamin Chace, senator elect of the eighth senatorial district, is duly 
sworn. 

William James, senator elect of the eleventh senatorial district, is duly 
sworn. 

Christopher Smith, senator elect of the twelfth senatorial district, is duly 
sworn. 

Eli Brown is appointed of a committee on the part of the Senate, to wait 
on the Governor elect, and inform him that the two houses are organized, 
and ready to hear any communication he may think proper to make. The 
Governor delivers a message to both houses in person, 

1. Resolutions from the House, that the Governor be requested to inform 
the President of the United States, o6c., that the governtnent of this State 
has been duly elected and organized under the constitution of this Slate, 

'were read, concurred in, and approved by the Governor. 

2. A resolution from the House, requesting the Governor to issue his 
proclamation to the people of this State, that the government, under the 
constitution thereof, has been duly organized, and calling upon all persons, 
civil and military, to conform themselves to said constitution, and to the 
laws enacted under the same, and to all other jurisdiction and authority duly 
exercised by virtue of the same, was read, concurred in, and approved by 
the Governor. 

3. A bill from the House, repealing the act entitled '-An act in relation 
to offences against the sovereign power of the State," passed at the session 
of the General Assembly, held by adjournment in March, 1842, was read, 
concurred in, and approved by the Governor. 

The Senate adjourned, to meet again at 9 o'clock to-morrow morning. 

Wednesday, May 4, 1842. 

The Senate met as adjourned. 

4. An act providing for the registrations of electors, and directing the 
manner of voting by ballot in town and ward meetings, was read and con- 
curred in, with an amendment, and sent to the House; returned by the 
House, concurred in as amended, and approved by the Governor. 



Rep. No. 546. 440 

5. An act to repeal certain resolutions passed by the General Assembly 
at their April session, 1842, is read, concurred in, and approved by the 
Governor. 

6. An act to repeal an act entitled "An a'^t to authorize the establishment 
of volunteer police companies in the city of Providence," passed by the Gen- 
eral Assembly at their April session, 1842, is read, concurred in, and ap- 
proved by the Governor. 

7. An act to repeal an act entitled '-'An act to prevent riots, routs and tu- 
multuous assemblies, and the f^vil consequences thereof,* passed by the 
General Assembly at their April session, 1842, is read, concurred in, and 
approved by the Governor. 

8. An act to anipud the charter of the independent company of United 
Volunteers in the city of Provideiice, is read, concurred in, and approved by 
the Governor. 

9. An act in addition to the act entitled " An act imposing duty upon 
licensed j)ersons and others, and bodies corporate, within this State," is read, 
concurred in, and approved by the Governor. 

The Senate adjourned, to meet at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. 

The Senate met at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. , 

10. An act providing for the compensation of the members of the General 
Assembly, is read, concurred in, and approved by the Governor. 

11. A resolution from the House, appoiniiiia: Pe rezSimrnons and Nathaniel 
Mowry to demand and receive the records, books, and papers appertaining 
to the office, from Henry Howcu, lat; Secretary of State, and transfer the 
same to his successor, William H. Smith, is read, concurred in, and ap- 
proved by the Governor, 

The Senate beinor invited by the House of Representatives to join the 
House in joint committee, for the purpose of proceeding to the election of 
officers, join the House. 

The president of the Senate presiding. 

The election of ihe justices of the supreme court, is postponed. 

The eieclion of the ju^tices of tiie courts of common pleas for the several 
counties, is postponed. 

The election of the clerks of the supreme court for the several counties, 
is postpoiit'd. 

The election of the clerks of the courts of common pleas for the several 
counties, is postponed. 

The eK'Ction of public notaries for the several counties, is postponed. 

The election of bank commissioners, is postponed. 

The election of inspectors of the State prison, is postponed. 

John VVinship is elected inspector yfiieral of beef and pork. 

The election of inspector g(^n«Tal of lime, is postponed. 

The elf'ction of inspector general of scythe stones, is postponed. 

The election of all o;her civil officers is postponed. 

Mil';fA;ry officers. 

Americus V. Potter is elected major oreneral of the militia of the State. 
The election of lirigadier g.-n«^ral of the first brii^ade, is postponed. 
Jedediah Sprague is eleclfd hrii^afiier general of the 2d brigade of militia. 
The election of brigadier general of the 3d brigade, is postponed, 

29 ' 



450 . Rep. No. 546. 

The election of brigadier general of the 4th brigade, is postponed. 

Jonathan M. Wheeier is ''elected colonel, John S. Dispean liet|tenant 
colonel, and Henry Bailey ronjor, of the 2d regiment of militia. 

Smith R. Mowry is elected colonel, Daniel M. Paine lieutenant colonel, 
and Oren Wright major, of the 6th regiment of militia. 

John H. Eddy is elected colonel. Mathewson Wilbour lieutenant colonel, 
and Harley Luther major, of the 7th regin'.ent of militia. 

George VV. Slieldon is elected colonel, John 1\1. Eddy lieutenant colonel, 
und Philip W- Hawkins major, of the 12ih regiment of militia. 

Joseph Lockwood is elected colonel. Nelson Barnes lieutenant colonel, 
and Benoni Knight major, of the 14th regiment of militia. 

Levi T. Ballon is elected colonel, Benjamin B. Slade lieutenant colonel, 
and Albert Trask major, of the 15th regiment of militia. 

Henry F. Cooley is elected adjutant general of the militia of the State. 

William Aldrich is elected quartermaster general of tlie militia of the 
State. 

Arnold Sanders is elected commissary general of the militia of the State. 

James S. Lincoln is elected inspector of the division of the militia of the 
State. 

Otis W. Bligh is elected brigade inspector of the 25 brigade of militia. 
• Oeorge M. Kendall is elected brigade quartermaster of the 2d brigade of 
militia. 

The election of the remaining offices ofthe militia of the State is postponed. 

The joint committee rise. 

Joseph Joslin, General Treasurer of the State elect, being present, is duly- 
affirmed by the speaker of the House of Represesentatives, in presence of 
both houses. 

12. A resolution from the House, appointing Messrs. Pearce and Chace 
a committee to demand, receive, and transfer all the moneys, bonds, securi- 
ties, records, books, papers, and every other article appertaining to the office 
ofthe General Treasurer of this State, from Stephen Cahoone, late treas- 
urer, to Joseph Joslin, his successor. 

13. A resolution from the House, that all persons indebted to this State 
make payment, and all persons having possession or charge of public prop- 
erty deliver possession or charge of such property to the authorities and 
officers acting under the constitution and laws of tiiis State, is read, concur- 
red in, and approved by the Governor. 

14. A resolution from the House, that when the General A^setribly ad- 
journ, they adjourn to meet on the fiist Monday of July next, is read, and 
concurred in. 

15. A bill from the House, entitled "An act to revive the charter of the 
Greene Artillery," is read, concurred in, and appoved by the Governor. 

16. A bill from the House, entitled " An act prescribino- the manner of 
votinf by ballot in the election of the captains and subalterns of militia 
companies, and for other purposes," is read, concurred in, and approved by 
the Governor. 

IT. A resolution from the House, authorizing the Governor to appoint 
commissioners, on behalf of this State, to proceed to tlie seat ofthe General 
Government, and make known to the Presidetit of the United States that 
the people of this State have adopted a written constitution, and elected 
officers, and peaceably organized the Government under that constitution, 
and that said government is now in full operation, is read, concurred in, 
and approved by the Governor. 



Rep. No. 546.. 451 

The final vote of adjournment from the House, embracino^ tiie continu- 
ance in office of all officers being isot re-elected, in whose places others have 
not been appointed, until the first Monday of July, 1842; the continuance 
of unfinished business to that date; and a direction to the secretary, to 
cause the acts, orders, and resolutions, passed al this session, to be published, 
with a suitable index, and distributed accorduisr to law, is read, concurred 
in, and approved by the Governor. 



No. 99. 



Journal of the House of Reprfstnfal.ives of the Sljfe of Rhode Island and 
Providence PUmlatioiis, first heUl in the cily of Providence^ under the 
constitution of said State, on Tuesday, the third day of May^ in the 
year 1842. 

On this third day of May, 1842, (being the first Tuesday of said May,) 
the House of Repre^entaiives of said State, elected under and by virtue of 
the constitution of said Stat*^, met and proceeded to its organization by a 
vote that the Hon. Dutee J. Pearce, of Newport, take the chair for that 
purpose. 

The towns and representative districts were called, and the credentials 
of their respective representatives, in the following order, were presented: 

City of Providence : 

1st representative district. — William M. Webster. 

2d representative district. — Samuel H. Wales, .1. F. B. Flagg. 

3d represeniative district. — William Coleman, John A. Howland. 

4th representative district. — Perez Simmons, Frederick L. Beckford. 

5th representative district. — Benjamin xVrnold, jr.. P^mnklin Cooley. 

6ih representative district. — William L. Thornton, .lolin S. Parkis, 
Newport. — Dutee J. Pearce. Robert R. Carr, Henry Oman, Daniel Brown. 
Warwick. — John G. Mawney, Sylvanus C. Newman, Isbon Shearman, 
Alanson Holley. 

Portsmouth,. — Thomas Cory, Parker Hall. 
Westerly. — William P. Arnold, Thomas G. Hazard. 
New Shoreham. — Simeon B;ibcock, jr., George E. S. Ely. 
tSmithfidd. — Elisha Smith, Nathaniel Mowry, Welcome B. Sayles, Wil- 
liam B. Taber. 

CharlestoiDn. — Joseph Gavit, Job Taylor. 

Scitnate. — Simon Mathewson, David Phillips, 3d, James Yeaw. 

North Providence.— Slephen Whipple, Robert G, Lewis. Alfred Anthony, 

Richmond. — Wells Reynolds, George Niles. 

North Kiugstovm. — Sylvester Himes, Samuel C. Cottrel. 

Exeter. — George Sprague, Cranston Blevin. 

Tiverton. — Charles F. Townsend. 

Bristol: — William Munro, Jeremiah Bosworth. 

Warren. — Elisha G. Smith, Jeremiah Woodrnancy. 

Barrington. — Nathaniel Smith. 

Glocester. — Jeremiah Sheldon, George H. Brown. 

Cumberland. — Nelson Jencks, Columbia Tingley, Barton Whipple. 

East Greenwich.— Peleg R. Bennet, Sidney Tillinghast. 



452 Rep. No. 546. 

West Greenwich. — Nathan Carr, Peter T. Brown. 
Covejitry. — George Fairbanks, Israel Johnson. 
Foster. — Obadiah Fenner, Anan Aldrich. 
BnrrillviUe. — Alfred L. Comstock, Esten Angell. 
Cranston. — Kbenczer Barney, Albion N. Olney. ' 
Johnston. — Ephraira VVinsor, Edwin C. Kelley. 

Upon a call of the names refnrned by the credentials, as aforesaid, all 
•were present and answered, excepting Mr. Samuel C. Cottrel, of North 
Kingstown. Sixty six members were present and answered. 

A quorum bemg ascertained to be present, the chairman announced the 
fact; and thereupon Welcome B. Sayles, esq., a representative from the 
town of Smithfield, was nominated, and duly elected Speaker by a unani- 
mous vote. I 

The Speaker, on taking the chair, made a short but pertinent speecVi, 
returning thanks for the, honor conferred upon him ; and thereupon en- 
gaged hiiiiself to the faithful discharge of his duties in the words and as 
required by the constitution, and in the presence of the House. 

The Speaker called every member by the list returned, and those present 
were engaged in the manner and form and in the words prescribed in the 
constiiution. 

John S. Harris and Levi Salisbury were unanimously elected clerks, and 
were duly engaged by the Speaker. 

On motion of Mr. Pearce, it was voted, that Messrs. Cooley, S. H. Wales, 
Elisha Smith, Lewis, Simmons, George H. Brown, and Jencks, from the 
county of Providence; Daniel B>"own and Townsend, of the county of 
Newport; Himes and Arnold, of the county of Washington ; Tillinghast,'; 
Holley, and Newman, of the county of Kent; and Boswotlh and E. G. i 
Smith, of the county of Bristol, be a committee to count the votes for 
governor, lieutetiant governor, secretary of state, general treasurer, attorney 
general, sheiifls, and senators, and report the result. 

The towns and representative districts were called, to return the votes of 
the electors for governor, &c., when no returns were made by the following 
towns : Portsmouth, Hopkuifon, South Kingstown, Little Compton, Middle- 
town, and Jamestown. Said votes were delivered to the aforesaid com- 
inittee to count and report. j 

'j'he House took a recess for one hour. j 

At three o'clock, P. M., the Speaker resumed the chair. 

Gilbert Chace, esq., a representative from the town of Newport, appeared,; 
produced his credentials, and was qualified by the Speaker. i, 

Mr. Simmons, on behalf of the committee appointed to courit the votes,'! 
made the following report, which was received. 

House op Representatives, May 3, 1842. 

The committee to whom was referred the couruing of the votes given at 
the election under the constiiution, April IS, 1842, for governor, lieutenant 
governor, senators, secretary of state, general treasurer, and attorney gen- 
eral, and also the votes for sherifis in the several counties, respectfully 
report : 

That the whole number of votes given in for governor is 6,359; that of 
this number 0,359 were given in for Thomas W. Dorr, of Providence, and 
jhe is therefore elected, > 



I 



Rep, No. 546. 45^ 

That the whole number of votes given in for lieutenant £fovernor is 
6,361; that of this number 0,301 were given in for Amasa Eddy, jr., of 
Glocester, and he is therefore elected. 

That the whole number of votes given in for secretary of state is 0,300 ;. 
that of this number 0,300 were given in for William H. Smith, of Provi- 
dence, and he is therefore elected. 

That the whole number of votes given in for attorney genernl is 6,360; 
that of this number 0,300 were given in for .lonah Titus, of Scituate, and 
he is tlierefore elected. 

That the whole number of votes given in for general treasurer is 0,300 ; 
that of this number Joseph Jotlin, of Newport, received 0,300, and is tliere- 
fore eL'-cted. 

That in the first senatorial district, the whole number of votes given irt 
for senator is 820; that of this number 820 are for Eli Brown, of Provi- 
dence, and he is therefore elected. 

That in the second senatorial district, the whole number of votes givers 
in tor senator is 1.315 ; that of this number 1.315 are for Hezekiah Willard, 
of Providence, ajid he is therefore elected. 

That in the third senatorial district the whole number of votes given in 
for senator is 052; that of this number .lohn Paine received 052, and is 
therefore elecied. 

That in the fourth senatorial district the whole number of votes given in 
for senator is 907; of which Abner Flaskell received 907, and is therefore 
■elected. 

That in the fifih senatorial district the whole number of votes given in 
for senator is 850; of which Solomon Smitli received 850, and is therefore 
elected. 

That in the sixth senatorial district the whole number of votes given in 
for senator is 048 : of which 048 are for Benjamin Nichols, and he is there- 
fore elected. 

Thnt in the seventh senatorial district the whole number of votes given 
in for senator is 237 ; of which 237 are for .lohn Wood, of Coventry, and 
he is therefore elected. 

That in the eighth senatorial district the whole number of votes given 
in for senator is 324; of which Benjamin Chace received 324, and is 
therefore elected. 

That in the ninth senatorial district 119 votes were given in for sena- 
tor ; of which 119 are for John B. Cook, and he is therefore elected. 

That in the tenth senatorial district 234 votes were given in for senator; 
of which Joseph Spink received 234 voles, and is therefore elected. 
, That in the eleventh senatorial district 135 votes were given in for sen- 
ator ; of which 135 were for William James, and he is iheref)re elecied. 

That in the twelfth senatorial district 210 votes were given in for sena- 
tor ; of which Christopher Smith received 210, and is theref.)re elected. 

That in Providence county the whole number of votes given in for 
sheriff is 4,718; that of this number 4,717 are for Burrington Anthony, 
and he is therefore elected. 

That in Newport county the whole number of votes given in for sheriff 
is 444 ; all for Joshua B. Ralhbone, and he is therefore elected. 

That in Bristol county the whole number of votes given in for sheriff 
is 210; all for Nathan Bardin, and he is therefore elected. 



454 Rep. No. 546. 

That in Kent county the whole number of votes given in for sheriff is 
<)13 ; all for Hazard Carder, and he is therefore elt^cted. 

That in Washinijton county the whole number of votes given in for 
sheriff is 307; all for Benjamin Bleviu, and he is therefore elected. 

That no votes were received in season to be counted by the committee 
from the towns of Hopkinion, Little Compton, Jamestown, New Shore- 
ham, and Portsmouth ; in the two last, towns votes were polled, but not 
returned to the House of Represenaiives. 

RespectfuUv submitted. 

PRAjNKLIN cooley, 

Por the committee. 

Vottd, That Messrs. Pearce, B. Arnold, jr., and Mawney, be a committee 
to inform the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney 
general, general treasurer, and the senators elect, of their election, and learn 
of them at what time they will be ready to take the oath of office. 

Mr. Pearce, from the committee appointed to inform the general officers 
and senators of their election, made report : That they had waited upon 
the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and 
senators Brown, Willard", Haskell, Paine, S. Smith, Nichols, Chace, James, 
and Smith, and that they had severally signified the acceptance of their 
respective offices, and would immediately be engaged by oath ; that the 
general treasurer was not present, and John Wood of the seventh district, 
Joseph Spink of the tenth district, and John B. Cooke of the nhilh district, 
were not present, and it is said had declined to serve. 

The governor, Thomas W. Dorr; the lieutenant governor, Amasa Eddy, 
jr.; William H. Smith, secretary of state ; Jonah 'Pitus, attorney general, 
came into the house and severally took the oath prescribed in the constitu- 
tion, administered by the Speaker in the presence of the House. 

Eli Brown, senator of the first district ; Hezekiah VVillard, senator of the 
second district ; John Paine, senator of the third district ; Abiier Haskell, 
senator of the fourth district ; Solomon Smith, senator of the fifth district ; 
Benjamin Nichols, senator of the sixth district ; Benjamin Chace, senator 
of the eighth district; William James, senator of the eleventh district; 
Christopher Smiih, senator of the twelfth district, severally came into the 
house and took the oath of office prescribed in the constitution, administered 
by the Speaker in the presence of the governor, lieutenant governor, and 
of the House. 

Votedy That Messrs. Simmons and Pearce be a committee to wait upon 
the governor, wiih such others us the Senate may add, and inquire whetl)er 
he has any communication to make to the General Assembly. The vote 
came down concurred, with the addition of Eli Brown, senator of the first 
district, to said committee. 

Mr. Pearce, from the committee to ask the governor if he has any com- 
munication to make to the General Assembly, reported : That the governor 
would forthwith, in person, meet the two houses, and communicate a mes- 
sage. 

The two houses having joined, the governor, in person, communicated 
his message. : 

The governor, lieutenant governor, and senate returned from the house. 

Mr. Simmons oftered a set of rules, which were read and voted to be laid 
on the table. 



Rep. No. 546. 455 

Mr. Simmons, of Providence, oftered the following resoliuions, to wit: 

Resolved. That the governor be requested to inform the President of the 
United ^States that the government of this State has been duly elected and 
organized under ihe constitution of the same, and that the General Assem 
bly are now in session and proceeding to discharge their duties according 
to the provisions of said constitution. 

Resolved^ That tlie governor be requested to n)aive the same communi- 
cation to the president of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Rep- 
resentatives, to be hiid before the two Houses ot the Congress of the United 
States. 

Resolved, That the governor be requested to make the same communi- 
cation to t[ie governors of the several States, to be laid before the respective 
legislatures. 

The resolutions above were read twice and voted unanimously, and sent 
up for concurrence. 

Mr. Pearce offered the following resolution, to wit : 

Resolved, That the governor be requested to make known, by proclama- 
tion to the people of this Slate, that the government under the constitution 
thereof has been duly organized, and calling upon all persons, both civil 
and military, to conform themselves to said constitution and to the laws 
enacted under the same, and to all other jurisdiction and authority under 
and by virtue of ihe same. 

Read twice and voted to pass unanimously, and sent up for concurrence. 

Mr. Brown, of Glocester, moved that when this House adjourn, it will 
adjourn to meet at this place at 9 o'clock, a. m.: and that, in the meantime, 
the sheriff be directed to prepare the State house for the reception of this 
House. 

The motion, after debate, was adopted. 

Mr. Sinimons, of Providence, offered the fallowing act, to wit : 

Be it enacted by the (general Assembly as follows : 

The act entitled "An act in relation to ofiences against the sovereign 
power of the State," passed at the March adjourned session of the General 
Assembly, 1842, is hereby repealed. 

Read once ; and, on the second reading, Mr. Olriey, of Cranston, moved to 
lay the bill on the table until to-morrow. 

The motion wns negatived without a count. 

The bill passed as an act, and was sent up tor concurrence. 

The secretary of state returned the resolutions voted by this House to 
inform the President, Congress, (fcc, of our organization, duly concurred in 
by the Senate and approved by the governor. 

The secretary of state also returned a resolution voted by this House to 
request the governor to issue his proclamation, &c., duly concurred in by 
the Senate and approved by the governor. 

The secretary of state also returned the bill repealing the act entitled 
"An act in relation to ofiences against the sovereign power of the State," 
duly concurred in and approved by the governor. 

The house adjourned until o'clock tomorrow morning. 

Attest : 

J. S. HARRIS, Clerk. 



456 Rep. No. 546. 

Wednesday Morning, May 4, 1812. 

The House met tit 9 o'clock, a. m. 

The Speaker in the chair. 

The House is called to order. The roll is called; and a quorum is pres- 
ent. 

Mr. Olney, of Cranston, addressed a note to the Speaker asking to be ex- 
cused IVom attending in his seat to day, in consequence of severe sickness 
in his family. 

Voted to excuse Mr. Olney. 

Mr. Wales, of Providence, offered the followinfj resolution, to wit: 

Resolved by this General Assefnblt/ {'he Senate concurring with the 
House of R('presentatu)es therein) That a committee of be appointed 

to proceed to Newport, and to request a conference with a similar commit- 
tee of the General Assembly now convened at that place, for the immediate 
and honorable adjustment of the controversy now existing in this State. 

This resolution was read ; and. after debate, was^ on motion, voted to be 
laid on the table. 

Mr. Jencks, of Cumberland, offered a bill entitled "An act providing for 
the registration of electors, and directing the manner of voting by ballot in 
town and ward meetngs." 

Read ; and, on motion, it is voted to take said bill up and pass upon it 
by seciions. 

The first section is read, and passed to be enacted. 

The second section is read, and passed to be enacted. 

The third section is read, and passed to be enacted. 

The fourth section is read, amended, and passed to be enacted. 

'^J^'he fifth section is read, amended, and passed to be enacted. 

The sixth section is read, and blanks are filled, and passed to be enacted. 

The seventh, eighth, and ninth sections are read, and passed to be en- 
acted. 

'^rhe bill, as engrossed, passed to be enacted, and sent up for concurrence. 

Mr. Brown, of Glocesler, moved a bill entitled "An act to revive the 
charter of Glocester and Burrillvile Greene Artillery." 

The above bill was read twice, and passed to be enacted, and sent up for 
concurrence. 

Mr. Pearce presented a bill entitled "An act to repeal an act entitled 'An 
act in amendment of ail act entitled 'An act to prevent routs, riots, and tu- 
multuous assemblies, and the evil consequences thereof,' " passed by the Gen- 
eral Assembly at their April session, 1842. 

Read twice; and, after debate, the same passed to be enacted, and sent up 
for concurrence. 

Joseph Joslin, the general treasurer elect, came into the House, and 
having signified his acceptance of said office, took the oath in the words 
and form prescribed by the constitution, administered in the presence of the 
House. 

Voted, on motion of Mr. Pearce, that Messrs. Simmons, Brown of Glo- 
cester, Gavitt, Cory, HoUey, and Bosworlh, be a committee to report a bill 
fixing the pay of members of both houses at one dollar per day. 

Mr. Pearce presented a bill entitled "An act to repeal certain resolutions 

passed by the General Assembly at their April session, 1842." The reso- 

* lutions to authorize the governor to preserve the public property, to recall 



Rep. No. 546. . 457 

any arms loaned by the General Assenribly, to authorize liie governor to fill 
vacancies in the offices of the militia, and the appointment of a board of 
connsellors, were read, and passed to be enacted, and sent up for concur- 
rence. 

On motion, the rules of the House were taken up, and being read under 
each head, were debated, amended, and passed, as they appear on the files 
of the House. 

Mr. Simmons, of Providence, from the committee on the compensation 
of the members of the General Assembly, reports the followmg bill, to wit: 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follou's. to leit : 

Section 1. T?he several members of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives shall hereafter receive, as a compensation for their services, the 
.sum of one dollar for each day in which they shall be in actual attendance 
during any session of the Assembly. 

Sec. 2. The several members of the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives shall be entitled to receive the sum of ten cents per mile, each way, for 
their travel, in attending at each session. 

The above bill is read, debated, and passed to be enacted, and sent up 
for concurrence. 

Voted that Messrs. Arnold of Providence county, Arnold of Washing- 
ton county, Pearce of JNewport county, Bosworth of Bristol county, and 
Newman of Kent county, be a committee to consider to what time it is 
proper for the Assembly to adjourn. 

AHj^ourned until 2 o'clock, p. m. 



J. S. HAPvKlS, Clerk. 



AFTERNOON .SESSION. 



The House met at 2 o'clock, p. m. 

The Speaker in the chair. 

Upon a call of the roll, a quorum is present. 

Mr. Gavitt offered the following- joint resolution, to wit: 

Resolved by the House of Representatives, {the Senate concurritig- 
herein,) That Messrs. Simmons of Providence, and Mowry of Smithfield, 
be a committee to demand, receive, and transfer the records, books, and 
papers, appertaining to the office of the secretary of slate, and transfer the 
same from Henry Bowen, late secretarv of state, to his successor, William 
H. Smith. 

Voted, and sent up for concurrence. 

The committee on the time to which the legislature should adjourn, re- 
port by Mr. Arnold, and recommend that the General Assembly hold an 
adjourned session on the first Monday of July. Report accepted ; and it is 
voted, that when this General Assembly adjourn, (the Senate concurring 
herein,) it will meet again on the first Monday in .Inly next. 

Resolutions drawn and sent up. 

Mr. Pearce offered the f)llowing resolutions, to wit : 

Resolved, That the governor be further requested to call on all persons 
who are, or may become, indebted to the State, to make payment to the 
duly appointed officers and agents, under the provisions of said consti- 
tution ; and to make known to all persons that no payment to any other 
officers or agents than those aforesaid will be considered as a discharge of 
their obligations. 

Resolved, That the governor be requested to call on all persons who are 



458 Rep. No. 546. 

in possession, or have charge of any of the public property, to deliver the 
possession or charge of said property 1o the authorities and officers acting 
under the constitution and laws of the State. 

Read and passed, and sont up for concurrence. 

The act repealing the amendment to the riot act, passed this morning, 
came down concurred in by the Senate, and approved by the governor. 

The act providing for the registration, &c., of voters, came down with 
an amendment, changing the time, &,c., of registry. 

Voted to concur with the Senate in the amendment. 

On motion, it is voted that the two Houses join in committee to proceed 
upon the election of officers. 

Mr. Brown of Glocester moved the following bill, to wit: 

J5e it cnactid by the General Assembly as folloivs: 

Section 1. If any person or persons, or body corporate, from whom any 
sum or sums of money may become due and payable to the general treas- 
urer of this State, elected under the provisions of the constitution of this 
State, as adopted by the people thereof, accordmg to the provisions of the 
act to which this is in addition, or of other acts in addition or amendment 
to the same, should refuse or neglect to pay said sum or sums of money as 
by law directed, he or they so refusing and neglecting shall be liable to 
pay interest for the retainer of such sum or sums of money, at and after 
the rate of one per cent, of the amount due, for each month's neglect and 
refusal as aforesaid. 

Sec. 2. If any person or persons, or body corporate, holding in their 
possession any other money or property whatsoever belonging to the State, 
shall refuse to pay over and deliver the same to any officer or agent of the 
State duly authorized to receive the same, after being duly required thereto, 
he or they so relusing shall be liable to be sued therefor in any court of 
competent jurii-diction, in the name of the general treasurer aforesaid ; and 
on rendition of judgment in any such case against the defendant or defend- 
ants, the court before whom such judgment may be rendered shall assess 
damages thereon at double the amount of the money or value of the prop- 
erty found due, with costs. 

Read, and passed to be enacted, and sent up for concurrence. 

The act reviving the charter of the Greene Artillery came down con- 
curred, and approved by the governor. 

The act repealing the act establishing volunteer police companies in 
Providence, came down concurred, and approved by the governor. 

The act repealing certain resolutions passed in April last, investing the 
governor with great power, and appointing his council, came down con- 
curred, and approved by the governor. , 

The two houses having joined, on motion, his honor the lieutenant gov- 
ernor was called to preside. 

The elections of all civil officers were postponed until the next session of 
the General Assembly. 

Several military officers were appointed, the record of which will appear 
on the secretary's minutes. The two houses separated. 

The act submitted to enable the governor to appoint and commission 
officers, and to orijanize the militia, was taken up, debated, and committed 
to Mr. Thrown of Glocester. 

Mr. Brown made report, that the act referred to him, giving the governor 



Rep. No. 546. 459 

certain power in appointinof and organizing the militin, is unconstiiutional, 
and asks to be discharged from the further consideration of the same. 

Voted to discharge the committee, and the act is hud on the table. 

Mr. Brown offered the following resolution, to wit: 

Resolved. That the thanks of this House are due to their constituents, 
civil and military, for the zeal they have displayed, and efficient aid ren- 
dered, in assisting tliis General Assembly iu organizing the government 
under the constitution. Voted unanimously. 

Mr. Simmons offers a resolution authorizing the governor to sand com- 
missioners to Washington, to make known to the President our position, &c. 
Voted that the same be laid upon the table. 

Mr. Simmons moved the following resolution, viz: 

Resolved by the House of Representatives, [the Senate concurring here- 
in.) That Messrs. Pearce and Chace be a committee to demand, receive, and 
transfer all the moneys, bonds, securities, records, books and papers, and 
every other article appertaining to the office of the general treasurer of this 
State, from Stephen Cahoone, late treasurer, to Joseph Joslin, his successor. 

Voted, and sent up for concurrence. 

Mr. Wales moved the following act, to wit : 

Be it e^iactedby the (ren.eral Assembly as follows : 

Section 1. Tlie charter of the United ludependent Company of Volun- 
teers, of the city of Providence, be so amended as that said company is au- 
thorized to receive and enrol additional members to the number of two hun- 
dred, exclusive of commissioned officers. 

Voted to be enacted, and sent to the Senate for concurrence. 

Voted that the House take a recess tor one hour, it being now 5 o'c'o^k, 
p. m. 

At (j o'clock, p. m., the House re assembled. 

The Speaker and a quoruni present. 

The act authorizing the volunteer company to increase the numbir of 
their men, came down concurred, a{)d approved by the governor. 

Tile resolutions transferring the effects of the offices of the late secretary 
of state and general treasurer, came down concurred, and approved by the 
governor. 

The act to collect the revenue, and secure the payment to, and the pos- 
session of the State's property, and the consequences and liability in paying 
and delivering the same to officers under the constitution, came down con- 
curred, and approved by the governor. 

The act relating to the pay and travel of the members of the General As- 
sembly, came down concurred, and approved by the governor. 

The act relating to the duties of those indebted to Uie State (marked No, 
1) came down concurred, and approved by the a;overnor. 

The resolution to adjourn until the first Monday in .luly next, came down 
concurred. 

Mr. Taber, of Sinithfield, moved the following bill : 
Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows : 

Section I. In all elections of the captains and subalterns of militia com- 
panies, at their annual elections, the elections shall be made by the members 
of said companies delivering their votes, with the name of tlie person voted 
for thereon, to the officer of the company in command on the day of elec- 
tion ; and all companies who may have neglected to choose their officers at 
their last annual election, may proceed to choose the same as aforesaid, oa 
any day before the next annual election. 



460 . Rep. No. 546. 

Sec. 2. The chartered military companips who have not made their re- 
turns, may make the same at any time previous to the next adjourned ses- 
sion of this Assembly. 

Sec. 3. '^I'he governor is hereby authorized to commission the officers 
chosen by volunteer companies in this State, for a term not exceeding one 
year from tijis time. 

Voted to be enacted, and sent np for concurrence. 

Mr. Simmons, of Providence, moved the following resolution, viz: 

Resolved by the House of Representatives, {the tSenate concurring tlu re- 
in,) That the governor be authorized to appoint suitable persons as com- 
missioners in behalf of this State, to proceed to Washington, to make known 
10 the President of the United States that the people of this State have 
formed a written constitution, and elected officers, and peaceably organized 
a government under the same, and that said government is now in full op- 
eration. 

Voted, and sent up for concurrence. 

Mr. Nathaniel O. Smith, a member from Barringlon, sent to the Speaker 
his resignation. 

Voted, That the same be accepted, and that the Speaker issue his war- 
rant to the electors of said town, requiring them to elect another representa- 
tive in his place, 

George Niles, a member from Richmond, resigned his seat. 

Voted, That the same be accepted, and that the Speaker issue his war- 
rant to the electors of said town, requiring them to elect another representa- 
tive in his place. 

Voted, That the clerks be directed to make out certificates of attendance 
for the pay of each member, according to the act of this session ; and to de- 
liver the same to them respectively. 

On motion of Mr. Pearce, Mr. Simmons was appointed a committee to 
wait upon the governor, and inform him that this House is ready to ad- 
journ if he has no further communications to mal^e to them. 

Mr. Simmons, the committee appointed to wait upon the governor, made 
report that he had performed that duty, and that the governor had nothing 
further to communicate. 

The act relating to the election of military officers, to commissioning the 
same, and to charter companies, came down concurred, and approved by the 
governor. 

The resolution appointing commissioners to proceed to Washington, came 
down concurred, and approved by the governor. 

Voted, That John S. Harris be allowed, and paid out of the treasury, for 
his services as clerk this session, six dollars. 

Voted, That Levi Salisbury be allowed, and paid out of the treasury, for 
his services as clerk this session, six dollars. 

Voted, Tliat Burrington Anthony be allowed, and paid out of the treas- 
ury, for attendance as sheriff, and other expenses this session, the sum of 
five dollars and fifty cents. 

Voted, That Seth Howard be allowed, and paid out of the treasury, for 
attendance of himself and other officers at this session, the sum of ten dollars. 

On motion of Mr. Newman, of Warwick. It is unanimously voted, That 
the thanks of this House be presented to the Speaker for the able, dignified, 
and impartial manner in which he has presidtd over its deliberations. 

Voted and resolved, That all officers not re elected, and in whose places 



Rep. No. 546. 461 

ethers have not been appointed, be, and they are hereby, continued in their 
respective offices until the adjourned session of this General Asseajbly, to be 
holden at Providence on the first Monday in July, IS42, with as full power 
and authority as they have at any tinwi had. 

Voted and resolved, That all business lyitj^ before this Assembly unfin- 
ished, be referred to the adjourned session to be hojden on the first Monday 
in July, 1842; that the secretary cause the acts, orders, and resolutions, 
passed at this session, to be pubhshtd, with a suitable index, and distributed 
accordina: to law; and that this Assembly be, and the same is hereby, ad- 
journed to the first Monday in July, 1842, then to convene in the city of 
Providence. 

Voted to be enacted, and sent up for concurrence. 

The vote of adjourtnuent came down concurred ; and thereupon, the 
Speaker informed the House that they were adjourned acrordins:ly. 

Attest: J. S. HARRIS, Clerk, 



No. 100.— (Ne.) 

Ads and resolves of the Legislatwe under the people^s constitution, 

ISO. 1. 

State of Rhodf: Isi^and and PROvrDENCE Plantations, 
General Assemblf/, Muy session, city of Providence, 1842. 

Resolccd, That the ^rovernor be requested to inform the President of 
the United States that the government of this State has been duly elected 
and organized under the constitution of the same, and that the General 
Assembly are now in session and proceeding to discharge their duties ac- 
cording to the provisioiis of said constitution. 

Resolved, That the governor be nqnested lo make the same communi- 
cation to the President of the Senate and lo the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, to be laid before tlie twO; houses of the Congress of the 
United States. 

Resolved, That the governor be requested to make the same commimi- 
cation to tht governors of the several States, to be laid before the respective 
legislatures. 

Approved May 'S^ 1 842. 

T. W. DORR, Goverrwr. 
A true copy. — Witness : 

WM. H. SiMITH, Secretary. 

No. 2. 

House of Ri.preskntatives, May 3, 'J842. 

Resolved, That the governor be requesied lo make known by procla- 
mation to the people of this St.ite that the government imder the constitu- 
tion thereof has been duly organized ; and cdhng upon all persons, civil 
and military, to conform themselves to said consiiiuii.tn and lo the laws 
enacted under the same, and to all other juiisdiction and authority duly 
exercised under and by virtue of the sanic. 
Approved May 3, 1842. 

T. W. DORR, Governor. 
A true copy. — Witness : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



462 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 3. 

House of Representativks, May 3, 1842. 
Be it ejjaclsd by the General Assembly as follows : 
The act entitled " An act in relation to offences against the sovereign 
power of the State," passed at the March adjourned session of the General 
As.^embly, 1842, is hereby repealed. 
Approved May 3,. 1842. 

T. W. DORR. Governor. 
A true copy. — Witness : 

WM. B. SMITH. Secretary. 



No. 4. 

AN ACT providing for the registration of electors, and directing the manner of voting by 
billot in town atjd ward meetings. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows : 

Section 1. At every annual election of town or city officers, there shall 
^ be chosen three inspectors of registry in each town and ward, whose duty 
it shall be 10 meet on the first Monday in June, annually, and prepare a perfect 
register, as near as may be, of all [persons entitled to vote in said town and 
ward. And said inspectors shall be sworn or alfirmed to the faithful per- 
formance of the duties of their said office before entering thereon, and shall 
give notice of the time, place, and purpose of their said meetings, by no- 
tices posted up in at least three public places in said town or ward for the 
space of at least ten days next before said meetings. A majority of said 
inspectors shall be suffii-ieut for the transaction of business, and they shall 
have power to administer oaihs or affirmations touching all matters relative 
to the formation of said register. 

Sec. 2. Said register shall consist of two separate lists: one containing 
ihe names of electors qualified to vote for officers, and on all questions rela- 
tive to taxation and the expenditure of public money; and the other con- 
taining the names of electors qualified to vote for officers only. Each list 
shall be alphabetically arranged according to the surnames, and said in- 
spectors shall, within two d.iys after said meetings, post l^p copies of said 
regiijter, luider their hands, in three public places in their respective towns 
and wards. 

Skc. 3. And it shall also be the duty of said inspectors to attend at 
every town and ward meeting in their respective towns and wards before 
the opening of the polls, to amend tfieir said register by adding thereto the 
names of qu.ilified electors not previoif^ly registered, and by putting each 
name in its proper list. And alter correcting said register as aforesaid, said 
inspectors shall deliver a certified copy thereof to the town or ward clerk, 
for the use of the moderator or warden, before the opening of the polls, and 
shall also record the same in a book kept for that purpose, u'hich shall be 
opened for the inspection of any elector demanding to examine the same. 

Sec. 4. Any elector of the town or ward whereiii he may be entitled 
to vote may challenge the vole of any person in said town or ward, by 
stating his objections to the moderator or waiden ai the time such vote may 
be offered, or l)y leaving liis obje-ctions in wri'ing with said moderator or 
warden before such voie may be offered ; and in case of r.ny challenge, 



Rep. No. 546. 4!>3 

said moderator or wnrden shall proceed imineiiately to examine such per- 
sons as he may think necessary, by oath or affirmation, in regard to said 
challenge, and thereupon receive or reject such vote, as to him shall appear 
lawful. 

Sec. 5. At every town or ward meeting, the moderator or warden shall 
have before him a ceititied copy of the last precedinii registration, and shall 
receive no votes but in accordance therewith ; and said moderator or warden, 
on receiving any vote, shall declare the name of the voter: and the clerk, 
moderator, or warden of said meeting shall check the name of the voter 
before his vote shall be deposited in the ballot-box, and from v^hich a list shall 
be made by said clerk, at length, on a separate paper ; and, in cases where 
two or more polls are open at the same time, the electors shall present their 
votes for each poll at one time, in which case one declaration and one record 
of tlie voter's name shall be sufficient. 

Sec. 6, If any inspector shall wilfully refuse to register the name of any 
qualified elector, or fraudulently register the name of any unqnahfied per- 
son, or shall fraudulently neglect to perform the duties of said office, he shall 
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be liable to be indicted therefor, and, 
on conviction, to be fined not less than fifty dollars, nor more than five hun- 
dred dollars, for each offence ; and if any moderator or warden shall fraud- 
ulently refuse the vote of any qualified elector, or wilfully receive the vote 
of any unqualified person, such moderator ur waiden shall be deemed o^uilty 
of a misdemeanor, and be liable to be indicted therefor, and. on conviction, 
shall be fined not less then ten dollars, nor more than twenty dollars ; and 
any person who may fraudulently obtain the registration of any one as an 
elector, or fraudulently offer any vote, or who may wilfully disturb the ps^lls, 
or any meeting of said inspectors, or the safe-keeping ot any votes, or the 
counting of any votes, shall be liable, for every such offence, to pay a fine 
of twenty dollars, to be recovered on cotnplaint and conviction before any 
justice of the peace in the county wherein such oflence may be commiited. 

Sec. 7. The fees of said inspectors shall be tv*'o dollars to each inspector 
for attendance at their annual meetings, and one dollar to each insi:)ector for 
attendance at town and ward meetings, and twenty five cents for every two- 
hundred names in all copies hereby required to be given ; the fees of any- 
absent inspector to be divided between the inspectors attending, which fees 
shall be paid by the town or city wherein such registration is made. 

Sec;. 8. And for the purpose of preparing a register of electors for the 
election of officers and the transaction of business in town and ward meet- 
ings, before the first annual election of inspectors, as herein provided, there 
shall be appointed and commissioned by the governor, before the third Mon- 
day in May, 1842, three suitable persons, in each town and ward in this 
State, who shall meet on the third Tuesday in May, A. D. 1842, witiiout 
giving notice as aforesaid, and attend all town and ward meetings in their 
respective towns and wards, until the election of their successors as afore- 
said, and proceed in the formation and amendiuent of registers of electors, 
in the same manner as is herein provided fo^r the registration of electors by 
the aforesaid inspectors. 

Sec. 9. All laws inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby- 
repealed. 

House of Representatives, Ma]/ 4, 1842. 
Read and voted, (fcc. Per order : 

LEVI SALISBURY, ClerL 



464 Rep. No. 546. 

In Senate, read the same day and concurred iti. By order : 

• W. H. SMITH, Secretary. 

Approved May 4, 1842. T. W. DORR, Governor. 

A true copy. — Witness : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 

No. 5. 

AN ACT to repeal certain resoliuions passed by the General Assembly at their April ses- 
sion, 1842. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows : 

The following resolutions, passed by the General Assembly at their ses- 
sion aforesaid, to wit : 

^^ Resolved, That his excellency the governor be, and he is hereby, au- 
thorized to take such measures as he shall deem necessary to protect and 
preserve the public property of this State ; or, in case he shall deem any 
portion of the same unsafe in its present situation, to remove said property 
to such place of safety as he shall think proper; 

^'•Resolved, That his excellency the governor be, and he is hereby, author- 
ized to recall any arms or cannon that have been loaned to the General 
Assembly, to any of the independent or chartered companies of this State, 
or to any other person or persons; 

''■Resolved., That his excellency the governor be, and he is hereby, au- 
thorized to fill any vacancies which may exist in the officers of the militia 
of this State, and to commission any officers whom he may appoint to fill 
such vacancies; and also, in his discretion, to approve the officers elected 
by the several independent companies at their last annual election, and com- 
mission the same accordingly ; 

^^Rcsolued, That Richard K. Randolph, James Fenner, Edward Carring- 
ton, Ijcniuel H. Arnold, Nathan F. Dixon, Peleg Wilbur, and Byron Diman, 
be, and they are hereby, appointed a board of councillors to advise with his 
excellency the governor as to the executive measures proper to be taken in 
the present einergency of the State ; and that his excellency the governor 
be, and he is hereby, authorized, at the expense of the State, to employ a 
private secretary to aid him in his duties; and that the said secretary be also 
clerk to the board of councillors — " 



Be hereby repealed, 
iipproved May 4, 1842. 



A true copy. — Witness 



T. W. DORR, Governor. 
WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



No. 6. 

AN ACT to repeal an act entitled "An act to authorize the establishment of volunteer police 
companies in the city of Providence." 

JBe it enac'ed by the General Assembly as follows, viz : 
Said act is hereby repealed. 

House of Representatives, May 4, 1842. Voted, &c. 

Per order : 

J. S. HARRIS, aerk. 



Rep. No. 546. 465 

In Senate, read the same day and concurred in. 

By order ; 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 
Approved May 4, IS 12. 

T. W. DORR, Governor, 
A true copy. Attest : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



No. 7. 

AN ACT to repeal an act entitled "An act in amendment of an act entitled 'An act to prevent 
routs, riois, and tumultuous assemblies, and the evil consequences thereof,' passed by the 
General Assembly at their April session, 184-2." 

Be it enacted by the General jissemhly as follows : 
Said act is hereby repealed. 
Approved May 4, 1842. 

T. W. DORR, Governor. 
A true copy. Witness : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



No. 8. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly asfolloios : 
That the charter of the United Independent Company of VohinteerSj 
of tiie city of Providence be so amended, as that said company is author- 
ized Jo receive and enrol additional members to the number of two hun- 
dred, exclusive of commissioned ofilcers. 
Approved May 4, 1842. 

T. W. DORR, Governor. 
A true copy. Witness : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



No. 9. 

AN ACT in addition lo an act entitled '"An act imposing duly upon licensed persons and others, 
and bodies corporate, wiihiuthis State." 

Beit enacted by the General Assembly as follows^ viz : 
Skction 1. If any person or persons, or body corporate, from whom 
any sum or sums of money may become due, and payable to the general 
treasurer of this State elected under the provisions of the constitution of this 
State, adopted by the people thereof according to the provisions of the act 
to which this is in addition, or of other acts in addition or amendment to 
the same, shall refuse or neglect to pay said sum or sums of money, as by 
law directed, he or they so refusing and neglecting shall be liable to pay 
interest OT the retainer of such sum or sums of money at and after the 
rate of one per cent, of the amount due for each month's neglect and refu« 
sal as aforesaid. 

Sec. 2. If any person or persons, or body corporatCj holding in their 
30 ta 



466 Rep. No. 546. 

possession any other money or property whatsoever belonging to the State, 
shall refuse to pay over and deliver the same to any officer or agent of the 
State duly authorized to receive the same, alter being duly requested 
thereto, he or they so refusing shall be liable to be sued therefor in any 
court of competent jurisdiction, in the name of the general treasurer afore- 
said ; and, on rendition of judgment in any such case against the defend- 
ant or defendants, the court by whom such judgment may be rendered 
shall assess damages thereon at double the amount of the money or value 
of the property found due, with costs. 
Approved May 4, 1842. 



A true copy. Witness : 



T. W, DORR, Governor. 
WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



No. 10. 

Be it evaded by the General Assembly, asfolhncs, viz : 
Section 1. The several members of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives shall hereafter receive, as a compensation for their services, the 
sum of one dollar for each day in which they shall be in actual attendance 
during any session of the Assembly. 

Sec. 2. The several members of the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives shall be entitled to receive the sum of ten cents per mile, each way, 
for their travel, in attending at each session. 

House of Rei)resentatives, May 4, 1842. Voted. &c. 
By order : 

J. S. HARRIS, Clerk. 
In Senate, read same day and concurred in. 
By order: 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 
Approved May 4, 1842. 

T. W. DORR, Governor. 
A true copy. Attest: 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 

No. 11. 

Resolved by the House of Representatives, [the Senate cononring 
therein,) That Perez Simmons and Nathaniel Mowry be a committee to 
demand, receive, and transfer the records, books, and papers appertaining 
to the office of the secretary of state, and transfer the same from Henry 
Bowen, late secretary of state, to his successor, William H. Smith. 
House of Representatives, May 4, 1842. Voted. 

By order : 

J. S. HARRIS, Clerk. 
In Senate, read the same day and concurred in. 

By order : 



Approved May 4, 1842. 

A true copy. Attest : 



WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 
T. W. DORR, Governor. 
WM, H. SMITH, Secretary. 



Kep. No. 546. 



46T 



No. 12. 



Resolved by the House of Representatives^ (the Senate concurring- 
therein^) That Messrs. Pearce and Chace be a committee to demand, re- 
ceive, and transfer all the moneys, lands, securities, records, books and pa- 
pers, and every other article appertaining to the office of the general treas- 
urer of this State, from Stephen Cahoone, late treasurer, to Joseph Joslinj 
his successor. 

Approved May 3, 1842. 

T. W. DORR, Govfsrnor. 
A true copy. Witness : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



No. 13. 

Resolved, That the governor be requested to call on all persons who are 
or may become indebted to the State, to make payment to the duly appointed 
officers and agents under the provisions of the constitution, and make 
knowu to all persons that no payment to any other officers or agents than 
those appointed will be considered as a discharge of their obligations. 

Resolved, That the governor be requested to call on all persons who are 
in possession, or have charge, of any of the public property, to deliver 
the possession or chaige of said property to the authorities and officers act- 
ing under the constitution and laws of this State. 
House of Representatives, May 4, 1842. Voted, &.c. 

By order : 

J. S. HARRIS, Clerk. 
In Senate, read the same day and concurred in. 

Bv order : 



Approved May 4, 1842. 

A true copy. Attest ; 



VVM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 

T. W. DORR, Governor. 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



No. 14. 

Resolved by the House of Representatives, [the Senate concun-ing' 
therein,) That when the General Assembly adjourn, they adjourn to meet 
in Providence on the first Monday in July next. 

House of Representatives, May 4^ 1842. Read and voted, &c. 

LEVI SALISBURY, Clerk. 
In Senate, read the same day and concurred in. 

By order : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 
Alrue copy. Attest : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



468 Rep. No, 546. 

ISo. 15. 

AN ACT to revive ihe charter of the Greene Artillery. 

Be it enacted hy the General Assembly as follows: 
Section 1. The charter heretofore granted to said company is hereby 
revived ; and the governor is hereby authorized and requested to issue 
commissions to such officers as shall be elected by a majority of those who 
were members at the last muster of said company, in t!ie same manner as 
if no forfeiture of said charter had ever been incurred. 

Sec. 2. This act shall be subject to all future acts of the General Assem- 
bly, in amendment or repeal thereof, or in anywise affecting the same. 
Approved May 4, 1842. 

T. W. DORR, Govtrnor. 
A true copy. — Witness: 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



ISo. 16. 

AN ACT presciibin? the manner of voting by ballot in the election of the captains and sub- 
alterns of militia companies, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted hy the General Assembly as follows, viz: 

Sectjon 1. In all elections of the captains and subalterns of militia com- 
panics, at their annual elections, the elections shall be made by the mem- 
bers of said companies delivering their votes, with the name of the person 
voted for thereon, to the officer of the company in command on the day of 
election; and all companies who may have neglected to choose their officers 
at their last annual election, may proceed to choose the same, as aforesaid, 
on any day before their next annual election. 

Sec. 2. The chartered military companies who have not made their re- 
turns, may make the same at any time previous to the next adjourned ses- 
sion of this Assembly. 

Sec. 3. The governor is hereby authorized to commission the officers 
chosen by volunteer companies in this State, for a term not exceeding one 
year from this time. 

House of Representatives, May 4, 1842. — Voted, Sec. 
By order: 

JOHN S. HARRIS, Clerk. 

In Senate, read same day and concurred in. 
By order : 

WM. e. SMITH, Secretary, 
Approved May 4, 1842. 

T. W. DORR, Governor. 
A true copy. — Attest ; 

WILLIAM H. SMITH, Secretary, 



Eep. No. 546. 



No. 17. 

Resolved by the House of Representatives, [the Senate concurring there- 
in,) That the governor be authorized to appoint suitable persons commis- 
sioners on behalf of this State, to proceed to Washington, to make lYnowii 
to the President of the United States that the people of this Slate have formed 
a written constitution, elected ofiicers, and peaceably organized the govern- 
inent under the same ; and that said government is now in full operation. 

House of Representatives, Mav 4, 184?.— Voted, &c. 

J. S. HARRIS, Clerk. 

In Senate, same day read and concurred in. 
By order : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 
Approved May 4, 1842. 

T. W. DORR, Governor. 
A true copv. — Attest : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



'So. IS. 

Voted and resolved, That all ofiicers not re-elected, and in whose places 
others have not been appointed, be, and they are hereby, continued in their 
respective ofiices until the adjourned session of the General Assembly, to 
be holden at Providence on the first Monday in July, 1842, with as full 
power and authority as they have at any time had. 

Voted and resolved, That all business lying before this Assembly unfin- 
ished, be referred to the adjourned session to be holden on the first Monday 
in July, 1842 ; that the secretary cause all the acts, orders, and resolutions 
passed at this session, to be published with a suitable index, and distributed 
according to law; and that this Assembly be, and the same is hereby, ad- 
journed to the first Monday in July, 1842, then to convene in the city of 
Providence. 

House of Representatives, May 4, 1842.— Read, and voted, &c. 

LKVl SALISBURY, Clerk. 

In Senate, read same day and concurred in. 
By order : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 
Approved May 4, 1842. 

T. W. DORR, Governor. 
A true copy. — Attest : 

WM. H. SMITH, Secretary. 



Rep. No. 546. 

No. 101.— (O.) 
Table of population, 6^0. 





sg 


s 


-<2 


at 


5 


EO 


Towns. 


.So 


(0 

a 


43 > 

o t: 


s . 

IS <u 


^2 


13 . 




a> a 


V 


" 2 


^& 


^ c 


o o 




£2 
s a 


Pi 


3 Q, 


<u 


o 


o 




^ a 




Ph 


fa 


t> 




Providence county. 














Providence 


23,172 


4 


5,793 


5,579 


1,440 


279 


North Providence 


4,207 


2 


2,103 


938 


212 


14 


Smithfield 


9,534 


2 


4,767 


2,049 


578 


9 


Cumberland - 


5,224 


2 


2,612 


1,195 


364 


3 


Scituate 


4,090 


2 


2,045 


966 


368 


6 


Cranston 


2,902 


2 


1,451 


747 


255 


23 


Johnston 


2,477 


2 


1,238 


609 


201 


7 


Glocester 


2,308 


2 


1,154 


591 


272 


2 


Foster 


2,181 


2 


1,090 


554 


272 




Burrillville 


1,982 


2 


991 


533 


253 


8 




58,077 


22 




13,791 


4,215 




Neivport count]/. 
Newport 














8,333 


6 


1,388 


1,970 


560 


67 


Portsmouth 


1,706 


4 


426 


447 


176 


2 


Middletown 


891 


2 


445 


220 


80 


3 


Tiverton 


3,183 


2 


1,591 


787 


255 


11 


Little Compton 


1,327 


2 


663 


315 


139 




New Shoreham 


1,069 


2 


534 


244 


103 


3 


Jamestown 


365 


2 


182 


99 


37 


6 




16,874 


20 




4,082 


1,350 




Washington county. 
South Kingstown 














3,718 


2 


1,8.59 


800 


394 


51 


Westerly 


1,912 


2 


956 


423 


173 


3 


North Kingstown 


2,909 


2 


1,4.54 


686 


244 


15 


Exeter 


1,776 


2 


888 


426 


156 


13 


Charlestown - 


923 


2 


461 


197 


108 


10 


Hopkinton 


1,726 


2 


863 


376 


193 


3 


Richmond 


1,361 


2 


680 


298 


135 


4 




14,325 


14 




3,206 


1,403 




Bristol county. 
Bristol 














3,490 


2 


1,745 


784 


306 


39 


Warren 


2,438 


2 


1,219 


500 


235 


15 


Barrington 


549 


2 


274 


124 


71 


5 




6,477 


6 




1,408 


612 

















Rep. No. 546. 
TABLE— Continued. 



471. 





, 






10 










c 


O 
CO oJ 


CO 


S-i 

O 


(« 




JC5 O 


rt 


-^ CO 


6 . 

<0 (N 




Is 


Towns. 


o « 




Is 




^2 


Is 








Vi 










s « 

5 c 


0^ 


o ^ 




4> 

O 


o 
O 




a « 




a. 


fc. 


;> 




Kent county. 














Warwick 


6,726 


4 


1,681 


1,387 


394 


52 


Coventry- 


3,433 


2 


1,716 


795 


357 


2 


East Greenwich 


1,509 


2 


754 


378 


156 


11 


West Greenwich 


1,416 


2 


708 


362 


134 


•Jl 




13,084 


10 




2,922 


1,041 










Average. 








Total - 


108,837 


72 


1,511 


25,674 


8,622 


668 



No. 102.— (P.) 

5'/a^e of votes for general officers in the elections, from 1832 to 1841, iti- 

clusive. 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

Secretary'' s Office, January 6, 1844. 

I, Henry Bowen, secretary of said State, and keeper of the records and 

r n the seals thereof, do certify, that the whole number of votes for 

'^ ' ' J general officers, as reported by the counting committee appointed 

by the General Assembly at the May session, for the years after named, was 

as follows, viz : 

P^'or the year 1832, five thousand six hundred and fifteen ; 

For the year 1833, seven thousand three hundred and one; 

For the year 1834, seven thousand two hundred and thirty four ; 

For the year 1835, seven thousand six hundred and seventy-four ; 

For the year 1836, seven thousand one Iinndred and sixty-eight; 

For the year 1837, four thousand two hundred and seventeen ; 

For the year 1838, seven thousand seven hundred and forty six ; 
' For the year 1839, six thousand two hundred and seventy-three ; 

For the year 1840, eight thousand two hundred and ninety two : 

For the year 1841, two thousand seven hundred and thirteen; 
All which appears of record. 



4T2 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 103.— (a.) 

Copy of an act declaring mariial law. 

I further certify, that the subjoined is a true copy of an act entitled 
<'An act eslablishing- martial law in this State," passed by the General As- 
sembly of said State on the 25th day of June, A. D. 1842; that said 
act remained in force, and without repeal, until August 8, 1842, when its 
operation was suspended, by proclamation of the governor, until the 1st day 
of September then next ; and that, on the 30th day of August aforesaid, 
the [act] was, by like proclamation, indefinitely suspended, as appears of 
record. 

AN ACT eslablishing martial law in this Siate. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly y as follows: 
Section 1. The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is 
hereby placed under martial law ; and the same is declared to be in full 
force until otherwise ordered by the General Assembly, or suspended by 
proclamation of his excellency the governor of the State. 
r -j In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and affixed 

II ■ ■ J the seal of said State, at Providence, the day and year above 
written. 

HENRY BOWEN. 
Fees, searching copy, and certificate, f 1 25. 



No. 104.— (X.) 
Proclamatio7i of the people^s convention. 



A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas the convention of the people of this State, at their last session 
in the city of Providence, on ihe 13th day of January, A. D. 1842, passed 
the following resolutions, to wit : 

"Whereas, by the return of the votes upon the constitution proposed to 
the citizens ol this State by this convention, on the ISth of November last, 
it satisfactorily appears that the citizens of this State, in their original and 
sovereign capacity, have ratified and adopted said constitution by a large 
majority, and the will of the people thus decisively made known ought to 
be implicitly obeyed and faithfully executed : We do, therefore, 

'^Resolve and declare^ That said constitution rightfully ought to be, and 
is, the paramount law and constitution of the State of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations. 

^^And we do fvrther resolve and declare^ (for ourselves, and in behalf of 
the people whom we represent,) That we will establish said constitution, 
and sustain and defend the same by all necessary means. 

'■'•Resolved^ That the officers of this convention make proclamation of the 
return of the votes upon the constitution, and that the same has been adopted 
and has become the constitution of this State, and that they cause said 
proclamation to be published in the newspapers of the same," 



Rep. No. 546. 473 

Now, therefore, in obedience to the above vote of said convention, we, the 
ttndersigned, officers of the same, do liereby .proclaim an(i make known to 
all the people of this State that said constitution has been adopted by a large 
majority of the votes of the citizens of this State, and that said constitu- 
tion of right ought to be, and is, the paramount law and constitution of the 
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

And we hereby call upon the citizens of the State to give their aid and 
support in carrying said constitution into full operation and eflect, accord- 
ing to the terms and provisions thereof. 

Witness our hands at Providence, in said State, this 13ih day of Janu- 
arv, A. D. 1842. 

JOSEPH JOSLTN, 

Pr'esident of the convention. 
WAGER WEEDEN, ) ^. „ ., , 
SAMUEL H. WAIiES, \ ^^^^ ' /e^iaent^-. 

WiLMAM H. Smith, } ci . • 
, c! u ? Secretaries. 

John S, Harris, ^ 



No. 105. 
Agreement of parties to the action. 

It is agreed, that all the acts, resolutions, and proceedings of the General 
Assembly of the colony and State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, from the organization of the government under the charter of 1663, to 
the organization of the government under the present constitution, to be 
found in the records, schedules, and digests of said colony and State, nnay 
be used in the trial and argument of said case of Martin Lut'.ier, plaintiff in 
error, against Luther M. Borden and others, defendants, before the Supreme 
Court of the United States, in the same manner as if said acts, resolutions, 
and proceedings had been put into this bill of exceptions. It is also agreed, 
that the printed constitution — printed by authority of the convention, and 
rejected by a majority of the votes thereon on the 21st. 22dj and 23d days of 
March, 1842 — may be used in the trial of the above case, in the same man- 
ner as if the same were put into this bill of exceptions. It is also agreed, 
that all other exhibits referred to in the statement of the evidence of either 
party, as annexed to such statement, may be used in the trial of said case, in 
the same manner as if said exhibits were annexed to the statement of the 
evidences in the bill of exceptions : such exhibits to be furnished to tlie op- 
posite party within ten days from this date. 

It is further agreed, that the bill of exceptions shall be allowed, and signed 
by Mr. Justice Story, wherever he may be at the time when the same shall 
be presented to him. And that a writ of error may be issued and served, 
with the same effect as if the same was issued and had been served prior to 
the present term of the Supreme Court of the United States; and that this 
cause shall be entered upon the docket of said court at tliis term accord- 
ingly : provided that the plaintiff in error, before the service of said writ, 
give bond, according to law. to the satisfaction of the district judge. 

SAMUEL Y. ATWELL, 

Counsel for plaintiff in error. 
ALBERT BOS WORTH, 

Attorney for defendant in error^ 

Providence, January 30, A. D. 1844. 



474 



Rep. No. 546. 



^'^ If 1 Zf ''f'fj ^' '^' '^'^'i'^' «/ the 27th, 28th, and 2m Decern^ 
ber, IQAl, for the purpose of adopting the people^J constiiutum 

No. 106. 

CITY OF PROVIDExXCE. 



FIRST WARD. 



David A. CleaveJand 
Joseph Sprague Winsor 
James Page 
William C. Helme 
Thomas Hopkins 
Namon Miller 
Daniel Chase FJasfon 
Thomas D. Windale 
Lyman Ware 
Daniel L, Perry- 
George J. Thurber 
Matthew McKernan 
Joseph L. Wood 
Joseph Cole 2d 
George W. Walcott 
Samuel Low 

Lewis F. Hubbard ] 

Samuel S. Brown 
Dexter B. Lewis 
George A. Ormsbee 
Silas T. Burbanks 
Jabez Gorham 2d 
George W. Briggs 
Henry S. Brown 
Lyman S. Parr 
Samuel S. Sweet 
Joseph A. Gilman f 

John E. Cook 

Elisha Dillingham F 

Henry J, Ormsbee, revo. pen. 
Charles Annis 
Olney Annis 
Khodes Pheteplace 
Daniel Angell p 

John Proctor p 

Daniel VV. Palmer 
Enos Goss 

Henry A. Williams p 

Eli Brown p 

James S. Davis 
Ira Pidge 
Benjamin J. Taft 
James M. Haskell p 



Nathan H. Low- 
Henry O. Connell 
George Pepaw 
Stephen A. Cornish 
James R. Stone 
Alonzo Chase p 

James Prestwick 
Job Smith 

Henry P. Salisbury, jr. 
John C. Leveek 
Wm. M. Webster p 

Welcome Angell p 

James Major 

John Gannon p 

Gushing Brown p 

Benjamin B. Baker p 

Henry Bulls 
Charles E. Newell 
John M. Fanning 
M. A. Huicheson 
Elisha Easton 
Joseph Pidge 
Matthew Owens 
George W. Allen 
James Cole 
Isaac C, Sisson 
Peter Duffy 
William Russell 
Henry J. Duft^ 
John I). Booth 
Elkanah Whiteley 
Benjamin Lewis 
Arnold Taft 
Israel B. Pn rri nglon 
Nath'i Aldrich p 

Simeon Peckham 
Hiram Cook 

Samuel Wheldon p 

Obadiah P. Osborn p 

Richard Lawnly 
John Gorham p 

Lewis W. Day 
Thomas Arnold p 



Rep. No. 546. 



47i' 



PROVIDENCE— FIRST WARD— Continued. 



John Tyler 

George Brown 

Solomon Batchetder 

Stephen Grover 

jNicholas Goff 

John Davis 

James M. King 

Benjamin Barney 

Wm. N. Smith F 

John S. Richardson 

FrankUn Wheeler '^ 

Thomas Steward 

Ebenezer Kingman 

John B. Dexter F 

Robert Currie 

Joseph W. Spencer 

Joseph E. Tiffany 

John Brown 

Jesse Parks 

Cyrus Young 

Ebenezer Wakefield 

Leonard Comstock 

Cyrus Osborn F 

Wm. A. Hopkins 

James B. Cooman 

Horace Cole 

Albert Holbrook F 

Henry Sumner Short 

Harrison Reynolds 

Horace Thayer 

William Field, jr. 

Simeon Burt 

Paris Winsor, jr. F 

Andrew Waterman Dexter F 

David Taylor 

Warren Bissell 

Ezra George Brown 

Daniel Branch 

Leonard Drown 

Owen Salisbury 

Albert Peters F 

Joseph S. Barber 

Edward Tyler Richardson 

George O. S. Young 

Boylston Poor 

Richard Lee 

Robert H. Angell 

Levi Sayles Lapham 

Amos Baker 

John Phillips, jr. 



Cornelius Mahony 

George W. Flagg 

James C. H. Baxter 

Samuel T. Manchester 

Francis R. Newell 

Willis C. Legg 

Ezra F. Colvin 

Edwin Angell 

Cyra Bissell 

Jeremiah C. Hammond 

Henry Metcalf 

Thomas Glynn 

Samuel S. Cook 

Albert Freeman 

Augustus Arnold 

Henry N. Bucklin 

Rufus GofF 

Albert Young 

Nicholas West 

Thomas Angell 

Benjamin C. Paull 

Peter Gilligin 

Joseph Crandall 

George Hawkins 

Joseph Y. Francis 

James D. Titus 

Wm. H. H. Streeter 

Patrick O'Connell 

Daniel S. King 

Thomas Phillips 

John H. Phillips 

Benjamin Crandall 

Severn Somers 

John H. Godfrey 

Nathan M. Orujsbee 

Joshua Godfrey 

Charles H. Handy 

Joseph Ormsbee 

Joseph S. Covell 

Nathaniel Westcott 

Fayette Thnrber 

OIney L. Smith 

Nathan Westcott 

Benjamin AWen HoRirook F 

George W. Buffington 

Nehen)iah Dodge F 

Wm. R. Tarbox 

Joshua W. Tripp F 

Wm. W. Hoyt 

John J. Aldrich 



P- 



F 



470 



p. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE— FIRST WARD- Continued. 



Benjamin Newton 
Albert Smith 
Duty Cook 
Sheffield A. Swan 
Lewis Potter 
Wm. BiUler 
Elisha A. Austin 
Wm. Angell 
Josiali Seagraves, jr. 
Parley M. Malhewson 
John B. Baker 
William H. Hopkins 
John P. Cornell 
George E. Cleavelaiid 
Cyrus Wood. jr. 
Thomas Proctor 
Seth Carter 
Horace Robbins 
Francis H. Mann 
Jabez J. Potter 
Thomas M. Baker 
Arnold W. Angel! 
James Angell 
Joseph Kelly, jr. 
Nelson C. Northup 
Luther Angell 
Joseph A. Cass well 
John Campbell 
Joseph Venzie 
Henry C. Hill , 
Stephen Wicks 

Joseph King 

Joseph Whii)p!e 

Orison Tillson 

Paris Winsor 

Josiah F. Crooker 

Joseph Greene 

Crumline La Due 

Hezekiah Reynolds 

Benjamin F. Smith 

Martin Walling 

Jonathan Chace 

E. T. Paul I 

Willis Gould 

John Webb 

William H. White 

Alexander Burgess 

Nathan Hill 

Amariah Medbury 

Benjamin L. Medbury 



F 

F 
F 



F 
F 

F 
F 
F 



F 
F 
F 



F 
F 

F 
F 



F 
F 
F 



Charles M. Rounds 

Benjamin L. W^heldon 

Setli Howard 

Warren Batchellor 

David Heafon F 

Samuel G. Dodge 

William B. Bradford F 

Pharis Wood 

William B. Tasker 
j^Benjamin Rhodes 
*Henry M. Amsbury 

Nathan M. Briggs F 

Joseph D. Kent 

William P. Farnum 

Andrew Bowen 

S. W. Jordan 

Albert W. Page 

David Burt F 

Lewis Thayer F 

Samuel A. Metcalf F 

Andrew Bishop 

James M. Morris 

Joseph Hull F 

Redmond B. Shepard F 

George W. Kimball 

Thomas Fletcher F 

Baxter M. Hill 

Daniel Hill 

Francis B. Fanbrother 

Stephen Smith 

William Gratton 

Gardner Pettis 

Peter C. Taylor 

Bradford Briggs 

William Kenna 

Joseph Diggles 

John K. Smith F 

Joseph A. Church 

Richard B. Hawkins 
William Stafford 

Joseph Fletcher F 

John H. Green F 

Peter Haswell 

Joseph Cole 

Stephen W. Angell F 

Hansel Brown F 

Lemuel Capron F 

Patrick Healy 
John Healy 

Pearly Carpenter 



Rep. No, 546. 



47T 



PROVIDEISCE— FIRST WARD-Coniinued. 



George Johnson 

Nathaniel G. Hehne 

Daniel Armington 

Thomas J. Paine 

Joshua Pi. Burdick F 

Stephen S. Salisbury 

Franklin Smith F 

Joseph Boodry 

Ziba Covell 

Benjamin G. Whipple 

Hiram Smith 

Edwin S. Bradford 

Bernard Greene 

Benjamin D. Annis 

David Osborn F 

C. W. Hoi brook 

Benjamin M. Hubbard 

Theodore Angell F 

John E. Metcalf 

VVilham D. Avery F 

J. B. Sisson F 

Artiiur Williamson 

Obadiah Arnold F 

Nathan Baxter F 

Tibbelt Reynolds 

Henry G. Coggeshall 

Asa Wooley 

Jeremiah O. Angell - F 

Ezekiel Carpenter F 

Nicholas B. Easton 

John Green 

James K. Potter 

John Oun:! 

Horace Grossman 

Albert Angell 

Ebenezer Gary F 

Seba C. French 

Silas Ifemmenway 

James Tliurber. jr. F 

Joseph W. Briggs F 

James M. Moore 

George Brown, 3d F 

Sayles Wilbur 

Galusha W. Arnold F 

Eliery Wesson 

Ethan Whipple 

Lyman A. Bates 

Green Clapp 

Henry ('. Stoddard 

Albert Briggs F 



Benjamin G. Gardner F 

Israel Amsbury, jr. 

Jesse Brown Sweet 

William B. Healy 

Robert D. Briggs 

Jarvis Sisson 

Benjamin T. Hathaway 

William H. Salisbury 

Henry H. Snow . F 

Nathan Taft 

Samuel Dillaber 

James Wetherby 

Ezra Dean Poller F 

Paul Taylor 

Arnold Man F 

Nicholas C. Hill 

William Grayson 

Alvers Benson F 

John McCrarpen 

Walter M. Scott F 

E. E. T. Paul] 

Asa Angell 

Oliver Lindall 

Joseph Weaver F 

Nelson Hawes 

John Sidney Pollard 

William H. Reynolds 

William W. Chase F 

John Salisbury 

William Fletcher F 

William Mitchel 

Clark W. Casswell 

Nathan M. Williams 

James Booth 

George Very 

James Greene 

Edwin Williams 

Gardner C. Clarke 

Thomas W. Walcott 

.Tames McKenna F 

Oren Nichols 

John Wayland 

Ezra N. Sampson 

Barney Claflin F' 

George Leavens 

Arthur Snow F 

Levi C. Dexter 

Joseph Pcirney F 

.lames i-'itz Simmons 

James B. Browu 



Rep. No. 546. 

PROVIDENCE-FIRST WARD-Coniinued. 



John Watson 
Joel R. Fernal 
George J. Shearman 
John^B. Smith 
Benjamin L. Tuelis 
Hiram H. Whitfbrd 
John Whitford 
William Morris, jr. 
George Hall 
Samuel R. Kelly 
Henry Patt 
Aaron M. Burt 
Samuel Metcalf 
Samuel Brown 
Henry Tinker 
Joseph Burton 
Freeman Knovvlton 
James Kennedy 
Mawnev Carpenter 
J. Selai.'a MiUer 
James Yerrington 
John C. Lee 
Wm. W. Carpenter 
John Prestwick 
Samuel Briggs 
John Worsley 
Edward Lasell 
Paul N. Pidge 
Isaac Green 
Thos C. Hiell 
Samuel Wright 
Richmond Henry 
John Boy den 
Charles Mastisson 
Isaac T. Hawkes 
Wm. Murry 
Ensign E. Kelly 
George Henry Thurber 
Mason A. Kingman 
James Barrows 
Wm. B. Gardner 
Robert H. Barton 
Elijah Smiih 
Thomas L. Tuells 
William W. Covell 
Owen Finey 
Michael Cooman 
Henry B. Metcalf 
Edwin T. Scott 
George A. Payne 



F 

F 



F 
F 
F 
F 



F 
F 
F 



F 
F 



F 
F 



John Young 
Joshua Bacon 
Francis P. Bardeen 
John Smith 
OIney B. Scott 
Francis Hersey 
James Chester 
Cyrus Grant 
Henry Tuell 
John Knight 
Horace Batchellor 
James Mumford 
Job M. Knight 
Stukely Wickes 
William G. Angell 
Francis Hawkins 
John Hudson Briggs 
Henry L. Smith 
Samuel J. Cole 
Christopher O'Brien 
Patrick Shannon 
Jonathan B. WiUiams 
Benjamin Holbrook 
Benjamin Aldrich 
Henry Anthony 
Henry A. Morse 
Solomon Gage 
George S. Morse 
Charles Hackett 
Lemuel Baker 
Thomas Greene 
Benjamin Earle 
Obadiah Mason 
Benjamin Appleton 
Richard Mathewson 
Charles F. Searle 
Calvin Shove 
Alden Henry 
Edward Bucklin 
Winthrop Pidge 
Luther Salisbury 
Alfred Gardner 
Alfred Potter 
Edward Harwood 
Benjamin F. Newton 
Levi Anthony 
Stephen Barry 
Stephen Smith 
John Holmes 
Arnold Russell 



F 
F 

F 

F 

F 

F 



F 



F 
F 



Rep. No. 546. 



479 



PROVIDENCE-FIRST W ARD-Coniinued. 



Augustus J. Winship 
Edwin Potter 
Moses Mason 
Henry McPhail 
David Lawless 
Asa Scott 
Talman T. Angell 
James S. Anthony 
Joseph Wheldon 
James Tyler 
Philip F. Brayton 
Reuben Taylor 
Clarke Steere 
Henry J. Angell 
Alfred M. Pratt 
Mason Hathaway 
Chandler Eddy 
William Frazier 
Nathan Rath burn 
Silas S. Applebey 
Willis Hamblia 
Thomas Maston 



Uenjamin T. Albro 
Ezra Hubbard 
Benjamin Bowen 
Walter S. Burgess 
Henry Thurber 
Samuel B. Cushing 
Jesse Bennett 
Edward S. Lyon 
James E. Budlong 
Russell Clapp 
Jesse Calder 
James B. BufFum 
Henry Allen 
Elijah Ryder 
John A. Brown 
John Vaughn 
Samuel if. Wales 
William Wenlworth 
Joseph Dorr 
Isaac Fisn, jr. 
Obed Wood 
Wm. a Smith 
John L. Boylston 
Thomas W. Dorr 
Wm. Whipple Brown 





Jolin McPhail 






Robert Wilkinson 


F 




Stephen Clarke 






Anthony McKinna 




F 


Palemon Pidge 




F 


Harrison Young 
J. B. Swasey 






Benjamin Williams 


F 




Duty Roberts 


F 




Edwin W. Hawkins 






Pardon Brown 


F 




John Donelly 


F 




Thomas Collins 


F 


F 


John 0. Shaw 




F 


Caleb B. Chase 


F 


F 


William G. Grant 






Freemen 


- 162 


F 


N on -freemen - 


- 362 




Total 


• 524 


SBCOND 


WARD. 

Edwin Montgomery 
Thomas Swan 
John C. Martain 




F 

1 


Elisha Emerson 
Abert G. Barton 
Josiah C. Blanchard 
David Keith 
Cyrus Drake 
John Sayles 




F 


Henry Pinkham 
Elisha N. Tobey 






Joseph K. Angell 


F 




Lewis W. Chfford 


F 




Thomas McGuire 


F 




John O. Fahiey 


F 




Eaton W. IMaxcy 


F 


F 


Henry B. Salisbury 
David T. Seamaus 
Alfred Mason 
Edward H. Thurston 
Abram Bliss 


F 


F 


George M. Kendall 
Asa Cole 




F 


John B. Barton 




F 


S. W. Sperry 





480 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE— SECOND WARD— Commued. 



Philip Allen, jr. F 

Wm. B. Marshall 

Luke Whitcomb F 

Amos Yeomans 

George Judd 

Henry S. Parks 

John F. Jolls 

Richard Eddy F 

Isaac Clarke 

Thomas R. Rathbun 

George L. Morse 

Asel Steere F 

Henry Temple F 

Charles A. Hinkley F 

Joshua Eaton 

Mark W hidden 

James M. Smith F 

Samuel Morgan 

Wescott Handy 

Andrew P. Holden 

GamaHel L. Dvvigh£ F 

John Plumly 

Ira Harvey 

Daniel C. Gushing 

Erastus Parish 

Wright Curtis 

Abraham Bush 

VVtn. S. Humphreys F 

Samuel G. Tripp 

David P. Baker 

William G. Dickey 

James II. !!orlon 

John Frodin F 

Phineas B. Nichols 

Louis Bnutell 

William Sawyer 

}']!ij .)i Sanborn 

Charles Grove 

David P. Peck 

James Smitti 

Ahab Reed F 

Philander W. Fisher 

William Wilson 

David Hopkins 

Ama^a Breck F 

James C. Mahenny 

Michael G. C. Bates 

Nicholas Power 

Joshua L. Gray 

Hiram W. Chace 



Wm. R. Angell 

James C. Otley 

Stephen O. Pinnell 

John H. Bradford 

James M. Bradford 

William E. Cutting 

Stephen L. Gould 

Arthur Dennis 

Theophilus Hilton 

Thomas Breck F 

W^m. P. Dean 

Jeremiah Monroe 

George F. Mann F 

William Robinsow 

James R. Potter 

Silas G. Tripp 

Charles H. Smith F 

George H. Pidge 

Fenner Angel, revo. pen. 

Erastus W. Pond 

Welcome Brown 

James Chapman 

Freeman M. Rose 

John H. Gould 

Martin Stoddard 

Hiram T. Chace 

Wm. P. Bradford 

Rhodes Waterman 

John R. Horton 

Thos. Jefferson Branch 

Timothy H. Temple 

Charles Robbins 

Barker 'J\ Yerrington 

James A. Baldwin 

liCwis Bangs 

Sabin Hopkins 

Charles Snow 

Charles R. Taylor 

James Fosdick, jr. 

George Ward well 

Wilmot D. Luce 

William Barnet 

Ambrose Clarke 

John Shaw ^ 

Alfred W. Eldred 

Allen Greene 

Benjamin Greene 

William G. Hodges 

George Wheaton F 

William H. Chandler 



F 



F 

F 



F 



Rep. No. 546. 



481 



PROVIDENCE-SECOND WARD-Continued. 



Alva Woods 
Samuel Watson 
Holmes Greenwood 
Augustus Ellis 
Samuel Millard 
Thomas Burgess 
Stephen A. Aldrich 
Emerson Clarke 
Richard Palmer 
William L. Barrus 
Nedebiah Angell 
James B. Dorrance 
William Temple 
John B. Ingraham 
Sylvanus Griffith 
Joel Barrett 
Lemuel Vinton 
Alfred R. Gardner 
Joshua Howland 
Otis Chace 
Elisha Brown 
Henry 0. Packard 
AVilliam B. Bnrdick 
Nathaniel R. Waterman 
Henry G. Mumford 
Augustus M. Town 
John F. B. Flagg 
John P. Knowles 
Hugh H. Brown 
James R. Budlong 
Henry Knowles 
Job Winsor 
Simon Smith 
William J. M. Fisk 
Halsey Sweetland 
James S. Lincoln 
Ambrose N. Perriti 
Lanson JM. Calder 
Henry O. Demings 
Ferdinand Bardeen 
Charles A. Pennell 
George S. Peckham. 
Virgil B. Bucklin 
Joseph Jewett 
Daniel J. Peckham 
Thomas D. Melville 
James McCarthy 
William G. Snow 
Asa Cushman 
Joseph B. Wilkinsou 
31 



F 
F 
F 
F 

F 
F 



F 
F 
F 
F 

F 

F 
F 



William H. Loveil 

Josiah Gushing 

William M. Perkins 

Eben Ames 

Joseph Smith 

Bartlett Donaghue 

Walter Crowley 

Phineas Wesson 

Charles J. Little 

Leonard C. Lincoln 

Rufus S. Gould 

Lyman Pierce 

Hiram J. Eddy F 

Parker H. Lawton F 

Benjamin Co well F 

George M, Angell 

Henry A. Webb 

Stephen B. Jenckes 

William Foster F 

Edwin B. Harvey 

Manson Briggs F 

Anson Waterman 

William Gibbs 

Ijyman Howe 

Ira Arnold 

David B. Blake F 

George W. Thayer 

Edwin L. Johnson 

Charles Robinson 

George W. Bennett F 

George W. Perry 

Aaron Derby 

Michael Smith 

Samuel H. Thomas F 

Joseph W, Taylor 

Edwin A. Bush F 

James M. Warner, 2d 

John Handerson 

Nehemiah W. Lee 

Horace Pratt 

Stephen Smith 

Palmer Lewis F 

Harvey Perry F 

Abner Butler F 

Cyrus Darling 

George H. Bradford 

Brayton Slade 

George Rice F 

Eben Shed 

Arable Collins 



Rep. No. 540. 



PROVIDENCE— SECOND WARD-Continued. 



Selh B. Lewis 

Pitls Smith F 

William Ed^ar 

James Colviti 

Otis H. Kelton 

Samuel McLellan, jr. 

Henry J. Swan 

Robert Piirkis, jr. F 

Stephen W. Hunt F 

John Mullin, jr. 

Warren G. Noyes 

Still man H. Black well 

John W. Hoyt 

Richard Locke 

Henry Lindol 

John Hempshall 

Auo^ustus B. Copeland F 

Laban T. Rogers 

Edwin Lovett 

Richard Smith F 

Tillinghast Thornton 

William Vinton 

Harvey Brown 

Benjamin P. Robinson 

James Anthony 

Edward Hall 

Zebu Ion S. Steere 

Lamed Scott F 

John B. Day 

Cornelius Miller 

Henry Whiting 

Charles G. Arnold 

Smith Shaw 

Joshua Emmons 

George A. Howard 

Dennis Ryan 

Lyndon White 

Thomas W. Foley 

Henry Mowry 

Nelson Bunn 

Arthur Addington 

George Capron 

James K. Logee 

William P. Roberts 

William B. Thompson 

Otis Wilmarth 

Joseph T. Holroyd 

William Harding 

John Corry F 

Gideon M. Hortoa 



George W. Frost 

George Updike 

Amos Martin 

Henry S. Sweet 

Benjamin F. Herrick 

William C. Bowen 

Richard E. Eddy F 

Amos D. Yeomans F 

Major W. Shaw F 

Joseph A. Andrews F 

Eber Gleason 

Walter W. Orrell 

Jeremiah Smith 

John Calder F 

Charles Sabin 

Edward D. Leveck 

William M. Battelle 

James S. Phelteplace F 

Abm. Alexander 

Walter S. Allen 

John N. Swan 

Sterry Clarke 

Thomas T. Wilcox 

Thomas R. Holden, jr. F 

Henry R. Congdon 

William R. Andrews 

Edward F. Miller F 

Michael Glynn 

Henry H. Burrington F 

James H. Sabin 

James Humphreys F 

By proxy. 

Mason W. Jones 

L. W. Benton 

James Calder 

Levi Ellis 

William Q,. Wheeler 

E. H. Winship 

William Eaton 

Dexter Taft 

Mathewson Williams F 

James B. Calder F 

John Kavanagh F 

George H. Phillips F 

Abner Gay, jr. F 

Isaac Fisk F 

Edwin W. Lewis 

John Ferguson 



Rep. No. 546. 



483 



PROVIDENCE-SECOND WARD— Continued. 



Simon H. Rose 
William Alexander 
Robert Bowser 
William C. Force 
James Scott, jr. 
John Burr 
Crawford Carter 
John C. Gray 
Amasa S. Wescott 
Philip Allen 
James S. Pidge 
Cyrus Pratt 
Elisha Dayton 
Joseph Gardner 
James Casey 



F 
F 

F 
F 

F 



Michael Fowler 
Lfiwrence Hunt 
John A. Parmenter 
James D. Gregory 
Israel Gardner 
Philip R. Greene 
James Hazard 
William Valentine 
Daniel Robinson 



F 
F 



Freemen, 88 

No n -free men, 284 



Total 



372 



THIRD WARD. 



Frectnen. 

Theodore Hali 
Roscoe Hall 
Henry Gardner 
Allen Tillinghast 
Isaac Hall 

Samuel C. Eathforth 
John Burrough 
Joseph R. Brown 
Benjamin W. Robbins 
William Coleman 
Thomas Greene 
Sylvanus Goff, jr. 
William Bradley 
Wheeler M. Blanding 
Harvey Simmons 
Edward Luther 
Philip M. Baker 
John T. Sheldon 
Samuel Guild 
Joshua H. Work 
Peabodie Bailey 
John Cross 
Thomas G. Northrop 
Richard Lloyd 
David W. Barney 
Elias Read 
James M. Turner 
Gorton Hudson 
Robert L. Thurston 
George W. Fuller 



William Saben 
Daniel Russell 
Benjamin Smith 
Thomas H. Tillinghast 
Giles Peckham 
William C. Barker 
Daniel V. Ross 
Sylvanus Goff 
John McLaughlin 
Alexander Kieff 
Samuel Warren 
Nathan Kent 
Albert K. Gerald 
John Fleming 
Perry J. Chace 
Ira M. Goft 
Eliphalet Horton 
Arnold R. Pond 
Isaiah Barney 
John B. Taylor 
Norris Deming. jr. 
William Tillirighast 
Daniel Weaver 
Calvin Kent 
Elisha C. Wells 
Gideon Hall 
Daniel Sweelland 
Edward S. Underwood 
Albert G. Dexter 
Hosea Carpenter 
John Crocker 
Thomas H. Stoddard 



484 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE-THIRD WARD— Continued. 



Richard Harding 
Allen J. Gladding 
George W. Talbot 
Benjamin A. Vincent 
Mason Peckham 
Alfred K. Hall 
Josiah Simmons 
Samuel W. Reynolds 
Zena Waterman 
George Dickey- 
Thomas W. Cook 
Lloyd Shaw 
Henry A. Potter 
Richard Baker 
Silas Talbot 
Nathan Mason 
Samuel Carr 
Anthony Budlong 
John D. Jones 
William P. Allen 
David B. Doyle 
William C. Millac 
Edmund Jackson 
Joseph W. Rawson 
Anthony Dexter 
Christ. G. Godfrey 

David Vincent 

John Justin 
John A. Howland 

Marvin Lyon 

Joseph Briggs 

Benjamin D. Bailey- 
Thomas U. Gladding 

Abel Foster 

Thomas A. Richardson 

Albert J. Jones 

John Wilson 

George Oxx 

George A. Laimmus 

AVilliam W. Shaw 

John O. Potter 

AVilliam H. Pike 

Robert E. Lapham 

Gideon G. Hicks 

Thomas Phillips 

Lucius Horton 

Hugh Morrison 

William Guerney 

James Bean 
Ellas Stoyles 



Albert G. Gardner 
Stephen G. Coleman 
Samuel A. Gerald 
John A. Townsend 
Jeremiah Miller 
Lewis H. Bradford 
Horatio Barney 
Russell Sutton 
Joseph A. Chedell 
Sturgis P. Carpenter 
George S. Dye 
Lewis Leveck 
William J. Tilley 
George D. Clarke 
Philip H. Durfee 

George W. Mason 

George B. Dean 

Peter W. Ferris 

Ira B. Winsor 

George S. Harwood 

Albert Dailey 

Peleg A. Shearman 

James P. Butts, jr, 

William Woodward, jr. 

Calvin J. VV. Bullock 

Allen Munro, jr. 

Albert Dodge 

Frederick F. Dodge 

Keiley Brown 

Nathaniel Luther 

Oliver Mason 

James Mason 

Jabez Rounds 

John H. Butts 

William B. Brown 

Henry Leonardson 

William Smith 

Joseph Bradford 

Job Hull 

Davis Wilson 

George R. PauU 

Nathaniel Church 

Harding W. Stoddard 
Darius N. Thurber 

George W. Brown 
Joseph Tillinghast 
William C. Millard 
George H. Peck 
James T. Rhodes' 
Kinsley C. Gladdirg 



Rep. No. 546. 



48|| 



PROVIDENCE— THIRD WARD— Continued. 



Joei Blaisdell 
George W. Conley 
Solomon Dodge 

Votes of perso?is qual/Jied, hut not\ 
admitted. 

John B. Earle 
Humphrey Sprague 
John G. Alers 
Joseph Spelman 
Henry Richardson 
Lewis Kenyon 
Thomas C. Watson 
George Read 
Nathaniel P. Bartlett 
John Bacon 
Henry W. Rodman 
Edwin Stayner 
John Jones 
Edward S. Burrough 
William L. Ormsbee 
Jonathan Allers 
Oliver Spelman 
Iram Hayward 
John Johnson 
James B. Tillinghast 
William H. Harris 
Charles A. Lake 
Nathaniel C. Bushel 
William Wriling 
Henry J. Burroughs 
Robert N. Burdick 
Edward T. Ross 
James C. Sayres 
James H. Munroe 
John . Paine 
Israel Wood 
William R. Gladding 
John A. Hopkins 
William J. Spencer 
Thompson Wells 
. Josiah Reed 
John A. Bennett 
Mathevv W. Armington 
Edward P. Butts 
William A. Munroe 
Nathaniel Cole, jr. 
Gideon Gurnett 
Abel Oaks 



Benjamin Gibbs 
Gardner C. Gibbs 
John C. Gibbs 
Benjamin N. Armington 
William W. Simmons 
Charles Gray 
William C. Davenport 
Charles W. Henry 
William Mansir 
Jeremiah S. Smith 
Stephen G. Mason 
Marian Smith 
Lewis C. Allen 
Albert H. Ormsbee 
Ellery Millard 
Amanuel A. Vaughn 
Olney Heath 
Henry T. Cooley 
Albert Weaver 
Simeon Nicomb 
Henry Weaver 
William H. Foster 
Mathew A. Chase 
John S. Greene 
Ehas D. Trafton 
Henry Cleaveland 
Oliver H. Stowell 
John D. Drown 
Samuel B. Bullock 
Pardon M. Hale 
James M. Brickley 
Georo^e T. Drown 
William W. Aldrich 
William Blanding 
A. B. Simmons 
Joshua Read 
Ira D. GofF 
Thomas J. Monroe 
Frederick Fuller 
James D. Tillinghast 
Samuel M. Manchester 
John S. Hammond 
John R. Child 
Thomas J. Griffin 
Hezekiah Brown 
Luther A. Martin 
Joseph L. Brown 
George Richardson 
William T. Pearce 
Nathan Child 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE— THIRD WARD-Continued. 



Addison M. Fairbanks 
Wm. Bunnell 
Nicholas Johnson 
Charles M. Peck 
John T. Greene 
James C. Bigelow 
William Franceville 
Joseph B. Mason 
Benjamin J. Brown 
Joseph R. Allen 
Cyrus Tvvitchell 
Nathaniel M. Allen 
Edward Loobey 
Benjamin Wakefield 
James E. Spelman 
John H. Greene 
John H. Lonsdale 
Crawford Allen 
J. L. Maring 
Nicholas Carr 
John B. Walker 
Elijah Selden 
Stephen Hill 
Benjamin Allen 

Voters not qualified hy land. 

Job Luther 
Francis B. Bushell 
Ezra P. Lyon 
Charles B.' Smith 
George W. Coster 
George W. Harris 
William E. West 
Loven Jones 
Benjamin K. Smith 
James O, Read 
Nathan B. Luther 
Benjamin C. Hubbard 
Charley Shannok 
Laban Easterbrooks 
William Jones 
Daniel K. Ormsbec 
John ^J\ Sweet 
William C. Thayer 
John M, Jenkins 
Daniel Fisk 
Kingsley P. Studley 
Edwin Tripp 
George Foster 



Francis W. Garlin 
Abraham B, Studley 
James Anthony 
James M, Munro 
William A. Stanley 
Benjamin Conwell 
Benjamin D. Chace 
Joel Hotchkiss 
Jacob Frieze 
George C. Dickinson 
Lee Langley 
Samuel Spooner 
Daniel Holmes 
Borden Albro 
John A. McLane 
John H. Miller 
Benjamin Davis 
David Collar 
Jacob Hopkins 
Zoeth Brown 
Ebenezer C. Allen 
Caleb Whiteford 
Calvin S. Peck 
James P. Allen 
William H. Peck 
Nathan F. Read 
Peter A. Davis 
Shubel Blanding 
William W, Cummin^ 
William E. Sweet 
Samuel Spencer 
Samuel Arnold 
Lewis Bonney 
William Cameron 
William Sprngue 
Harvey Chaffee 
Lebbeus J. Peck 
Patrick Flynn 
John S. Reynolds 
John Welden 
Otis T. Stanley 
Benjamin Maker 
Samuel Heath 
Ira A. Stanley 
Charles A. Eddy 
David R. Houghton 
Thomas T. Pitman 
Henry Congdon 
William N. Studson 
John Mathews 



Rep. No. 546. 



'm 



PROVIDENCE— THIRD WARD— Continued. 



William Barker 
Samuel Allen 
Henry R. Pail 11 
Levi Shearman 
Henry Stevenson 
John N. Locke 
John D. Henley 
Joshua Read, jr. 
George S. Brown 
Joseph T. Smith 
Sylvester W. Peck 
Samuel Alien 
Wm. B. Gould 
Henry Miller 
Benjamin J. Brown 
Brutus Aldrich 
Wm. Eddy 
Wm. H. Sabin 
Rouze P. Wate 
Stephen Maxwell 
Michael Tooker 
Thomas Hopkins 
Jared C. Dodge 
Joseph K. Mason 
Oliver C, Stanley 
Shubel Ormsbee 
James N. Curtis 
Perry S. Manchester 
Sanford Ross 
James S. Miller 
Henry Bragg 
Henry L. Foster 
Wm. W. Doty 
Aaron Atwell 
Richard Chappell 
Josiah A. Hunt 
Wm. T. Hopkins 
Bowen Spencer 
Alva Grey 
Benjamin Albro 
Walter L. Potter 
Ezra S. Allen 
Benjamin Hodgdon 
William Haswell 
Metcalf White 
Ansel West 
Henry Bailey 
Hiram Barron 
Thomas B. Smith 
William Sutton, jr. 



Simon Watson 
Jeremiah S. Ross 
Amos Stone 
Hiram S. Read 
David Ingraham 
William U. Bogman 
Albert Bullock 
James C. Sheridan 
Gilbert N. Warren 
Benjamin J. Bliven 
Joseph Cole 
George Grafton 
Benjamin W. Dexter 
George H. Bosworth 
George W. C. Frieze 
George Grafton, 2d 
Jeremiah Wilcox 
Wilder Brown 
George Wilcox 
Cornelius S. Stephens 
Henry W. Smith 
Winfield S. Chase 
Elhanan W. Wade 
James S. Moran 
JNoah Howe 
Josiah S. Pierce 
Darius Dennis 
Maxwell Chase 
William H. P. Steere 
Isaac Goddard 
Jerome Shearman 
Benjamin Pierce 
Thomas Wetherby 
Seth Cobb 
Daniel V, Ross, 2d 
Jeremiah G. Luther 
William C. Carr 
John Glover 
Napthali Newhall 
John Sprague 
William H. Vaughn 
Charles Dean 
John Hoar 
John D. Barney- 
Horatio M. Smith 
John B. Palmer 
Noel Matherson 
Edward P. Martin 
Edward Landey 
David L, Williams 



^8 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE-THIRD WARD-Continued. 



Iram Frost 
Russell Munroe 
Edward T. Bourne 
George Fowler 
Josias L. Peck 
Morris Demming 
James Fuller 
Charles A. Cornell 
Benjamin S. Heath 
Obadiah Mason 
William Battey 
Dean Chase 
Benjamin Rogers 
William W. Battey 
Aaron Boomer 
Comfort Horton 
Samuel A. Thomas 
Leprelet H. Wilmarth 
John Merris 
James B. Holme 
George A. Bailey 
Albert Hunter 
John C. Bill 
Francis Hull 
Abraham B. Salisbury 
Henry A. Sutton 
George A. Blackmar 
Solomon W. Jacobs 
Israel Pearce 
Benjamin B. Hathaway 
Ephraim Brown 
Simeon P. PuUin 
Isaac Dowd 
Bradford Ripley 
Wheaton Moflit 
William P. Allen 
Ephraim Eld ridge 
Nathan S. Bowers 
Abner Tripp 
Rodney Luther 
William Morsfan 
Charles W. Rhodes 
Josiah Bliss 
John M. Shaw 
Alba B. Parker 
Josiah H. Ormsbee 
Abel B. Potter 
Silas Reynolds 
Patrick Q,uain 
Stephen S. Burdick 



Thomas R. Tripp 
William Allen 
Christopher Blanding 
George Doad 
George Fisher 
William Jackson 
David T. Corn well 
Joseph S. Mason 
William Hull 
Lyman Hodsdon 
Aaroh Richardson 
Pardon B. Millard 
Charles A. Brown 
Henry S. Frieze 
Jeremiah C. Bliss 
Joseph B. Mason 
William H. Butts 
Henry Potter 
John Williams 
Joseph J. D. Grafton 
George A. Studley 
Edwin G. Greene 
Alexander Eddy 
Benjamin H. Bassett 
Charles S. McReady 
Stephen A. Aptin 
George Foster 
George D. Mason 
Joseph Gould 
Henry Dodge 
James Millard 
George Greene 
John S. Sweet 
James White 
Charles B. Gladding 
John Sutton 
Charles Tripp 
Edward Crowley 
Edward Garland 
Samuel Langley 
Joseph Northrop 
James A. Leet 
Robert Ford 
Gideon R. Sweet 
John Greene 
Daniel Greene 
Jonathan Baker 
Samuel H. Viall 
Daniel Bucklin 
Ezekiel Mowry 



Rep. No. 546. 



4Sd 



PROVIDENCE— THIRD WARD-Continued. 



George D. Wenman 
George Lewis 
Simon Smith 
Edward A. iVshton 
William Pierce 
Jeremiah Wilcox, jr. 
Charles Daniels 
William Chappell 
William B. Bigelow 
Orion Whitaker 
J. C. Dillaber 
William Thomas 
Samuel Eathforth 
Benjamin Greene 
Samuel Butts, jr. 
James McLellan, jr. 
John G. Dishley 
Lorenzo Mitchell 
Henry Luce 
Samuel G. Davis 
George W. Smith 
Alexander T. Sheldon 
Selh Chapin 
Jesse A. Bullock 
Samuel Wilmarth 
Charles McLane 
William Meriwether 
James Dunbar 
William Clarke 
William C. Ormsbee 
Hugh H. Harkins 
Joseph French 
Israel Barney 
Joseph Paine 
Nathaniel W. Cozzens 
John Potts 
"William Nicholas 
John Clarke 
Asaph Mason 
Stephen P. Clarke 
Mason Read 
William Brown 
Charles N. Pond 
Samuel J. Butts 



Theophilus P. Paine 
Wilham Smith 
Andrew Ide 
James Foster 
Rolhn S. Belknap 
Henry E. Barney 
George S, Mason 
William Smith 
James S. Hinkley 
Andrew J. Davis 
David Dodo-e 
Richard Stokes 
John J. Hall 
Asa Armington 
John H. Pierce 
Gilbert K. Gladding 
Henry Fowler 
Reuben Weekes 
George W. Hazzard 
Jonathan Cartwright 
Stephen Brooks 
Jefferson Perkins 
Arnold L. Brown 
Nathaniel Viall, jr. 
Samuel D. Lindsley 
Lloyd Bowers 
John T. Moore 
Joseph L. Burroughs 
Galen Pond 
A. P. Newcomb 
Wm. S. Whitmore 
Wilham Relph 
John T. Tillinghast 
Joseph Hunt 
David C. Champlin 
John P. Battey 
Emery Cushman 
Fenner Brownell 

Freemen, 165 

Non-freemen, 472 



Total 637 



FOURTH WARD. 



Solomon H. Austin 
Robert Almy 
Wra. H. Allen 



Charles A, Arnold 
James P. Arnold 
Isaac B. Allen 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE-FOURTH WARD-Continued, 



Silas S. Allen 
Alvin S. Arnold 
Francis Anderson 
John B. Ames 
Samuel B. Arnold 
George A. Abbey- 
Charles G. Arnold 
Anson W. Aldrich 
Jonathan B. Allen 
James O. Arnold 
Caleb Arnold 
Benjamin R. Almy 
Alexander T. Andrews 
Burrington Anthony 
David G. Aldrich 
Jabez Allen 
George W. Arnold 
Joseph F. Arnold 
Tillinghast Almy 
John S. Andrews 
Elisha Bosworth 
Anson Buckley 
Fred. L. Beckford 
James P. Burgess, jr. 
Albert Brickley 
John Brady 
James Barnes 
James Billings 
George A. Billings 
Samuel W. Baker 
Nesbiit F. Bowes 
Oliver A. Budlong 
Freeman Burke 
William Baker. 
Hartford B. Billings 
Wm. A. Baker 
Benjamin Bogman 
Josiah Brownell 
Jesse Bolles 
George Bolles 
Wm. H. Burgess 
Albert M. Burgess 
Charles Burlingame 
Cornelius W. B. Bennett 
Daniel R. Briggs 
Charles D. Brown 
Wm. W. Brown 
Samuel W. Butts 
David M.Bullock 
James Boyce 



Albert E. Bowers 
Frederick B. Bersuet 
Samuel Brown 
Elijah Brown 
John G. Bitner 
Edwin D. Burroughs 
Gideon Barker 
John R. Brown 
Peleg Burroughs 
Henry Brickley 
Sylvester B. Bowers 
Charles Buck 
Leonard B. Bigelow 
Ephraim A. Burrows 
Eseck Bowen 
WiUiam Brownell 
Reuben Brown 
John Bussey 
William Bogman 
Stephen Brown 
George O. Bourne 
John Burdekin 
William Brownell 
Thomas Burns 
Benjamin C. Bowen 
Samuel J. Bowen 
William B. Bourn 
Allen Brown 
Charles W. Carter 
Benjamin T. Chace 
Charles H. Colson 
Horace Collins 
Horace Capron 
Oren Claflin 
Eleazer W. Collins 
Stephen Cornell 
Welcome Collins 
Archibald Chase 
Nicholas E. Chase 
Ebenezer Cobb, jr. 
Thomas Case 
Nathaniel J. Cheney 
Thomas Chase 
John H. Chase 
Lyman F. Cobb 
Jacob Converse 
John P. Case 
Asa Chase 
Stephen C. Colby 
Ebenezer Cobb 



Rep. No. 546. 



AM 



PROVIDENCE-FOURTH WARD-Continued. 



William Carr 
Stephen Curtis 
William B. Cranston 
Rufus Claggelt 
William P. Cook 
Otis H. Cushing 
William H. Clarke 
John E. Chase 
Thomas L. Clarke 
Benjamin R. Carpenter 
Powell H. Carpenter 
Ebenezer C. Cook 
William J. Cobb 
James Clarke 
Liberty Childs 
Thomas J. Carpenter 
Nelson Cooper 
Joseph G. Chamley 
George G. Clarke 
William Coggeshall 
Job Carpenter 
Simon B. Cutler 
Henry G. Carpenter 
James Carroll 
William W. Crandall 
Thomas F. Carpenter 
Calvin Cady 
Edward E. Chase 
Francis Carr 
Christopher G. Dodge 
John Drown 
Stephen A. Davis 
Walter R. Dan forth 
Jonathan M. Danforth 
Edward Dexter 
George R. Davis 
Mathew Donnelly 
Rowland Duckworth, jr. 
John S. Davison 
George R. Dodge 
Clark Dalrvmple 
Ellis Day " 
Thomas Derraot 
David Davis 
Francis L. Danforth 
Rowland Duckworth 
George Dyer 
William P. Davenport 
John R. Eames 
Silas S. Everett 



John Easton 
Thomas Easterbrooks 
Yinal N. Edwards 
George A. Eaton 
Charles W. Eddy 
Charles B. Eddy 
Bailey W. Evans 
John Eldridge 
Samuel Eldridge 
Thomas Earle 
Benjamin Eddy 
Charles Fisk 
William B. Fairman 
William H. Fenner 
Abijah W. Fitts 
OUver Furnald 
George Fax 
William Fisk 
Ezra W. French 
George B. Franklin 
George C. Freeborn 
A. J. Foster 
Joseph B. F. Fuller 
Edmund Fowler 
Burroughs Field 
Peter O. Greene 
James W. Gladdmg 
Henry Gray 
David E. Gale 
Slade Gardiner 
John H. C. Gray 
William N. Gardiner 
John S. Gladding 
Samuel S. Ginnedo 
Henry B. Gladding 
Timothy Gladding 
William H. Gardiner 
Benjamin A. Grinnell 
Royall P. Gladding 
Benjamin H. Gladding 
James P. Goodwin 
George F. Gladding 
Joshua P. Geddings 
Abel Greene 
William B. Greene 
Jason W. Harvey 
Edward Hallett 
Jacob Hardenburgli 
William H. Hood 
William Hill 



'492 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE-FOURTH WARD— Continued. 



Paul Himes 
William L. Hammett 
Thomas G. Humphreys 
Joseph P. Hoyt 
William Harding 
Patrick Hammond 
Angell P. Healy 
Alfred Hin:ies 
Nathan Hall 
Jones Hunt 
Daniel Holmes 
Benjamin F. Herrick 
George Herrick 
William R. Harvey 
Samuel Havens 
Caleb M. Horton 
Moses Hawkins 
Thomas M. Hawkins 
David S. Headley 
Leonard Hill 
Henry S. Hutchins 
Stephen Hall 
Avery M. Horton 
Wilham F. Hammond 
Arnold C. Hawes 
Theodore Horton 
Theodore Hutchins 
William Hidden 
Samuel E. Hills 
Thomas D. Hudson 
Herman Hartwell 
Peleg Hull 
Cyrus Handy 
William W. Hoppin 
David M. G. Hamilton 
Geo. W. Ingalls 
Elkanah Ingalls 
Lewis L. Ingalls 
Richard T. Irons 
Oliver Johnson 
John L. Johnson 
Richard W, Jackson 
Job F. Knight 
James S. Kimball 
Shepard C. Kingr.ley 
William W. Keech 
John C. Keep 
Charles S. Lawrence 
John S. Lawrence 
Judah C. Lyon 



Christopher P. Lillebridge 
Alexander Lake 
Henry S, Latham 
Barney Leonard 
John Lassell 
Joseph Luther 
Edwin H. Leonard 
Alexis Ladd 
Stephen A. Lockvvood 
Henry D. Lyon 
Bowers Lewis 
Henry H. Lassell 
Albert Lockwood 
Henry G. Luther 
Seth Lee 
John Lyscomb 
Joseph Low 
Edward Lynch 
John H. Lockwood 
John A. Littlefield 
James Luther 
Robert Manchester 
Robert Manchester, jr. 
Alexander Manchester 
James Manchester 
Horace A. Manchester 
Thaddeus Manchester 
Jeremiah Mathews 
William Moore 
John Meriwether 
James P. Muncy 
Nathaniel Monroe 
John H. Morris 
Peter McSourley 
Samuel M. Millard 
William H. Miller 
John McBride 
Edward McKenna 
Joseph B. Mathewson 
William J. Miller 
Reuben Mowry 
Nathan F. Mathewson 
Avery Moulton 
M. B. Mead 
John McKenna 
Nelson H. Mowry 
Henry McNeil 
Pardon Mason 
Coomer E. Mason 
Michael McKenna 



Rep. No. 546. 



4kt7«J 



PROVIDENCE-FOURTH WARD-Continued. 



Edward McKrakeii 
Charles B. Morton 
Peter Mullen 
Daniel Mothevvson 
Orson Moffitt 
Christopher C. Najac 
Lewis Najac 
Borden A. Norton 
Walter Newell 
Paul S. Niles 
Merrick Nichols 
Richard Nichols 
Ebenezer Newell 
Jesse N. Olney 
John W. Oldham 
Lewis P. Parlin 
Benj. Peck 
Benoni Pierce 
Aldrich Payne 
Perry Pearce 
Joseph E. Potter 
John W. Potter 
Squire Pearce 
Nicholas Peckham 
Cyrus Pierce 
Wm. J. Peasely 
Edwin Pearce 
Dexter Pearce 
Dexter H. Pearce 
John F. Pratt 
Daniel T. Penniraaii 
Jeremiah Peckham 
Samuel Potter 
Geo. W. Peck 
John Perrin 
Ashiel Pearce 
Avery Pettis 
Stephen Pearce 
Levi Parker 
Barnard Pearce 
Nath. Polly 
Thos. S. Paine 
Ebenezer N. Padelford 
Abm. Paine 
Stephen A. PhiUips 
Lyman W. Perkins 
Darius Phillips 
Silas Peckham 
Stephen Phillips 
William F. Preufert 



Luther Pierce 
John Prentice 
John Pen no 
Joseph Remington 
Jeremiah Remington 
John E. Risley 
Joseph G. Reynolds 
Salmon Rugg 
Seth M. Rounds 
Martin Ryan 
Horace Read 
John V. Rolph 
Wm. H. Russell 
James H. Shaw 
Simeon Shearman 
Josepli Simmons 
Perez Simmons 
Michael Sisson 
Mathew Sweet 
Harvey Scott 
Charles Smith 
Seth Simmons 
James Sawyer 
Thomas G. Stoddard 
Geo. W. Spink 
Albert G. Sprague 
Charles J. Shelley 
Wm. Sampson 
Job S. Stanley 
Edwin S. Stanley 
Thos. W. Sampson 
Charles D. Shed 
Amos M. Southwick 
Wm, Spencer 
Stephen L, Shearman 
Benj. C. Simmons 
Nathan Simmons 
Sam. Stow 
James Salisbury, jr. 
Geo. S. Slocum 
Chas. Sisson 
Seth Spooner 
Wm. Simons, jr. 
Samuel San ford 
Solomon Seacles 
Peleg Seymour 
Thaddeus S. Simmons 
Samuel S. Stow 
Artemus Staples 
Ara H. Simmons 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE— FOURTH WARD-Conlinued. 



Douglas T. Seamans 
James H. Stow 
Harvey Searle 
Gideon A. Smith 
Rowse W. Spencer 
Wm. Simons 
Edward S. Simons 
John B. Sweet 
Aaron Simons 
Edward H. Simons 
Joseph F. Stow 
Hezekiah Sabin, jr. 
James Smith 
Charles Smith, 2d 
Lemuel B. Shepard 
Jeremiah Stndson 
Albert M. Shaw 
Dennis Sawyer 
Elias Smith 
Darius Sessions 
Benj. Stephens 
Sam. Thurber 
Stephen G. Thurber 
Enos Tucker 
Wm. Talbot 
Charles Town 
Edward M. Tyler 
Wm. Thompson 
Benj. T. Turner 
Sam. S. Taber 
Andrew Thompson 
Charles Tourtellot 
Henry Tanner 
Horace Thompson 
Daniel M. Tyler 
Phillips Tillinghast 
Henry H. Truemaii 
Pardon Taber 
Solomon Tyler 
Sam. J. Townsend 
Abm. Taber 
Joseph A. Tibbetts 
Henry G. Taber 
Nathan Trueman 
Samuel S. Thurber 
Wm. R. Tower 
Lewis Thomas 
Chas. G. Taft 
Harvey Towner 



John S. Thurston 
Wm. P. Taft 
Patrick Tracey 
Otis R. Tiiigley 
Joseph Yose 
Nath. R. Wright 
Sam. Wilbur 
Wm. B. Wilcox 
Esek Williams 
Tobias L. Warner 
Jonathan M. Wheeler 
Samuel Whipple 
James M. Warner, 2d 
Prelett Wilbur 
Reuben Wright 
Henry E. Whipple 
Albert Wescott 
Charles T. Weinz 
Thomas M. White 
Oliver Waterman 
James M. White 
Jabez C. Wright 
James Walford 
John Whittemore 
Wilbur Wheaton 
James Wilson, 2d 
Ozias Willard 
Wm. H. Wood 
Zephaniah Word 
Chas. A. Williams 
Caleb Wescott 
Alex. Walford 
Amos M. Warner 
John West 
Leander M. Wail 
John G. Whipple 
James Wescott 
Benj. White 
Preston E. Williams 
Amos A. Walker 
Henry Williams 
Sam. Young 
Sheldon Young 
Edward R. Young 

Freemen 
Non-freemen - 

Total - 



i 



142 

357 

499 



Rep. No. 546. 

PROVIDENCE-Coniinued. 



495 



FIFTH WARD. 



Samuel R. Williams 
Peleg Johnson 
Benajah C. Warner 
Octavian Rice 
Richard S. Dawley 
Peleg Dawley 
Josiah Jones 
Fraiijilin Cooley 
Palmer Simmons 
Joseph D. Benton 
Philip B. Stiness 
James M. Shaw 
Peleg Hull 
Henry B. Winslow 
George R. Walker 
Nelson Hopkms 
George San ford 
Daniel W. Young 
James H. Sweet 
Ezra B. Viall 
Israel A. Tripp 
Wm. W. Brown 
Peleg W. Gardner 
Horatio R. Chirke 
George Gardner 
Caleb R. Barney 
James G. Daggett 
John J. Bent 
Henry E. Branch 
Joseph Davis, jr. 
Nath. G. Winslow 
Smith Potter 
David Parmenter 
Benj. Arnold, jr. 
Hezekiah Willard 
John S. Allen 
Nicholas R. Arnold 
Geo. W. Horn 
Asa H, Til ley 
Peleg A. Sanford 
James Howard 
Geo. A. Miller 
Hiram Chappell 
Joshua Brown 
Robinson Monroe' 
Amos Fletcher 
Ephraim Richmond 
George Morse 



Harris J. Mowry 
John Eddy 
Henry D. Davis 
Geo. Fabyan 
Cornelius T. Allen 
John W. Child 
Daniel E. Carpenter 
Jeremiah W. Anthony 
John C. Davis 
Henry Luther 
Emery Willard 
Simon D. Glines 
John Andrews 
John Warner 
Martin Grant 
Joseph R. Hood 
Wm. Pitcher 
Geo. N. Ohiey 
Humphrey Almy 
Jonathan R. Snow 
Seth Walker 
Horatio Viall 
Owen Weaver 
Daniel G. Shearman 
Alfred S. Buffington 
Asa H. Pease 
Thomas Hathaway 
Luke Hazard 
Rufus Reed 
Benj. Pidge 
John Budington 
Wm. A. Potter 
Wm. Gould 
Benj. Peckham 
Sam. Hawes 
Azariah Smith 
Paul Dexter 
Arnold Peters 
James D. Mason 
Wm. Dee 
Daniel Remington 
Daniel Smith 
Richard Hazard 
Thomas W. Greene 
John Dougherty 
Philip Marks 
Gorton B. Randall 
Henry E. Talman 



496 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE— FIFTH WARD— Continued. 



Joseph C. Miller 
James Lewis 
Asa N. Greene 
James Hazard 
Calvin "Wesson 
Pardon Goff 
William H. Cobb 
Alpheus B. Southwick 
Nathaniel liOng 
John Donald 
Charaplin R. Browning 
Thomas G. Daggett 
James S. Williams 
Sylvester G. Hazard 
James H. Bntler 
Thomas T. Tift 
Ellery Allen 
Charles Armington 
Benjamin H. 'I'hurston 
William P. Patt 
William M. Ryan 
Amon R. Thurston 
William W. Knight 
Josidh F. Everett 
Edmund H. Angell 
William L. Ells 
William A. Bradley 
Isaac F\e\d, grand Juror 
Nicholas Rogers 
George W. Page 
William W. Gunnell 
Otis P. Hicks 
John H. N. Gardner 
Nathan M. Blake 
Amasa H. Slocum 
Sylvester Lewis 
Isaac Field, jr. 
Edward Tipson 
William G. Bullock 
Sayles Irons 
Benajah Warner 
Thomas G. Howland 
Samuel Lewis 
Ephraim Haswell 
Albert Cleaveland 
Nicholas Briggs 
Fisher A. Cleaveland 
Jonathan Barlow 
Homer P. Hunt 
Thomas Barnes 



Warren E. Messenger 
Homer B. Whipple 
John O. Paine 
Thomas N. Smith 
Eli Messenger 
Henry Battey 
Calvin Whipple 
Halsey Ellis 
Newman Thurber 
Samuel F. Merriam 
Elisha Padelford 
Ebenezer Ladd 
Benjamin F. Pierce 
Lewis Prentice 
Henry A. Bos worth 
Samuel Haswell 
Augustus K. Tallman 
James G. Brown 
Horace Weatherhead 
William Gonsalve 
James Wilson 
William Worrall 
Chester Fay 
Edward Balcome 
Gideon Congdon 
Orana W. Prince 
Champlin Lyon 
Thomas G. Butler 
Resolved W. Cady 
Peleg Hull, 2d. 
George W. Brown 
Seth B. Rounds 
Edwin Smith 
Wm. H. Gale 
Wm. H. Wood 
Ezekiel Potter 
Warren Congdon 
Nathan Weaver 
Charles Trescott 
George A. Jenckes 
Luke Movvry 
Newton O. Whipple 
William Winslow 
Robert Miller 
Stephen Brownell 
Robert Grinnell 
John Wilbur 
Patrick Winters 
Edward B. Jenckes 
William A. Carpenter 



Rep. No. 546. 



49T 



PROVIDENCE-FIFTH WARD-Cominued. 



Albert T. Remington 
Dexter Hathaway 
Enos A. Cooke 
O. F. Butcher 
Welcome Arnold 
William S. Young 
Lucian B. Kendall 
John Spencer 
John B. Wood 
Andrew Johonnot 
Isaac Field 
T. A. Chace 
Thompson Newbury- 
Charles Warren 
Horace Ray- 
John E. Tourtellot 
L. W. Cooper 
Lindamon H, Orins 
Rufus B. Briggs 
Stephen Moss 
John Allen 
William Belcher 
James Knox 
William P. Gray 
Edward Bowers 
Abraham S. Gladding 
Experience S. Barrows 

Daniel A. Brown 
Joseph A. Waite 

Henry Lord 

John H. Mason 2d 

Christopher C. Potter 

Arthur M. Potter 

Charles Burnett, jr. 

Philip M. Fisk 

William H. Mann 

Peles: C. San ford 

William T. Swarts 

Ephraim Gilford 

Charles Battey 

William D. Butts 

Lewis W. Varrin 

John Springer 

Nicholas Medbury 

Horace M. Brown 

James Trafton 

William Bushee 

John Dean 

William H. Potter 

James Heany 
32 



Horace T. Briggs 
Franklin Oldes 
George W. Branch 
Mason R. Pierce 
Abraham H. Siillwell 
Henry Aibro 
John Emerson 
Marvin Andrews 
Samuel Warner 
Elisha M. Warner 
Loring W. Nye 
Walter E. Gardner 
John M. Scott 
Elijah White 
Otis Taber 
Asel B. Col well 
David Hicks 
Henry C. Westcolt 
Joseph D. French 
William Blaisdell 
Daniel Champlin 
Timothy Munyan 
Charles A. R. Pierce 
John Jackson 
Samuel Wesson 
Hugh McCatferty 
Seabury Manchester 
Joseph L. Sanders 
Joseph W, Sanders 
Jeremiah Child 
James Randall 
Richard Burke 
Asahel Herrick 
William L. Branch 
Rufus A. Peck 
Arnold W. Spencer 
George N. Gilmore 
James P. Sisson 
George Burr 
Henry B. Eddy 
Richard Salisbury 
Jeremiah P. Pearce 
Isaac Saunders 
Albert W. Tripp 
Jonathan Freeborn 
William Gardner 
James C. Burke 
Josiah Wardwell 
Major Tripp 
John Sanders 



^m 



Kep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE— FIFTH WARD-Continued. 



Horatio Brown 
Benjamin Willoughby 
Albert Fuller 
Richard W, Dexter 
Lewis Streeter 
Welcome W. Pitcher 
John S. Eddy 
William Bnrr 
Joseph Ashley 
Nathaniel Knight 
James Tucker 
Mark A; Heath 
Oliver H. P. James 
Alfred B. Lewis 
William U. Coins 
Remember Ingraham 
James D. Carr 
Lewis Carr 
Daniel C. Beetle 
William P. Tanner 
Charles T. Allen 
Lyman J. Arnold 
Martin Fisk 
William C. Johnson 
Lemuel Wyatt 
William H. Murray 
Solomon D. Walker 
Joha S. Rice 
Lewis S. Towne 
Alexander Albertson 
Thomas Pierce, jr. 
Rufus Phelps 
Stephen Cornell 
Wilham Loring 
Lorenzo Logee 
Charles Sanger 
James C. Hidden 
James Winsor 
Asarelah Harris 
David Porter 
James M. Sanders 
Francis C. Curtis 
William Hazard 
Elijah B. Newell 
William Spencer 
Samuel F. Knowley 
Abraham S. Gladding 
John J. Smith 
Carr Lawton 
George W. Murray 
Jolui L, O'anady 



Samuel Robinson 
Charles Davis 
John White 
Milton Hodffes 
John Hunt 
Calvin Harding 
William H. Dyer 
Edwin Burn ham 
Edward Burr 
Alden Pabodie 
Francis Crowell 
Samuel Reynolds 
Gardner T. Swartz 
Benjamin Foster 
George A. Taylor 
Jacob Symonds 
John A. Jastrani 
Henry Cutting 
Immannel Searle 
W^illiam Nye 
Freeborn Johnson 
Watson Andrews 
Joseph Burke 
Augustus Codding 
Joseph Chase 
Augustus W^ood 
William Daruley 
Ebenezer B. White 
Daniel Allen 
Stephen S. Allen 
Thomas Barstow 
John Springer 
Gilbert Sheldon 
Aaron Davis 
Ingoldsby Work 
George W. Young 
John Perkins 
Joseph Chappell 
Oliver Jenkins 
William Atwood 
Rasselas M. Chapin 
Adnah Sacket 
William Rider 
George W. Babcock 
Dexter Hall 
Warren Wood 
Oliver C. Monlton 
Richard S. Moulton 
James H. Hook 
James Burgess 
Daniel HuU 



Edward Harris 
Increase Sumner 
Gardner G. Wood 
James Shearburn 
Fenner WilJiarns 
WilJiam Hull 
John Douglas 
Georg-e Wood 
Henry M. Phetteplace 
Gdbert Luilier 
Walter Collins 
Nathan Crowell 
Henry C. Johnson 
^elh Darhni? 
Anthony Hazard 
^rankhn Pearce 
Albert G. Coffin 
Jabez R. Arnold 
Allen Brown 
Henry Studley 
Philander White 
Horace B. Peck 
j homas Browneli 
Joseph Davis 
Gardner Salisbury 
genry Sherburne 
C^harles Mills 
Ghauncy Himes 
Oliver Wicks 
Hezekiah Allen, jr 
James W^ Paine 
i^rastus Edwards 
ilorace Edwards 
JVilliam J. Curtis 
Henry H. Jones 
George W. Snow 
Alfred Randal! 
James Arnold 
James G. Rawson 
Ebenezer Carpenter 
John Anthony 
fioswell R Rickard 
John H. Bullock 
Jedediah B. Fuller 
Henry A, Nye 
Isaac S. Bailey 
George B. Holmes 
Wilham Salisbury 
Horatio Burke 
Alien G. Case 



Rep. No. 546. 

PROVIDENCE-FIPTH ward-Co... 



499 



Stephen Russell 
•Ralph Mowry 
Tliomas Reynolds 
John Pearson 
Jeremiah Woodmancy 
Hams Searle 
IJichard W. Liscomb 
Welcome Miller 
Horace C, Burgess 
Charles Hix " 
Ira Grant 
i^enjamin Smith 
John Harman 
Sylvester Salisbury 
David King 
Hamilton Warren 
John W. Field 
John La ha 
Gideon Edwards 
N.ithan'1 i\. Carpenter 
VVi ham J R UnderhilJ 
v^ilham F. Kent 
Joseph Pitman 
Francis Stoddard 
Arnold Matthewson 
Wilham P. Rodgers 
Peleg Bo wen 
William G. Hodges 
Edward Billino-s 
Daniel Brown '^ 
Thomas Luther 
Nathan Gorton 
George W. Crocker 
trankhn Maguire 
Albert Hicks 
Nathaniel Stephens 
Wilham Jones 
Francis 'J^albot 
Samuel G. Anthony 
Jonathan Green ' 
William Field 
Stephen Branch 
Ebenezer F. Barnard 
Robert K. Field 
Joseph Manchester 
I-evi Salisbury 
William i\. Dewey 
Daniel H. Leonard 
Robert Whipple 
Taylor R. Brattia 



'^Mi 



500 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE-FIFTH WARD— Continued. 



William W. Heath 
William Valley 
John B. Merriam 
Job Cornell 
Alfred Spink 
Alpheus J. Snow- 
Horatio N. Pierce 
Eben Simmons, jr. 
W^illard Johnson 
Olney Read 
Richard M. Field, jr. 
W^illiam Maxwell 
Hiram Kendall 
Samuel Boyd 
William B. Lawton 
Rodolphus Jenney 
Thomas B. Snow- 
Simeon Field 
Christian M. Nestell 
Benjamin Arnold 
Ray Clapp 
Amos W hitney 
John G. Petlis 
Joseph G. Snow 
Calvin Topliff 
Samuel P. Grins 
Harvey Tillinghast 
John Reeve 
John VV. Greenp 
Elijah Pomroy 

Spencer Pease, grand juror 

Riley Scott 

Still man Rand 

John VV. Freeman 

Nathan B. Fenner 

Bernard Clarke 

John C. Kin^ 

James M. Whiting 

John G. Childs 

William G. Percival 

David C. Keep 

Robert W. Potter 

William Taylor 

Thomas Taber 

John Deo 

Jolin S. Brown 

Charles Wescott 

Joseph H. Snow 

Samuel Sawyer 

Henry Braman 



Alfred D. Chace 
Wheaton Burgess 
Bradford C. Shaw 
WiUiam 1). Guile 
Charles V. Merrick 
Francis Read 
Samuel S. Brown 
Samuel G. Rawson 
John Clemmons 
Archibald Dalrymple 
John F. Greene 
Arnold Irons 
Henry U. Smith 
James C. Backlin 
C. B. Manchester 
Jesse A. Healey 
William H. Hathaway 
William Ross 
Benjamin G. Snow 
Joseph West 

Job L. Pratt 

Benjamin Kendall 

Edward Salisbury 

Zach. R. Tucker 

Eseck Tall man • 

Samuel Currie 

Jacob Manchester 

Lewis Field 

Edwin B. Eddy 

Charles Harding, jr. 

Emanuel Suesman 

Gideon Waite 

Thomas Goodman 

Allen F. Manchester 

Edward R. Mitchell 

Samuel Pearce 

John H. Bentley 

Ezra Luther 

Alpheus Billings 

Ezra Baker 

Charles Ri?,ad 

Ebenezer Kingsbury 

William B. Dean 

Chancy Marble 

Amos \V. Snow 

James A. Eddy 

Ira H. Chase 

Albert H. Manchester 

Thomas J. Ward well 

Benjamin H. Salisbury 



Rep. No. 546. 



501 



PROVIDENCE-FIFTH WARD— Continued. 



John W. Butts 

Joseph W. Davis, grand juror 

Gardner Luther 

William Rhodes 

Thomas Boyd 

Benjamin Ham 

Edmund J. Ham 

Job Andrews 

John Taylor 

George T. Thorp 

Alfred H. Barker 

Hanson H. Thomas 

Henry A. Hidden 

Daniel Perrin 

Edwin Barstow 

Nicholas B, Gladding 

Samuel James 

Reuben Glover 

William R. Ballantyne 

Ezra Miller, jr. 

Nathaniel B. Horton 

Pardon S. Pearce 

John H. Madden 

F*ancis McGown 

Patrick McLaughlin 

Henry H. Young 

Amos Horton 

Francis Tallman 

Henry S. Hazard, grand juror 

Horace Gray 

Emerson Tower 

John Holden 

Thomas Doyle 

William Bowers 

William Andrews 

Charles H. Childs 

Jarvis E. Gladding 

James Martin 

Daniel Martin 

Thomas Snow 

Leander Utley 

Alvin B. Robbins 

George Woodward 

Eben Simmons 

Daniel Snow 

Samuel Snow 

Anson Cole 

Thomas Harrington 

George W. Anthony 

Earle Carpenter 



Leonard C. Marble 

Eliphalet S. Fulson 

George D. Lawton 

Henry Luce 

John Congdon 

Loring W. Cady 

Cyran A. Carpenter 

George Duckworth 

John F. Trescott 

Edward Field 

Charles N. Esbeck 

Henry D. Martin 

Amos R. 'YnxxxQr , rev. pensioner, 

Dutee Arnold 

Samuel Gray 

J. Stoddard 

Bernard O. Rourke 

Richard Kelpy 

Samuel S. White 

Josiah Cady 

John Humphrey 

Benjamin Davis 

Job Winslow 

Robert Welsh 

Charles F. Brayton 

Horatio L. Holmes 
Edwin Tallman 

John Entwistle 

William A. Wiley 
Jeremiah Ellis 
Fitch M. Parker 
Abner A. Cornell 
Thomas Taber 
Benjamin H. Sanders 
Aaron Turner 
Smith Brown 
Jesse Battey 
Hiram Fuller 
Robert Shearman 
William Johnson 
Hazard D. Slocum 
John M. James, jr. 
Samuel Maccomber 
Jabez Williams 
George W. Gladding 
Benjamin P. Wood 
John S. Gladding 
Royal Belden 
George S. Steere 
Christopher Briggs 



Rep. No. 546.r 



PROVIDENCE— FIFTH WARD— Coniinued. 



Edwin Pidge 
Moses Hall 
Willet Potter 
Charles G. Stafford 
Edwin B. Bohnzerrioz 
Robert Laird 
Francis Laird 
Freeman Bi^elow 
Henry H. Parker 
Thomas Sears 
Solomon Arnold 
Oliver Gorton 
Benjamin E. Carpenter 
Jonathan P. Helme 
Henry Bray ion 
William W. Thurston 
Albert Harrington 
David Dee 
James l^ibert 
James Payton 
Osborn S. Warren 
William P. R. Benson 
John T. Rice 
Horatio Biidlong 
Benjamin Wilson 
Stephen Perry 
Samuel S. Partridge 
James Barber 
Silas Sekell 
Archibald Kenyon 
James Hall 
John A. Moseley 
John Greene 
Robert S. Babcock 
Silas Weston 
Roswell K. Brown 



Charles V. Tallman 
Jeremiah Williams 
John Col ford 
John H. Langley 
William A. Wardwell 
Stephen Arnold 
George J. Prentis 
Richard Barnes 
Maurice A. Heferren 
William Newell 
Amasa Humphrey 
Jabez Thurston 
Frederick H. Smith 
John Carpenter 
Hezekiah Anthony 
Chace Lewis 
Isaac Wilcox 
Joel P. Jenckes 
Apollos Sekell 
William D. Snow 
F. F. Foster 
Moses Healey 
George B. Luther 
Daniel Brown 
John Wardwell 
John P. Hazard 
George Cook 
Francis Hearney 
Joseph Belcher 

Freeholders, 
Non freeholders, 

Total, 



248 
515 

763 



SIXTH WARD. 



Non freeholders. 

Eli Haskell 
Joseph Johnson 
Henry L. Wilson 
James D. Vaughn 
Jeremiah A. Sheldon 
Orrin A. Capron 
Mowry Lovell 
Elisha K. Waterman 
Barton K. Taylor 



Russell Parker 
William F. Ayer 
James Barnes 
William H. Hopkins 
Palmer Fanner 
Thomas R. Fenner 
David Cady 
Samuel Carpenter 
Natlianiel Robbins 
Dexter B. Carpenter 
William W. Babcock 



Rep, No. 546. 



mi 



PROVIDENCE— SIXTH WARD— Continued. 



Alfred Burke 
Kinsman Hart 
Artemas H. Parker 
John Stevens 
Benjamin B. Chace 
Benjamin R. Dawley 
Philander Barney 
Isaac Peckham 
Henry Hillman 
John S. Barnard 
Anthony Hathaway 
Daniel T. Hubbard 
Leonard Horlon 
G. W. Hubbard 
Ichabod Potter 
Henry C. Potter 
Robert B. Searse 
Richard Stone 
R. G. G. Spooner 
Esek Stone 
David N. Rickard 
Christy Potter 
Milton Cady 
Asa W. Davis 
John P. Dunham 
Stacy W. Remington 
Benjamin G. West 
Charles Williams, jr. 
John Branch 
Samuel French 
Edwin Field 
Samuel C. Greatrakes 
Ezra Gowine: 
William H. Gilmore 
Josiah R. Pierce 
Nathaniel R. Paine 
Stephen G. Williams 
Earl Potter 
Francis D- Brickley 
Lorenzo D. Littlefield 
Jeremiah S. Barret 
Elisha Tripp 
Gamaliel Collins 
Dana Lyon 
Samuel P. Eldridge 
Frederick H. Clarke 
Cashel F. Corey 
Stukely Johnson 
George S. Wescott 
Joseph G. Johnson 



Samuel Hedley 
Daniel Heath 
Stephen A. Stone 
Stephen H. Cobb 
William H. Chappel 
Noadiah J. Stone 
Otis Cook 

William J. Browneli 
Stephen Col welt 
George S. Thompson 
Olney Logee 
Ephraim Martin 
John Mitcliell 
Ira Johnson 
Stephen A. Hayward 
George R. Gage 
John F. Brown 
Nicholas W. Johnson 
Lewis J. Lamphere 
John S. Weeden 
George H. Talbot 
Bowen Pierce 
Henry A. Luther 
John H. Dorrance 
Joshua Hathaway 
Samuel Durfee 
John A. Mason 
Asa C. Newton 
George J. Crosswell 
Israel Orswell 
James Burlingame 
Melville Hopkins 
James M. Shellev 
Charles E. Randall 
Richard M. Allen 
Abraham H, Padeltbrd 
Francis P. Haynes 
Chester Clack 
Luther Buffiiigton 
Lawson Tayl&r 
William A. Anthony 
Charles R. Cooke 
Benjamin F. Dustiu 
Daniel Rice 
John Hagan 
Lucius Weaver 
Thomas E. Shearman 
Charles G. Stone 
Darius Angell 
William H. Bennett 



504 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE-SIXTH WARD-Continued. 



Thomas H. Burke 
Benoni Phillips 
Caleb Mosher, jr. 
Henry Porter 
Isaac N. Hal let 
Pardon H. Manchester 
Peleg H. Barnes 
George Burgess 
Reuben Weaver 
John Read, jr. 
Daniel N. Phillips 
Fitz James Rice 
Micajah C. Rice 
William P. Oldridge, jr. 
Samuel Oldridge, jr. 
Benjamin Sarle 
Miles B. Lawson 
Thaddeus Reynolds 
Thomas W. Sprague 
Ellery Bentley 
George N. Briggs 
Willard Eddy 
Timothy B. Chedell 
William Johnson 
John M. Freeman 
Hazzard D. Reynolds 
Daniel Angell 
Benjamin Grant 
Richard M. Cornell 
Waterman Irons 
John Crandall 
John W. Sprague 
Edmund A. Nichols 
Burrill Arnold 
Edward C. Wade 
Horatio N. Williams 
William Calverson 
Walter Jackson 
John Eviston 
Abram Aldrioh 
Thomas Wensor 
David Andrews 
Ebenezer R. Morton 
Calvin L. Nye 
Paris Parker 
Henry Snow 
James M. Fenner 
Robert Pettis 
James G. Rounds 
Thaddeus Winship 



Oliver P. Tanner 
Otis W. Everett 
Henry D. Coggeshall 
Lawson Gale 
William H, Barney 
Benjamin Miller 
George S. Tapley 
William Keep 
David Jackins 
Francis Salmon 
Lewis Bosworth 
Albert C. Allen 
Silas M. Field 
ApoUos Richmond' 
Nathaniel G. Titus 
George Trafton 
Jeremiah Knight 
William H. Luther 
John A. Durfee 
Amos Jillson 
James H. Nichols 
Henry H. Graves 
Benjamin T. Slocuni: 
James A. Smith 
Benjamin Balch 
Robert Wilson 
Samuel Tweed 
Edward Burrows 
George A. Harris 
David Fitts 
Stephen Simmons 
Davis E. Burke 
Anthony Mason 
Gideon S. White 
Stanley Carter 
Daniel Round 
John A. Aldrich 
Seth Hathaway 
Thomas E. Hudson 
Simon Winsor 
Henry G. Day 
Stephen Crary 
George A. Willard 
George W. Morse 
Addison Livermore 
Benjamin Hoar 
Pliny E. Capron 
Pardon M. Stone 
Dexter Pierce 
Jaspar Davison 



Rep. No. 546. 



50$ 



PROVIDENCE-SIXTH WARD-Continued. 



Chester Davison 
George Gilbert 
Otis ]N, Pierce 
Elijah Pomeroy 
Amos WhJtaker 
David A. Mathswson 
Nicholas C. Hudson 
Henry S. Cartee 
Horatio Hunt 
Henry Parkhurst 
Amos Smith 
Henry Waterman 
Gardner Williams 
Job Angell 
Isaac Sisson 
Aldan a Lyons 
John C. Sleere 
Samuel T. Moore 
Jeremiah Mathews 
Ellis B. Pierce 
David W. Pettey 
Bradford N. Mathewson 
Aaron Gates 
Daniel K. Chaffee 
James Sheldon 
Samuel Hudson 
Charles T. Dunham 
Sessions Smith 
Benjamin Burrows 
Caleb Mosher 
James Day 
Leveret Sprague 
Joseph B. San ford 
Milton Cady. jr. 
Thomas Aylesvvorth 
Nathan P. Luther 
Sylvester E. Kelley 
Abram Chace 
Edward EUsbree 
Erdix T. Swift 
George Williams 
Thomas Williams 
Charles Bacon 
Royal A. Webster 
Franklin W. Cooke 
Joseph W. Chadbourn 
Daniel Mcintosh 
George Chedel 
Nehemiah Davis 
Samuel Cooke 



Waller Greenwood 
Alfred W. Fisk 
Amos B. Bunnell 
Harvey Nichols 
Sanford Chace 
William G, Hathaway 
William Springer 
John G. Vallett 
Joseph W, Field 
Clark Cundell 
Christopher C. Taber 
John B. Wade 
Welcome Arnold 
Ira Biackman 
Isaac R. Burlingame 
John Fagan 
Nathaniel Burgess, jr. 
George R. Coggeshall 
Benjamin W. Remington 
Jeremiah D. Card 
Horatio N. Carpenter 
William S. Davis 
Samuel N. Warner 
Horton Kelley 
Lemuel M. Smith 
Allen Chilson 
Edward Dennis 
Thomas J. Monro 
William Davis 
Ira Mathewson 
Caleb Mathewson 
Nathan B. Goff 
Joseph Hicks 
Arnold Saunders 
Cyreen Paine 
Alexander W. Fenner 
Edward O. Lawrence 
James E. Brown 
Caleb Coggeshall 
Henry Bunnelf* 
Alfred B, Biirdick 
Daniel Saunders 
William Monro 
Daniel K. Gardner 
Warren Haskell 
Thomas W. Manchester 
Dexter S. Cooke 
John Clark 
Lyman Cargill 
Benjamin B. Burgess 



5m 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE-SIXTH WARD-Continued. 



John Baggs 
John T. Thurston 
Edward Phillips 
Benjamin T. Chedel 
James Jennings 
Joseph Paine 
Benjamin Brownell 
WiUiam Whitman 
Welcome Ide 
Augustus Smith 
William B. Henshaw 
Calvin Wilbur 
Cyrus W. Johnson 
John H. Donahue 
William P. Brightman 
Ebenezer B. Sowden 
Loring Hoyle 
WiUiam Brown 
William J. H. Tucker 
Timothy Shedd 
Franklin Rand 
John Peehara 
William N. Douglas 
William Mathewson 
Allen Luther 
Thomas P. Shearman 
George Horton 
Jonathan Jenks 
Peleg Shearman 
Robert Markham 
George W. Springer 
Smith Farnham 
Caleb S. Pierce 
Salisbury Peck 
Nathaniel Penno 
Cyrus W. Brewer 
James R. Hodges 
Benjamin Martin 
William Clarke 
James M. T4illlson 
Lloyd B. Paine 
Seth Baker 
Joseph C. Humphreys 
Artemas Raymond 
Enos H. Weoden 
William T. Butts 
Smith W. Arnold 
Henry Lawrell 
Dennis Lawrell 
Alden Ishara 



Charles P. Shelton 
Julius Jordan 
Thomas Nobles 
Arnold Rhodes 
Charles Saunders 
Horatio Vallett 
Alanson Carter 
William H. Lawrence 
William Parker 
John Branagh 
Daniel Tafferty 
Eben Norton, 
Sidney S. Clapp 
Truman Bowen 
Samuel A. Wightman 
Thomas T. Goff 
John Hazard 
James Allen 
Henry T. Franklin 
Samuel R. Thompson 
Otis Weaver 
Francis Cory 
Samuel Ashley 
Isaac Collins 
Olney Winsor 
Samuel B. Harris 
David Gale 
Owen Arnold 
Francis Eveieth 
James N. Hopkins 
Jesse Wood 
James W. Lock 
Noble T. Greene 
Brown Simmons 
Henry Allen 
William Burke 
James M. Peck ham 
Joseph L. Dennis 
Calvin Wares 
John C, Hardenburgh 
Thomas JM. Rounds 
Robert Newson 
Thomas Henry 
Thomas W. Eddy 
William Davenport 
John Nobles 
Charles Sheldon 
Samuel Sweatland 
Albert P. Ware 
El ah Beach 



Rep. No. 54d. 



50T 



PROVIDENCE-SIXTH WARD— Continued. 



Daniel A. Whipple 
Simeon Anthony 
Joseph E. Chace 
Samuel W. Anthony 
John D. Henley, jr. 
Wm. A. Williams 
John H. Whipple 
Robert Hazard 
Benjamin Brown 
Arnold H. Burlingame 
Halsey Greene 
Joseph W. Pierce 
Wm. H. Slocum 
Seth B. Cooke 
Nicholas A. Fenner 
James Bacon 
Joseph V. Snow 
Ariel B. Horton, jr. 
Daniel C. Bo wen 
Samuel D. Allen 
Jeremiah Bos worth 
Samuel Woodbury 
Wm. B. Davis 
James A. McKenzie 
John Taylor 
John F. Pitts 
John S. Peckham 
Wm. K. Thurber 
Samuel Oldridge 
Wm. H. Stone'^ 
Samuel S. Ashley 
Christopher Johnson 
Ebenezer Robinson 
Patrick Golden 
George McGowen 
John E. Brown 
Garnett J. Burnc 
Stephen P. Collins 
Henry P. Knight 
Benajah Williams, jr. 
Thomas Lee 
George J. Ames 
Cyrus Barney 
John W. Ellis 
Wm. Jackson 
John V. Hill 
John Taylor 
Daniel Eaton 
Benjamin F. Jones 
Asa Cumminss 



Jeremiah Hammond 
Thomas Smith 
Amasa Slocum 
Samuel Stone 
John Shearman 
James Gage 
Peleg H. Congdon 
Wm. N. Sprague 
Lemuel Nichols 
Jacob Garland 
Abner Taylor 
Ira HoUoway 
Isaac Randall 
Aaron Paine 
Darius Young 
John Sweeny 
Otis Walker 
Wm. S. Manuel 
Samuel Walker 
George W. Frost 
James D. Hubbard 
Pierce Anthony 
David C. Greene 
Charles M. Ware 
Daniel Randall 
Francis Worth 
Michael Noland 
John Dowley 
Stephen Drew 
Francis Steere 
Seth B. Cooke, jr. 
Daniel Chace 

Qualijied. 

John S. Harris 
David P. Casswell 
Samuel Hawkins 
Benjamin Hopkins 
Arnold Pooler 
James G. West 
Daniel Pettey 
Hezekiah Smith 
James H. Steere 
John Luther 
Nathaniel J. Rider 
Samuel Monroe 
Charles Williams 
Edward G. Farmer 
Stephen C. Kenyon 



508 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE-SIXTH WARD-Coniinued. 



Samuel Clarke 
Josiah J. Luther 
Rhodes Allen 
Benjamin B. Wood 
James S. Hall 
Richard Lake 
Freeborn Johnson 
Edward W. Nottao-e 
Alfred B. Frink 
Wm. S. Hunt 
Reuben H. N. Bates 
Thomas J. Capron 
John Tillinghast 
Joseph Tyler 
John S. Tripp 
Henry W. Olin 
Levi Lewis 
Sylvester Bowers 
Elias Arnold 
Arbro Anthony 
Ransom Hicks 
Thaddeus Curtis 
Isaac La ha 
William Olney, 2d 

Thomas Chaffee 
Charles Ellis 

Wm. B. Preston 

Samuel B. Durfee 

Benjamin Orswell 

Wm. C. Barker, 2d 

Joseph A. Carr 

Reuben Smith, jr. 

Wm. B. Remington 

Joseph Arnold, jr. 

Bradford Allen 

Whipple Phillips 

John Proctor 

John L. Snow 

Caleb Cory 

William Winsor, jr. 

Samuel M. Dnnham 

Stephen Chace 

Obadiah Fasten, 2d 

Stephen Barker 

Halsey Wade 

Gardner Vaughn 

George Miller 

James Harris 

Emery Johnson 

Peleg Andrews 



Nathaniel Burgess 
Thomas Yates 
Job C. Eldred 
Abijah B. Thomas 
Thomas Walker 
Calvin Tower 
Nathan Thornton, jr. 
Wm. B. Harris 
Jeremiah Bagot 
Abel Hopkins 
Pasco Haynes 
John M. Cargill 
Joseph B. Harris 
Sheldon Brown 
Thomas Lincoln 
George E. Blake 
Joseph Col well 
Samuel Green 
James T. Slocum 
Rowse H. Dawley 
Wm. J. Pabodie 
John S. Parkis 
Wm. H. West 
William Hicks 
Abm. Lucas 
Stillman Perkins 
•Tosiah H. Martin 
Benjamin B. Knight 
Wheaton A. Harrington 
Ezra Tibbetts 
William Randall 
Charles Seamans 
William Fenner 
William P. Shaw 
John Hopkins 
Nathan M. Chaffee 
George C. Bowers 
Jacob C. Gould 
Peleg Peck 
Nathaniel Ingalls 
Theodore D. Fenner 
Rufns Blan chard 
Samuel Kelley 
John Field 
Stephen Beverley 
Edward Beverley 
Otis Holmes 
James Bowen 
Jonathan Shearman 
Charles D. Miller 



Rep. No. 546. 



509 



PROVIDENCE-SIXTH WARD— Continued. 



Daniel Davis 
Amos W. Olney 
Sterry Kelley 
William L. Thornton 
Edmund Williams 
Lorenzo E. Bovven 
Nathaniel Rounds 
Allen H. Rounds 
Joseph Beverly 
Albert G. Olney 
Amos Fuller 
Benoni Tyler 
Seth Simmons, jr. 
Samuel Harrinojton 
William Seaver, jr. 
Palmer Harrington 
Jacob Bourne 
William S. Spink 
Almond Hopkins 
Joseph C. Potter 
Jonathan Wood, 2d 
Dexter A. Edwards 
Benedict H. Dawley 
John W, Arnold 
Jonathan Wade 
Isaac Hedley 
Alfred Lewis 
Lewis Jones 
Suiion P. Shearman 
Job F. Angell 
Seth R. Shepard 
Andrew Golding 
Peleg C. Remington 
Richard Beverley 
Winson Angell 
Sylvester R. Jackson 
Stephen P. Henry 
Ezekiel Angell 
Warren G. Slack 
John H. Watson 
Joseph F. Gilmore 
John Winship 
Albert Corlis 
Stephen Field 
.Tohn A. Darling 
Albert F. Evans 
Filisha Evans 
Samuel Arnold 
William W. Arnold 
Hiram Barker 



Charles H. Pierce 
Amasa R. Tourtellot 
Jacob Monro 
Joseph Sisson 
Welcome Bussey 
John R. Martin 
John Barton 
George W. Seamans 
Charles F. Robinson 
David Read 
Abiel Sampson 
Benjamin G. Teel 
James P. Burgess 
Richard M. Snow 
Joshua Kimball 
Henry Beverley 
Nathaniel F. Potter 
James W. Winson 
John Beazley 
Ira L. Beckwith 
John Fisher 
Nathaniel Eaton 
William Beverley 
Thomas R. Seamans 
George W. Gilmore 
William P. Olney 
William A. Wood 
Rufus Bo wen 
Henry Hill 
Thomas Bowen 
James W. Tibbetts 
Caleb R. Nye 
William H. Hathaway 
John K. Lester 
William Andrews, jr. 

By proxy. 

Samuel W. Brown 
Thomas J. Sprague 
Ephraim Martin 
William H. Hudson 
Joseph Robinson 
Alexander Brownell 
George L. Noitage 
Addison Winch 
Amos Young 
John P. Hunt 
William M. Bowen 
Daniel Usher 



510 



Rep. No. 546. 



PROVIDENCE— SIXTH WARD— Continued, 



Nathaniel Sweet 


John Gould 




Elisha Paine 


Joseph Smith 




Richard Saunders 


Edward Thurston 




John C. Snow 


Zadoc Shearman 




George Weeden 


Barney Peck 




Jeremiah Amable 


Barton Randall 




Nathan Monro 


Silas Burgess 




Thomas Sarle 


Henry C. Pabodie 




James C. Randall 


Charles T. Martin 




Lawton A. Shearman 


Joseph H. Austin 




Beijjamin M. Jackson 


Alexander G. Folger 




Israel Scott 


John Penno, jr. 




Seth Scott 


Jeremiah Penno 




Holden Pearce 


Charles Seamans 




Joseph Moore 


Almon S. Baker. 




David Cole 






Jabez C. Olney 


Not qualijied. 




Nathaniel Perkins 






Ethan T. Sheldon 


John Francis 




P. S. T. Hewett 


Benjamin Stansfield 




Benjamin S. Olney 


John Banks 




William 0. Briggs 


David Nichols. 




Nathaniel Fuller 






Alanson Smith 


Qualified 


- 255 


John P. Mumford 


Not qualified - 


- 506 


John Day 






Edward S. Folger 


Total - 


- 761 


Charles F. Rawson 








RECAPITULATION. 



First ward 
Second ward 
Third ward 
Fourth ward 
Fifth ward 
Sixth ward 



Total 

Grand total • 



Q,ualified. 


Not qualified 


162 


362 


88 


284 


165 


472 


142 


357 


248 


515 


■ 255 


506 


1,060 


2,496 




. 1,060 



3,656 



Rep. No. 546. 
No. 107. 



VOTERS IN SMITHFIELD, PROVIDENCE COUNTY. 



Not qualified. 

Arnold, John F". 
Arnold, Daniel 
Allen, Asa M. 
Andrews, Dennison D. 
Aldrich, William 
Allen, David 
Allen, David E. 
Angell, Stephen 
Arnold, Jacob 
Arnold, James M. 
Arnold, Hanson 
Austin, John 
Adams, .lohn A. 
Ashton, Samuel B. 
Allen, Kay 
Ano^el, Eben S. 
Aldrich, Hamilton P„ 
Arnold, George W. 
Allen, Leonard 
Aldrich, Eseek 
Aldrich, Nelson 
Allen, Alfred 
Arnold, Collins 
Aldrich, Alva 
Allen, Ichabod, jr. 
Aldrich, Lewis 
Aldrich, Caleb 
Angell, Stephen 
Aldrich, Charles 
Allen, Ichabod 
Arnold, Lewis G. 
Adams, Luther H. 
Adams, Elijah 
Arnold, James 
Albee, Ethan A. 
Archer, George S. 
Arnold, Whipple 
Allen, Joseph C. 
Allen, Otis 
Arnold, Baxter L. 
Arnold, William 
Arnold, Samuel, jr. 

Qualified. 

Applebey, Charles 



Angell, Nathan 
Aldrich. Vesy 
Ansel), Pardon 
Armington, Lyman 
Arnold, Allyn 
Allen, Sabin 
Aldrich, Edwin 
Aldrich, Nathan, 2d 
Angell, Jabez B. 
Angell, David 
Angell, Daniel 
Aldrich, Smith 
Aldrich, Thomas S. 
Aldrich, Thomas J. 
Arnold, Samuel S. 
Aylsworth, Allen E. 
Arnold, Israel, jr. 
Aldrich, Wellington 
Arnold, John R. 
Arnold, Olney 
Arnold, Thomas T. 
Arnold, Lyman 
Arnold, Jenckes 
Aldrich, Smith S. 
Alexander, Ijcmuel 
Andrews, Thomas 
Aldrich, George B. 
Aldrich, Welcome W. 
Aldrich, Joel, jr. 
Aldrich, Burrill 
Arnold, Seth 
Angell, George W. 

Against. 

Aldrich, Simon 

Not qualified. 

Balcom, Ebenezer, jr. 
Balcom, Ebenezer 
Ballon, Horace 
Bliss, Lewis S. 
Babbitt, James 
Babbitt, Ebenezer 
Bennett, George 
Bryant, Noah A. 
Brown, Nathan 



512 



Rep. No. 546. 



SMITHFIELD— Continued. 



Bailey, William 
Burlingame, James 
Blackman, Lawton 
Bailey, Jeremiah 
Burlingame, Ira 
Barney, Patrick 
Byron, Boh an P. 
Balcome, Alfred 
Babbitt, Ebenezer 
Blair, Charles E. 
Bray man, Hasard 
Bailey, George W". 
Babbitt, William W. 
Boyden, Samuel 
Blackmar, William 
Bradford, George W. 
Brown, Laban 
Brown, Ebenezer 
Brown, George W. 
Brown, James 
Bee bee, George C. 
Beals, Samuel R. 
Bullock, Lorenzo D. 
Bartlett, William 
Bentley, Gardiner 
Briggs, Caleb A. W. 
Bowen, Horace B. 
Ball, Nahum 
Bentley, John 
Bennett. Whipple 
Bullock, Bradford 
Brickell, James H. 
Babson, John F. 
Briggs, Daniel 
Bowen, Eber 
Beebee, William H. 
Briggs, William H. 
Ballou, Welcome 
Boyle, Phineas 
Bicknell, Japheth 
Bates, Ephraim J. 
Barrows, Fayette 
Braman, Stephen H. 
Boss, John Li. 
Balsor, Oman 
Barnes, Horace 
Barnes, Mowry 
Ballou J Silas 
Ballou, Joseph R. 
Bray ton, Rai.dali S. 



Bates, Albert A. 
Bishop, Welcome W. 
Baker, Asa 
Bryant, Henry W^. 
Boss, George 
Bicknell, Joseph B. 
Burlingame, George W. B. 
Baxter, Alexander 
Buxton, William 
Buxton, William 
Brown, Stephen 
Brown, Daniel S. 
Ballou, Wheaton F. 
Ballou, Dennis 
Bellows, Willard 
Bellows, Eliphalet E. 
Bartlett, John S. 
Brayman, Wanton 
Bolster, Warren 
Bassett, Nathan 
Ballou, Peter 
Bowen, William R. 
Bowen, Joseph W. 
Bentley, Warren 
Burrows, Josiah 
Buxton, Job 
Brickell, Samuel C. 
Bowen, Alden 
Ball, George W. 
Brown, Jonathan 
Brown, Elisha 
Brown, John 
Brown, Christopher 
Bowen, Stephen 
Boomer, Joseph 
Bacon, George W. 
Bridge, Allen M. 
Bowen, Coomer 
Burbank, William H. 
Barber, Ezra F. 
Braylon, Boylston 
Bigelow, Harden 
Briggs, James M. 
Briggs, Rufus 
Blake, Andrew 
Bradford, Dutee 
Burden, Estes 
Bishop, Alien 
Billiiigioii, Randall 
Brown, William 



Rep. No. 546. 



ol3 



SMITHFIELD-Continued. 



Bradford, Zebediah 
Bartlelt, Jiimes 
Barton, Washington 
Bo wen, Henry 
Barnett, Hiram 
Brightman, Robert D. 
Buxton. David 
Brayton, David 
Benchley, William 

Qualijied. 

Bnrbank, Thomas 
Bradford, Gideon 
Bradford, James H. 
Barnes, William 
Brown, Thomas S. 
Ballon, Eliab M. 
Bosworth. Richard T. 
Bradford, Isaac 
Bray, Christopher G. 
Brown, Waterman F. 
Bartlett, William 
Buffum, Thomas 
Bisbee, William O. 
Barnes, Jjevi 
Brooks, William 
Buxton, Oliver C. 

Briggs, Richard 

Baxter, Ansel 

Bacon. George A. 

Brown, Lorenzo S. 

Bishop, Thomas W. 

Braman, James M. 

Barnes, Pardon 

Burrows, Eleazer W. 

Brown, Charles 

Benedict, Stephen 

Benedict, Thomas J. 

Benedict, David H. 

Benedict, Stephen G. 

Ballon, William 

Ballon, Willard 

Bennett, Josepfi 

Brown, Gideon 

Brown, Ebenezer 

Brown, Arnold 

Briggs, James 

JJarney, William C. 

Ballon, William J. 

Bradford, Willurd 
33 



Buxton, Charles 
Buxton, Rnfns 
Buxton, Thomas 
Buxton, Aaron 
Busher, Samuel 
Bellows, James 
Butler, William 
Brown, Daniel 
Bradford, Sabin 
Ballon, Warren 

Not qualified. 

Carpenter, Allen 
Chase, Thomas 
Colvin, Albert 

Clarke, Charles 

Carter, Abel 

Cummings, Wm. 

Cole, Jonathan D, 

Chase, Nelson 

Crosbee, Geo. W. 

Croswell, Theophilus 

Chase, Lulher 

Chandler, Enos 

Collins, Thomas, jr. 

Crosbee, Daniel B. 

Clatke, John B. 

Cole, Ariel 

Crosbee, Aurelius 

Curtis, John 

Crowell, Joseph 

Grossman, John W. 

Colwell, Willard 

Gushing, Benj. 

Grossman, Emery 

Collins, Heman S. 
Cook, Reuben 
Collins, Daniel J. 
Cunliff, Giles M. 
Claflin, Charles J. 
Cory, Christopher 
Chase, Moses 
Croplee, Elisha 
Cady, Edmund 
Collins, Ephraim 
Crossbee, Wm. H. 
Crandall, Lorenzo 
Crandall, Chas. C. 
Carpenter, Richard 
Carpenter, Richard, jr. 



514 



Rep, No. 546. 



SMITHFIELD— Continued. 



Cummins, John 
Cooke, John L. 
Cooke, Warren 
Chamberlin, James 
Clarke, Preston H. 
Champlin, Daniel 
Carlton, Daniel 
Cooper, Thos. J. 
Conkey, Isaac G. 
Carpenter, Daniel 
Corser, Benj. 
Corey. Caleb A. 
Collins, Kufus 
Curtis, Joseph 
Carr, Daniel 
Cash, David 
Collins, Thomas 
Collins, Simon 
Cummings, James R. 
Casey, Gideon 
Clarke, Nelson L. 
Cole, Sisson 
Cobbett, Isaac 
Cutting, David F. 
Collins, Joseph 
Cuzzine, Geo. J. 
Cushing, Nicholas 
Clarke, John 
Chase, Alfred B. 
Cutting, Caleb 
Col well, David 
Cooke, Oliver C. 
Cooper, Chester 
Corey, Daniel N. 
Corey, Marvin 
Grossman, Noah 

Qualified. 

Clarke, Andrew Y. 
Grossman, Alpheus 
Grossman, Chas. P. 
Clarke, David 
Cole, Jonathan 
Cole, Geo. D. 
Carpenter, John J. 
Chase, Samupl 
Carr, Weaver 
Cummings, Pardon J, 
Cummings, Geo. T, 



Crossbee, Benj. 
Coe, Alden 
Capron, Joseph, jr. 
Cardon, Dunleonard 
Chase, Alex. B. 
Cowden, Jason 
Collins, Prince 
Clarke, Randall B. 
Cooke, Albert 
Copeland, Geo. H. 
Clarke, Alfred C. 
Coe, Emor 
Coe, Robt. A. W. 
Cooke, Lyman 
Carr, Henry 
Chase, Allen 
Crapon, Thos. G. 
Copeland, Joseph 

Not qualified. 

Dean, Aratus 
Dean, Brigham 
Dickerson, John 
Dawley, Farnum 
Devereux, Elisha O. 
Davis, John D. 
Davis, Wm. 
Dexter. Benj. 
Daniels, Benj. 
Dickerson, Ebenezer 
Davis, Thomas 
Davis, Stephen T. 
Darling, Lewis 
Drake, John 
Dow, Geo. W. 
Dunsley, Wm. W. 
Dean, Calvin 
Dean, Edward 
Dudley, Abel 
Dean, Listl 
Devereux, James 
Davis, John 
Davis, Benj. 
Davis, Nathan 
Day, Austin G. 
Drury, Levi W. 
Darling, Alvin 
Darling, Cordis 



. No. 546. 



51S 



SMITHFIELD-Continued. 



Darling, Joshua 
Dean, jfames 

Qualified. 

Day, Elijah 
Dexter, Francis M. G. 
Dolly, Solomon 
Davis Stephen 
Davidson, Wm. M. 
Diirfee, David 
Daniels, David 
Dick, George 
Darling, Willis 
Daniels, John M. 
Dampney, John 

Noi qualified. 

*Eggleston, Asa 
Ellis, Amos 
Erson, James W. 
El kins, Edward 
Earle, Hiram 
Earle, R-ilph 
Evans, Benj, jr. 
Elliot, Nath. 
Elliot, Daniel 
Emmons, Alfred J. 
Ellsbree, James 
Earle, Albert 
Earle, Wm. 
Earle, John F. 
Easton, Alvan 
Esten, Randall 
Ellsbree, Wm. 
Edge, Thomas P. 
Enches, Benj. 
Enches, Dexter R. 
Enches, Jesse F. 
Edson, Benj. 
Eastwood, James 

Qualijied. 

Enches, Thomas 
Ellis, John 
Esten, Diitee 
Eggleston, John W. 



Not qualified. 

Freeman, B. Fuller 
Florence, John 
Finn, Thomas 
Fuller, Thos. P. 
Fuller, Geo. W. 
Foster, James J. 
Fiske, Emory 
Fuller, Henj. 
Fisher, Howard 
Fenner, Henry G. 
Freeman, Caleb 
Freeman, Mason 
Fuller, Wm. 
Fuller, Nathan, jr. 
Fuller, Amos 
Fuller, Lorenzo D. 
Fuller, Nathan 
Fuller, Joshua 
Fuller, T. R. 
Fairbrother, Pritchard 
Fairbtjuks, James 
Field, Ira 
f^ristall, Olney 
Freeman, Willard 
Franklin, Ebenezer 
Flood, Arthur 
Fanning, Chas. H. 
Fisher, Elius 
Foster, James 
Ford, Joseph 
Fuller, Zachary 
Fuller, Caleb 
Follett, Randall 
Flagg, Benj. 
Fisher, Chas. L. 

Qualified. 

Follet, Leonard 
Follet, Isaac 
Follet, Lewis 
Follet, Leonard J. 
Fenner, John 
Farnum, Chas. A. 
Faxon, El bridge G. 
Farnum, David 



516 



Rep. No. 546. 



SMITHFIELD— Continued. 



Not qualified. 

Gorton, Oliver C. 
Greene, James G. 
Greene, Satn. L. 
Greene, Henry L. 
Greene, Gto. F. H. 
Gardiner, Samuel 
Gardiner, Nath. F. 
Gardiner, Wm. H. 
Gilmore, Avery 
Gilniore, Elbridge 
Gilmnre, Gorton 
GifFord, Alpheus 
Goffe, Am? sa C 
Goffe, Luther W. 
Ga2;e, Richard B. 
Gordon, Charles S. 
Gordon, Geo. 
Goffe, Ephraim 
Gardiner, Nelson 
Gardner, William 
Gaskill, George B. 
Guild, Oiis G. 
Gleason. Hiram 
Gilford, Roboit 
Gorton, Lewis E. 
Grey, Joshua 
Gross, Samuel A. 
Gregory, Ehsha 
Guild, Hen;an 
Garrett, Benjamin 
Grinnell, Simeon 
Grinnell, James 
Gatchell, John 
Gould, Oiis 
Garrett, Ezekiel 
Greene, Benjamin 
Greene, Augustus 
Greene, Scammel 
Greene, Israel 
Greene, Alien 
Greene, David 
Greene, Benjamin P. 
Greenman, Edward 
Guild, Loring C. 

Qualijied. 

Godfrey, Aldrich 



Grant, Preston 
Green, William A. 
Gifforcl, Freeman 
Gifford, Seih B. 
Greyson, Thomas 
Gorton, Israel R. 
Greene, Alexander G=- 
Greene, Benjamin F. 
Greene, William 
Gardiner, David N. 
Godrey, Bradford 
Greene, William A. 
Gonley, John 

A^ot qiialijied. 

Hammond, Amos 
Harris, David 
Harrington, Jonathan 
Hubbard, James 
Hawkins, Eleazer 
Harris, ]ra 
Hawkms, Elijafi C. 
Hutchinson, Stephen 
Harris, Mason 
Haywood, James 
Hawkes, A.-x 
Hicks, Jacob 
Hutchitison, Francis 
Hawkins, Arnold 
Holmes, William 
Holmes, Harvey 
Hudson, Stephen 
Harriuiideen, Wanton 
Holt, George W. 
Holmes, Ebenczer M. 
Harlow, Calvin 
Horton, Nathan S. 
Harrington, Edward V, 
Harradon, Jeremiah 
Hix, Benjamin 
Hayden, William 
Hathaway, Jeremiah 
Harlow, William A. 
Harvey, John A. J. 
Humes, Daniel 
Harris, Daniel 
Hoxie, Arnold 
Hill, Edward 
Hill, Daniel 



Rep. No. 546. 



mr 



SMlTHFlELD-Continu?cl. 



Hayden, Daniel W. 
Humes, George 
Humes, Ezra 
Hutchinsoij, Simon 
Heiidrick, Thomas 
Haywood, Gordon N. 
Hutchens, Samuel 
Hill, James 
Higgins, Solomon 
Howard, Shubael 
Horton, Nathan 
Horton, Thomas 
Hawkins, Smith 
Hill, Leonard 
liood, Joseph 
Hill, William A. 
Higgins, Zebina 
Hopkins, Willis 
Humes, Raymond 
Haraden, Hiram 
Harris, Sanford 
Han nay, Samuel 
Hale, Jabez R. 
Hill, George B. 
Hoxie, Arnold 
Hurd, Dean 
Harrington, Selh 
Hudson, M. VV. 
Haywood, Richard 
Haywood, WiHiam 
Hawkins, Otis 
Hathaway, Joseph R. 
Howiand, Sears 
Harris, William 
Hammond, John A. 
Hendrick, William 
Hawkins, John H. 
Harris, Woodbury C. 
Harris, Smith 
Hill, William, jr. 
Harding, Timothy L. 
Horton, Ambrose 
Hawkins, George 
Harwood, Byron 
Hill, George W. 
Hicks, Augustus 
Handy, Ebenezer 
Hendrick, Horace 
Holden, Havilah 
Hutchinson, Cyrus B, 



Hewett, Allen 
Howard, Joseph 
Haliburton, George • 
Holbrook, Cephas 
Handy, Elisha 
Harrington, William 
Holmes, David 
Harris, Jeremiah 
Hend, Oliver 
Horton, John 

Qualified. 

Hoskins, Abijah 
Humes, Henry S. 
Holley, Wm. P. 
Hendrick, Wing 
Hasten, JoshuaG. 
Holbrook, Wilder 
Harris, Daniel G. 
Hutchinson, Burrill 
Hendrick, Daniel 
Harris, Benjamin 
Handy, Philip F. 
Hill, Ebenezer A. 
Holman, Ansel 
Hathaway, Pardon 
Harkness, Souihwick 
Harkness, James 
Harris, Albert T. 
Harris, Edwin 
Hakes, Jesse 
Holley, Abner 
Harris, David J. 
Hakes, Nelson 
Holley, Rufus 
Hunt, Daniel 
Hutchinson, William 
Hutchinson, William B. 
Harris, Simon 
Harris, Alexander 
Harris, Welcome 
Harris, George 
Howard, William 
Harris, Farnum 
Holbrook, Moses K. 
Hurd, Freeman 

Not qualified. 

Ide, Ebenezer 



^18 



Rep. No. 546. 



SMITHFIELD-Cominued. 



Irons, William 
Irons, Arthur 
Inman, W. S. 
Irons!, Amasa 
Inman, Jonathan 
Ives, Nelson 

Qualified. 

Irons, Harris M. 
Inman, Joseph 
Inman, Rebiies 
Inman, Daniel, jr. 

Not qualified. 

Jacobs, Nathaniel P. 
Jacques, James 
Jenckes, Jeremiah 
Jillson, William D. 
Jenckes, Hosea 
Jostin, Charles 
Jacques. Isaac 
Johnson, William 
Jenckes, George W. C» 
Jenckes, John, od 
Jones, William H. 
Johnson, Aibro 
Johnson, Sumner R. 
Jepherson, Reuben 
Jacobs, Benjamin 

Qualified, 

Johnson, George 
Jenckes, George 
Jenckes, Joseph 
Jenckes, Arnold 
Jenckes, James H, 
Jenckes, Rufus 
Jeffers, Thomas 

Not qualified. 

Kent, Henry H. 
Kimball, John J. 
Kendall, William H. 
Keecl), Daniel 
Kingman, Charles 
Keech, Joram 



Keech, Stephen 
Keith, Artemas 
Knight, Waterman 
Kibbe, Harry 
Kimball, Daniel 
Kerr, James 
Kingman, Cassander 
Knapp, Moses B. 
Keen, Daniel M. 
Kent, Henry B. 
Keen, William W. 
Kimball, Stephen 

Qualified. 

Kendall, Daniel 
Keene, John 
Kook, Sylvanus 
Knapp, Joseph 
Knight, Alfred 
Knight, Harden 
Keech, Alfred, jr. 
King, OIney 
Keene, John S. 
Kinneconi, George H. 
Knight, Daniel 

Not qualified. 

Leach, Lebbeus 
Luther, John W. 
Lewis, Horace D. 
Lacy, Augustus W. 
Landers, Charles S. 
Latham, Arthur 
Leach, John 
Luther, Hiram 
Lee, Mason 
Latham, Andrew B. 
Legg, Allen 
Lawrence, Adam 
Linkfield, Benjamin 
Lewis, Daniel 
Latham, Horatio 
Leonard, Carleton 
Lyon, Asa 
Lewis, James 
Luther, Calvin 
Lawrence, Jabez 
Lewis, Albert 



Rep. No. 546. 



SMITHFIELD-Continued, 



Luther, Daniel W. 
l.eggett, William M. 
Leech, Lebbeus 
Lochlin, James 
Lewis, Enoch 
Lewis, Foster 

(Qualified. 

Latham, Elisha 
Latham, Zebina 
Lapliam, Scott 
Lapham, Mowry 
Lockwood, Amos D. 
Luke, Sylvester 
Luther, Jeremiah 

Not qualified. 

Mason, William A. 
Mathewson, Riley P. 
Munyan, Marcus 
Morse, Joseph 
Marsh, Warren 
Mowry, Dutee, 3d 
Marsh, Joel 
Mason, Stephen N. 
Marvel, Ira 
Macklin, George 
Mouse, James H. 
Miller, Simeon 
Megget, Alexander 
Mowry, Aldrich 
Mowry, Newell 
Mowry, Albert 
Mowry, Henry 
Mowry, Scott S. 
Morse, Thomas 
Manchester, James 
Man ton, Wm. H. 
Merry, Joseph H. 
Morse, Moses 
Mason, Wilber 
Merry, Steward 
Miller, John R. 
Medbury, Benjamin D. 
Mowry, John O. 
Mowry, Wm. G. R. 
Mathev/son, Smith 
Martin, Benjamin 
Moies, Miles G. 
Mansfield, John F. 



Manning, Asa 
Mowry, John D. 
Miller, Seth S. 
Monroe, James 
Manchester, JS'iles 
Marsh, John 
Mason, Asa jr. 
Mowry, Whipple B. 
Maynard, Elmer N, 
Millard, George 
Martin, Remember 
Miller, Aaron 
Mann, William 
McCartney, James 
Mowry, Wm, R. 
Moffit, Caleb 
Mallory, Samuel S. 
McBlain, George 
Mclntire, Sylvester 
Marker, Charles 
Muzzy, Elisha 
Martin, James 
Mason, Miller 
Manning, Isaac 
Morse, Alfred 
Mann, Bonaparte 
Mann, Henry 
Martin, John 
Manly, Charles 
Mason, William 
Marsh, Silas 
Marsh, Simeon 
Marsh, Nahum 
Matteson, Ray 
Mowry, Darius 

Qualified. 

Mowry, Ahaz,jr. 
Mason, William 
Mowry, Charles C. 
Mathewson, Mansa 
Mowry, Eliakim 
Mowry, Jesse 
Mowry Ulvsses 
Mowry, Philip 
Mowry, Richard 
Mowry, William G. 
Mowry, Fenncr 
Mowry, John, 2d 
Mowry, Smith. 2d 



520 



Rep. No. 546. 



SMITHFIELD-Continued. 



Mo wry, Benedict 
Mowry, Edward C. 
Mowry, Welcome, jr. 
Mowry, David B. 
Mann, Thomas 
Mason, Asa 
Miller, Joab 
Mansfield, Henry S. 
Mowry, Sylvester, 2d 
Mowry, Nathaniel, 2d 
Mowry, Welcome F. 
Mowry, Edwin W. 
Mann, Stafford 
Marsh, Metcalf 
Mowry, Olney 
Mowry, Esek 
Mowry, Jona. 
Mowry, Burrell R. 
Mowry, Smith R. 
Mowry, Asa E. 
Mowry, Foster 
Mowry, Levi B. 
Mowry, Mark A. 
Mowry, Welcome 
Mowry, Welcome, 2d 
Mowry, William 
Marvin, John B. 
Mann, Job S. 
Mowry, Jesse T. 
Mowry, Lievi 
McCan, James 

Not qualified. 

Nickerson, Stephen 
INickerson, Dean 
Nickerson, Leonard 
Nickerson, Clifford P. 
Niles, Ephraim 
Newell, Nelson 
Nickerson, William 
Nickerson, Isaac 
Nason, Delmont 
Norton, Henry H. 
Nichols, Reuben 
Nichols, Albert 
Nichols, Jonathan 
Newton, Simeon 

Qualified. 

Nickerson, Caleb M. 
Newman, Benjamin M. 



Not qualified. 

Oalley, John 
Osten, Henry 

Qualified. 

Owen, Thomas J. 
Olney, Emor 

Not qualified. 

Potter, John 
Poor, Nathan 
Paine, Mowry 
Pate, Rowland 
Pierce, James B. 
Phetteplace, Thaddeus 
Phetteplace, Allen 
Phetteplace, Chad 
Phetteplace, Otis 
Phetteplace, George 
Phetteplace, David 
Palsey, Alanson 
Parker, George W. 
Plummer, John 
Peck, Joshua 
Parish, Charles 
Pooke. Milton 
Place,'H. N. F. 
Potter, Joseph S. 
Perry, John 
Pitsley, Joseph 
Paine, Pliny P. 
Paine, Angell 
Pitsley, Alexander 
Pitsley, Joseph B. 
Pierce, James M. 
Pierce, John 
Pierce, David N. 
Phillips, Nathan 
Phillips, Lewis 
Phillips, Arnold F. 
Phillips, Nathaniel 
Phillips, Stephen 
Pierce, Isaac 
Pierce, Asahel 
Perrin, Otis 
Potter, B. A. 
Pate, Jeremiah 
Pierce, John 



Rep. No. 546. 



521 



SMITHFIELD-Continiied. 



Pierce, Bar nil m 
Pholly, Albert 
Phinney, Warren 
Perry, William W. 
Pierce, Henry G. 
Paine, Horace A. 
Phillips, John 
Potter, Arnold 
Palsey, Virgil M. 
Perkins, William A. 
Perkins, William F. 
Pierce, Henry G. 2d 
Pritchard, Knott 
Plummer, Marvin 
Potter, Horace 
Paine, Ephraim 
Paine, Mathewson VV. 
Pritchard, William 
Parish, Burnham 
Paine, Smith W. 
Potter, Ira 
Place, Lewis 
Paine, Ftnner 
Paine, Oliver 
Prince, George 

Qualified. 

Paine, David N. 
Phetteplace, Thurston E. 
Paine, Ephraim 
Perry, Stephen 
Phillips, Welcome A. 
Phetteplace, Nev/ell 
Phetteplace, Benjamin 
Phetteplace, Dutee 
Pate, Simon 
Pate, William J. 
Pate, Jabel 
Paine, Nahum B. 
Pinkerton, Thomas 
Paine, Noah 
Pierce, Daniel 
Polsey, Abner 
Pooke, Edward 
Peck, Noah S. 
.Pitts, Joseph 
Pitts, James 
Paine, Daniel 
Paine, Paris L. 



Paine, Abel 
Prentis, William 
Phetteplace, Simon W. 
Paine, John 

A^ot qualified. 

Q,uimby, Samuel 
Q,uiston, Robert M. 

Not qualified 

Remrich, Angustus 
Reynolds, Thomas P. 
Rogers, Solomon 
Reed, William 
Rogers. Benjamin 
Rathbun, John 
Roberts, John 
Richardson, N. H. 
Reed, Anson 
Reed, William B. 
Reynolds, Allen 
Reynolds, Robert 
Rathbun, Nathan 
Rogers, Solomon, jr. 
Reed, James 
Radcalf, William C. 
Roberts, Ebenezer 
Reynolds, Arnold 
Rogers, Warren 
Richmond, Edward 
Randale, Simeon 
Roys, Benedict 
Robinson, Andrew 
Robinson, James K. 
Remington, William 
Richardson, Charles 
Rounds, Freeman 
Ric'iardson, Isaac A. 
Ross, Frederick 

Qualified. 

Randall, Shadrach 
Robinson, Whipple 
Robinson, William 
Ray, Joseph C. 
Ray, Samuel 
Randall, Dexter 



d22 



Rep. No. 546. 



SMITHFIELD-Gonlinued. 



Reed, John 
Reed, George 
Reddy, Michael 
Reddy, Edward 
Remington, James M, 
Robinson, John S. 

Not qualified. 

Stebbins, Charles F. 
Spencer, Edward 
Sahsbury, George E» 
Stratford, Charles J. 
Sayles, William 
Sherman, Silas E. 
Sherman, N. K. 
Smith, Israel A. 
Smith, Isaac 
Smith, Reuben 
Sayles, John E. 
Sears, James P. 
Stras, Stedman W. 
Saunders, Thomas 
Smith, Clarke 
Studley, Freeman 
Sweet, Waterman 
Smith, Palmer 
Sherman, Ebenezer 
Staples, Sylvanus 
Simmons, Eleazer 
Stone, Benoni 
Sweetland, Thomas 
Snow, Levi M. 
Snell, Thomas 
Sheter, Thomas 
Sherman, Preserved 
Sherman, James B. 
Smith, Brown 
Shove, Samuel 
Smith, Good 
Smith, George W. A. 
StearnS; Michael 
Simmons, Daniel 
Sisson, Abner C. 
Smith, Michael 
Stearns, Francis 
Salisbury, Benoni 
Stearns, Micah 
Staples, Arnold 
Speak, William 



Sprague, Benjamin 
Shaw, John, jr. 
Salisbury, Stephen 
Sayles, Seth 
Stanley, David F. 
Smith, Charles 
Smith, Marshall 
Smith, Amasa 
Sweetser, George 
Sherman, Waterman 
Stutely, Henry 
Stone, Lewis 
Stimpson, Lovett 
Sibley, James 
Sweetser, Warren 
Smith, Welcome 
Spencer, Jason 
Salisbury, Charles 
Smith, Henry M. 
Salisbury, John 
Smith, Amasa 
Streeter, Nathaniel 
Simons, Edward 
Sibley, Elbridge G. 
Sweet, Anthony 
Salisbury, William 
Smith, Anan B. 
Streeter, David W. 
Slater, Stephen 
Sweetzer, Charles 
Sanborn, Stephen 
Salisbury, Charles 
Smith, A. B. 
Slater, Stephen, jr. 
Salisbury, Reuben 
Simmons, Levi 
Sherman, John B. 
Simmons, Sandford 
Sweet, Richard 
Stearns, George 
Sheperson, James W. 
Snooks, Barney 
Smith, Gardner 
Smith, Josliua B. 
Smith, Daniel 
Sweetland, Thomas 
Slade, Stephen 
Sayles, Daniel 
Staples, George 
Sears, Thomas 



Rep. No. 546. 



1^ 



SxMITHFIELD-ContiHued. 



Sherman, Henry 
Stoddard, Benjamin G, W. 
Sherman, Benjamin 
Sturtevanf, Francis 
Slocum, Samuel G. 
Searle, Benjamin G. 
Stafford, Foster H. 
Stafford, Rufus J. 
Smith, Amasa 
Spear, Benjamin 
Smith, Elisha 
Seagrave, Edward F. 
Smith, Elisha 
Smith, George 
Streeter, Van R. 
Shove, Thomas F. 
Sayles, Smith, 2d 
Shippee, George 
Smith, Charles A. 
Spooner, Asa D. 

Qualified. 

Sweet, Daniel A. 
Sherman, Steniien A. 
Sayles, Richard 
Smith, George W. 
Sayles, Benjamin, 2d 
Smith, Emor H. 
Stafford, Christopher G. 
Sayles, Clarke 
Smith, Edward 
Smith, Stephen 
Smith, Dow 
Sayles, Welcome 
Sayles, Stephen 
Smith, Elisha 
Smith, Jin 
Smith, Orrin 
Spaulding, John N. 
Stiness, George G. 
Streeter, Alfred 
Stone, Henry 
Spear, Arnold 
Sayles, Welcome B. 
Sherman, P(Meg B. 
Sherman, Eleazer 
Sayles, Israel 
Sweet, Albert 
Smith, Silas 



Smith, Wanton 
Smith, Ahel 
Slocum, William 
Spear, Seth 
Smith, Simon 
Smith, Elijah 
Smith, Emor 
Sayles, Orrin 
Southwick, Eber 
Sayles, Madison 
Smith, Russell 
Swan, William 

Not qualified. 

Taylor, Charles M. 
Trafton, John 
Thompson, Benjamin 
Thompson, Nahum W. 
Tillinghast, Henry G. 
Thompson, Hiram 
Thompson, Ellis 
Thompson, John 
Thompson, Henry L. 
Taylor, Henry 
Tyler, Timothy 
Tourtellot, Lebbeus C. 
Tyler, Gardiner 
Tyler, John 
Taber, Lawton 
Thompson, Horatio T, 
Taber, Stephen H. 
Taft, Lyman A. 
Tobey, Archelaus 
Tobey, William 
Thornton, James 
Tucker, Amasa T, 
Tiffany, Charles A. 
Taft, Henry 
Thayer, Hiram 
Taylor, Edward G. 
Taft, Abner P. 
Thayer, Smith 
Tilden, James B. 
Tucker, William 
Taylor, Dexter 
Thorp, Comfort B. 
Terry, Seth W, 
Thurber, Albert D. 
Thompson, William A. 



524 



Rep. No. 546. 



SMITHFIELD-Continued. 



Thompson, Daniel C. 
Taylor, Timothy A. 
Tift, Rufus W. 
Taylor, Cyrus B. 
Tiffany, Joseph 
Thayer, Laban 
Tripp, Abiel 
Taft, Royal K. 
Taft, Bailey 
Thayer, John W. 
Thayer, Samuel W. 
Tift, Arnold 
Tallmai), John 

Qualified. 

Tracy, Ralph 
Tanner, Silas 
Taft, Elias 
Taber, Isaac 
Taber, Benjamin P. 
Taber, William B. 
Todd, Albert 
Turner, Joshua 
Thornton, Waterman 
Taft, Nelson 
Tucker. Jackson 
Tucker, Elhanan 
Tucker, Samuel P. 
Trowbridge, Horace 
Taft, Amasa 
Thayer, Smith 

Not qualified. 

Usher, Willard 
Usher, Elisha M. 

Qualified. 

Usher, James S. 

Not qualified. 

Vallett, Wanton 
Vallett, Barton 
Yallett, David 
Vannevar, John 
Vickery, Abiel, jr. 
Vaughn, William N. 
Vose, Amariah 



iualificd. 



Vickery, William 
Varney, Andrew J. 
Vars, John 
Vose, Alanson 
Vose, Selh H. 

Not qualified. 

Welden, Enoch 
Wight, George A. 
Woodward, Nicholas 
Wood, Allen 
Whitaker, Harris 
Walderson, Everett 
Wilmarth, Albert T. 
Whipple, Charles 
Wilbur, Jonathan S. 
Watson, Caleb 
Weatherhead, Alfred 
Wakefield, Jeremiah 
Wheelock, Dennis 
Wood, John 
Winsor, Edward M. 
Walcott, Palemon 
Westcott, Harley 
Wilbur, Oliver T. 
Webb, Joseph 
Waterman, Albert 
Wilson, Benjamin 
Wright, Amasa Z. T. 
Williams, James 
Warden, Jona. L. 
Wilmarth, Hiram 
Wilmarth, Lyman 
Wilmarth, Joseph 
Wilmarth, Theophilus W. 
Wilmarth, Joseph, jr. 
Weatherhead, Avery F. 
Whitman, Benjamin T. 
Woodward, Samuel E. 
Wood, Samuel 
Watson, Champlin 
Westcott, George N. 
Wheeler, Philip M. 
White, Asa 
Westcott, Caleb 
White, Samuel O. 
Wood, J. O. 



Rep. No. 546. 



525 



SMITHFIELD-Continued. 



White, Welcome 
Wilmartlj, Eben 
Wilbonr, Cliristoplier 
Wilbonr, Lawrence 
West, Brownell 
Williams, David 
W^atson, Buffiim 
Watson, Lyman 
Ward, Thomas 
Wright, Joel 
Wiley. Alonzo A. 
West, Bradford 
Williams, Benjamin 
White, Melatiah 
Welden, Warren 
Whipple, George R. 
Williams, Simon 
Wood, Abram 
Wilbur, Gilbert 
West, Isaac 
Wliipple, Levi 
Weld, Tyler 
Wheeler, Jonathan 
Webber, George 
Wood, George 
Wheelock, Silas 
Wilbonr, Daniel ' 
Wheaton, William S. 
Wilbur, Stephen R. 
Williams, Jeremiah 

Qualijied. 

Whipple, Olney A. 
Wilbur, David 
Wright, Orrin 
Walker, Dudley 
Wriglit, Stephen 
Welden, Prince 
Wilbur, Daniel, jr. 
White, John J. 
Walker, Harris 



Whipple, Ferdinand 
Weaver, Archibald B. 
Weatherhead, Daniel 
Wilmarth, Jabez 
Wilkinson, David S. 
Whipple, Ahab 
Wilkinson, John J. 
Waterman, Royal 
Worrall, John 
Wilkinson, William 
Whipple, Arthur 
Wilkinson, Isaac 
West, William, jr. 

Not qualified. 

Young, Martin 
Young, Charles 
Young, Alphens 
Yearnshaw, Thomas 
Yearnshaw, John 
Young, Charles 
Young, Israel 
Young-, Daniel 
Young, Thomas 
Young, Othniel 
Young, Seth P. 
Yearnshaw, William 

Qualijied. 

Young, William 
Young, Jeremiah J. 



Q,ualified, 381 for 

Do. 1 against 

Not qualified, 956 

Total, 1,338 



556 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 108. 

VOTERS IN CUMBERLAND, PROVIDENCE COUNTY. 



George Jenckes 
Sylvanus Thayer 
Whipple Joslin 
Windsor Wheelock 
Leonard Joslin 
John Cheesebrough 
David D. Kent 
William Treadweil 
Mark Kelley 
John Burnham 
Sabin P. Pond 
Elijah A. Sherman 
Cyril R. Grant 
Ahiman W. Arnold 
Ariel Ballou 
David A. Colvin 
Linus M. Harris 
Joseph A. Gladding 
Warren J. Ballou 
George J. (^^hambers 
George G. Greene 
George W. Herrick 
Elias~ Cobb 
James Kelley 
Eleazer Wight 
Warren White 
Clinton Puffer 
Philip W. Capron 
Elisha Addington 
Daniel Pierce, jr. 
Joseph D. Brown 
David Curtis 
Welcome J. Bartlett 
Nelson Steere 
John M. Eastman 
Silas Bennett 
William A. Jenckes 
William B. Hopkins 
George W. Kelley 
Samuel Day 
William B. Shove 
Kinsley Carpenter 
ISailian P. Hopkins 
Ezttkiel Cook 
Ebenezer "Warren 
William P. Chapman 
Henrv Green man 
John S. D. Grant 



Martin S. Saunders 
Lyman Cook 2d 
David Burchard 
Nelson Maxson 
George W. Davis 
Jenckes Harris 
James Shepardson 
Elijah Carpenter 
Anthony G. Randall 
Asa Bowdish 
Abner Ravvson 
Lebbeus Cook 
Calvin Mason 
Aaron Mowry 
Sutton Jillson 
Jeremiah Goffe 
Dan A. Daniels 
Dan King 
Erastus P. Cole 
David Greene 
John King 
George Mclntire 
Samuel N. French 
Charles W. Darling 
Andrew Pucker, jr. 
Gardner Smith 
Robert P. Williams 
Seth Mowry, jr. 
Joseph Nason 
Charles W. Underhil. 
Aaron White, jr. 
William O. Bartlett 
Charles A. Scott 
Samuel Merriara 
Edwin 1. Gerry 
Edwin Mason 
Richard Kelly 
Wanton Greene 
Gideon Harris 
James Carroll 
Smith Burlingnme 
Comfort Eddy 
Amos Follett 
James Wilkinson 
William Smith 
Alanson S. Daniels 
Benjamin M. Darling 
Emory Arnold 



Rep. No. 546. 



m^ 



CUMBERLAND— Continued. 



Amos Grant 
Elijah Smith 
Albert C. Vose 
Horatio Siockbridge 
Sampson Chase 
Charles Greene 
William A. Knowlton 
Mo wry Colwell 
Jeremiah Phillips 
John H. Flint 
Waterman Hopkins 
William J. Olney 
Asa Sargent, sr. 
Dudley Keach 
Simeon Mclntire 
John Mowry 
Rnfns A. Younff 
George M. Streeter 
Richard Moore 
William Greenman 
Henry Dick 
Jonathan Ballon 
Asa Johnson 
Adin D. Sargent 
William B. Robbins 
Joshua Nickerson 
Willard Ballou 
George W. Mowry 
Willis Wales 
Sylvester Alhee 
Albert Sweet 
Horace M. Pierce 
Bethuel A. Slocum 
Eber Barllett 
Stephen Whitman 
Joseph P. Sweet 
Joseph G. Wells 
Amos Williams 
John A. Corey 
Jerry A. Olney 
Charles Dean 
Henry P. Green 
Persia W. Whitaker 
Warren Grant 
Caleb Mathews 
Charles W. Gates 
Obadiah Kimball, jr, 
Sheffield Maxson 
Flavel S. Caswell 
Otis Hawkins 



Stephen Rounds 
Lowell F. Cole 
Samuel Cruff 
Willis Young 
Ambrose Norton 
Samuel Crapon 
Henry Sampson 
Avery Waterman 
Benjamin B. Slade 
John Sawyer 
John Fuller 
William Bray 
Thomas Mague 
George W. Harrison 
John Lynch 
Sterry Hopkins 
Charles E. Richards 
William Ross 
John Fiske 
Thomas Wilbur 
George B. Brown 
William H. Whitaker 
Zera Clough 
William P. Noyes 
Alfred Hixon 
John E. Brown 
Barton Darling 
Jesse Ennis 
Sidney S. Paul 
Michael McCowan 
Levi Day 
Thomas Nason 
Francis C. Gardiner 
James Wood 
Richard Aldrich 
Marvel Aldrich 
Henry Brown, jr. 
Abraham Honghton 
Stafford Northup 
John S. Smith 
Smith Young 
Robert Blanchard 
Libeus Gaskell 
Christopher C. Gates 
Elisha Aldrich 
Anthony S. Fletcher 
Timothy S. Walker 
Daniel Hubbard 
Daniel Wescott 
Sampson Chase, jr. 



528 



Rep. No. 546. 



CUMBERLAND— Continued. 



Oliver Rose 
Edward R. Walker 
Isaac N. Cook 
Lorenzo D. Davis 
Timothy A. Andrews 
Welcome Jillson 
Samuel Davis 
Alexander S. Streeter 
Amos H. Maxson 
Benjamin F. Crandall 
Isaac Ellsbree 
Dexter Wescott 
David Vickery 
Orramel Jones 
Ozias iM. Morse 
Nahnm Mowry 
iSathaniel Morrill 
Warren Ballou 
Oliver W. Reynolds 
Asahel Mann 
Hela T. Chase 
Jonathan 13. Wood 
Wilham H. Shackleford 
Nathaniel W. Whiting 
Hiram J. Buffingtoii 
Stiikely S. Waterman 
Anderson Gorton 
Moses P. Keith 
Eugene J. Martin 
StilTman Kendrick 
Arnold Jillson 
Ottewill Worrall, jr. 
James Burchard 
Anson Darling 
Nelson Jenckes 
Nathaniel Nason 
Allen Gary 
Nahwm Sireeter 
Joseph Burlingame 
John D. Hunting 
Albert Darling 
David Brio:gs 
John Gordon 
Leonard Hyer 
George L. Bartlelt 
Elisha Smith 
Ebenezer Cook 
Stephen Bartlett 
Jonathan Sweet 
Fenner Salisbury 



George Scott 

Albert L. Smith 

George Hood 

Jairus Lawrence 

Thomas J. Keach 

Enos White 

Elbridge G. Greene 

James Albee 

Asel Goffe 

Jerauld O. Wilcox 

Elias Balcome 

Olney Burlingame 

Elias Bnrdick 

Simon Keith 

Benon L. Goldthwait 

Lewis B. Arnold 
Elijah C. Carpenter 

Lyman Mowry 

Joseph P. Arnold 

Stephen B, Whipple 

William C. Miinroe 

Seth Barilett 

Alfred Whiting 
Spencer Pratt 
James Corey 
John Ennis 

John Phinney 
William Randall 
James M. Rawson 
James Hopkins 
Thomas Knight 
Nelson Chase 
Perry Ballou 
John Cole 
Oliver A. Kelley 
Welcome Harrington 
Osmon Hathaway 
Eras! us Keach 
Liberty E. Weld 
Amos Darling 
Charles M. Hayden 
Thomas Harrington 
Thomas E. Davis 
Hawkins Mowry 
Reuben Huntress 
Abner Jillson 
Horace M. Nickerson 
Joshua O. Lewis 
Henry G. Ballou 
John Glackin 



Rep. No. 546. 



529 



CUMBERLAND— Continued. 



John Boodry 
Welcome Bartlett 
Jesse Shipper 
Horatio Stockbridge, jr. 
Increase Gatchell 
Ephraim Day 
Henry Estes 
Philip C. Scott 
Joseph Weeks 
Samuel Withrington 
Smith Cook 
William Bartlett 
Burgess T. Chase 
Benjamin Darling 
Caleb Carr 
Leprelel Fuller 
Darius Sibley 
Wilson Chase 
Augustus Adlington 
David Hill 
Ira Sibley 
Chesselden Bruce 
Mason Wales 
George Wilkins 
Charles Fates, jr. 
George C. Potter 
Thomas Russell 
Joseph R. Greene 
James Greene 
Alexander Smith 
Daniel F. Knapp 
Ezra Kenjpton, jr. 
Hosea Gaskill 
Stephen Borden 
Charles H. Stone 
John Washburn 
Moses Randall 
Aruna B. Armstrong 
Seth Peckham 
Samuel Baker 
David S. Wilder 
Jacob W. Saunders 
Alvin Arnold 
Burgess Chase 
William Cole 
William Joslin 
Levi T. Ballou 
William Carpenter 
Edwin K. Godfrey 
Benjamin H. Kimball 
34 



Layton F. FoUett 
Elijah Bartlett 
Whipple Cook, jr. 
James R. Case 
Horace Cleaveland 
Horace Gibson 
Amaziah Weatherhead 
James M. Whipple 
Stephen Farnum 
Hamilton T. Jillson 
William Lindley 
Benjamin Gardiner 
Jenckes Vallett 
Gideon Jenckes 
Oliver F. Ballou 
George Joslin 
Leonard Wakefield 
William T. Balcome 
Ephraim W. Cargill 
Stephen V. Whipple 
W^arren Weatherhead 
Jeremiah Jillson 
Israel Burlingame 
Pardon Angell 
Reuben Jenckes 
Ephraim Knapp 
Isaac Jenckes 
Leonard Whipple 
John A. Knovvlton 
Elisha Capron 
William Whipple 
George Capron 
Lyndon Cook 
James A. Wilkinson 
Daniel Arnold 
Henry Ray 
William Smith 
Stephen Dexter, 2d 
William Sprague, jr. 
Ichabod Howard 
James W. Ballou 
Olney Ballou 
Joseph A. Weatherhead 
Samuel E. Reynolds 
Cyrus Angell 
Otis M. Pickering 
Seth Harding 
Peter Darling 
Stephen Bennett 
Uriah Jillson 



580 



Rep. No. 546. 



CUMBERLAND- Con tin ued. 



William Wilkinson 
Fenner Brown 
Joseph A. Scott 
Daniel FoUett 
Horace T. Jillson 
Lyman Bnrlingame 
Knight Whipple 
Joseph Howard 
Samuel Weatherhead 
William Freeman 
El bridge G. Cook 
Ezra Blake 
Joseph Whipple 
Jeremiah Howard 
Sanford Jillson 
Freeman Salisbury 
Olis Whipple 
Welcome Whipple 
Thomas Carpenter 
Abner M. Black 
Lidon Adams 
Barton Whipple 
Lewis M. Hill 
Mial L.Thayer 
Horace Converse 
Israel Wheeler 
William H. Davis 
Abner Twining 
Harvey Ballou 
Timothy Guild 
James Weatherhead 
Daniel Weatherhead 
Wheaton Bly 
Willard Haskill 
James R. Whipple 
Calvin Richards 
Joseph E. Marble 
Whipple Weatherhead 
Abner Haskell 
Alfred Peck 
John W. Tingley 
Nelson C. Newell 
William Newell 
Richard Crowninshield 
David Alexander 
Joseph D. Weatherhead 
Jesse W. Franklin 
Martin Cooke 
Lebbeus R. Whipple 
Benjamin Razee 



Joseph Whipple, 2d 
William Sprague 
Dexter Clarke 
Willard Freeman 
Albert FoUett 
Samuel D. Clarke 
Whipple Razee 
Lewis Freeman 
Aaron Fisher 
William Crowninshield' 
Daniel Hayden 
Ellis Follelt 
Levi Cole 
Anson Grant 
Edward Ballou 
David Aldrich 
James Cole 
John Newell 
Henry D. Aldrich 
David B. Aldiich 
Lewis Jenckes 
Timothy Darling 
Columbia H. Tingley 
Joseph A. Razee 
Luther Follett 
William Razee 
Hosea F. Tingley 
Ira Alexander 
Stephen Tingley 
John Currier, jr. 
George Lapham 
John F. W. Clarke 
Elanson Tingley 
Willard Staples 
Alfred S. Whipple 
Jesse Ellis 
Jeremiah B. Harris 
William Howard 
Eliab Whipple 
William H. Drown 
Morris Frettee 
Edwin R. Arnold 
William M. Rawson, 
Elijah Brown 
James Jillson 
Daniel F. Ellis 
Laban Walden 
Albert Bishop 
Benjamin Abbott 
Addison Knight 



Rep. No. 546. 



CUMBERLAND— Contj'ftued. 



Riifus Hawkins 
Riifus Arnold 
Georofe Follelt 
Otis Mason 
Meletiah Hathaway 
Albert H. Trask 
Charles Fisher 
Samuel Howard 
Amasa Whipple 
Olney Whipple 
John H. Ray 
JNewton S.Ballou 
George Thomas 
William B. Smith , 
George W. Clarke 
Welcomtj R. Peck 
Bela Grant 
Nathaniel Newell 
Gustavns Alexander 
Richard Ellis 
Daniel Alexander 
William H. Whiting 
Rufus M. Hawkins" 
Mo wry Taft 
liaban Thayer 
Gladdins: O. Thompson 
James B. Miller 
Spauldmg Newell 
Dexter B. Shaw 
Obed Alexander 
Warren Grant 
William H. Carpenter 
Asa Pickering 
Stephen Alexander 
Lewis Arnold 
-Edwin H. Pickering 
Edwin Follett 
Samuel Clarke 
Lewis W. Cole 
Henry N. Thomas 
Samuel Walter 
William W. Howard 
James A. Crowninshield 
Whiting Haskell 
Willara Hawkins 
John M. Ray 
Wheaton B. Thomas 
Joel Hawkins 
Darwin Cook 
Ebenezer Crowninshield 



Lyman Carpenter 
Thomas B. Sheldon 
James A. Wilkinson 
James M. Carpenter 
Jonathan Peck 
Pardon Carpenter 
Jason Tower 
Jonathan Thayer 
Alfred Crowninshield 
Mason Pickerinsf 
Tisdale B. Thayer 
Samuel Hancock 
John M. Smith 
Charles Hancock 
George Ide 
Eliphaz Grant 
Johnson Burlingame 
Allen Haskell 
Otis M. Clarke 
John Fisher 
John B. Howard 
Daniel Whipple 
Lyman Follett 
Oliver Follelt 
Royal C. Whipple 
Jeremiah H;izleton 
Charles B. Carpenter 
William Hawkins 
Amos Whipple 
Henry N. Staples 
Horace Follett 
Abiel Brown 
Charles Thayer 
Clarke Simmons 
Michael W. Fuller 
William Harding 
Benjamin Gardner 
David Jenckesjr. 
Cyrus Randall 
Batavia Matliewson 
George Perry 
Alfred D. Read 
Freeman Cudworth 
Anson Follett 
Nathan Brown 
Montague Will'aTis 
Leonard Blackinjton 
Albee Brown 
Henry J. Morris 
Isaac Leacb 



582 



Rep. No. 546. 



CUMBERLAND-Continued. 



Jedediah Jenckes 
George L. Dana 
Joseph Cobb 
George W. Read 
William Freeman 
John Follett 
Paris Whitman 
Preston Williams 
William Perry- 
William H. Brown 
Benjamin M. Stivers 
Silas Whipple 
Sterry Fisk 
John P. Sloe urn 
Elisha Grossman 
Benoni Mann 
Lovet Havens 
Asa Miller 

Daniel Wilkinson, 2d 
John A. Dexter 
Thomas Eddy 
W^heaton A. Pooke 
Philo W. Freeman 
Stephen Peck 
Thomas H. Clarke 
William Staples 
Francis Cntler 
James Cutler 
Otis Ingraham 
Jacob Briggs 
Henry Goodwin 
Stephet) Slocum 
Silas Gleason 
I ,yman Morris ^ 
Jail es Cargill 
William Slocum 
Albert F. Potter 
Kodman Lewis 
David Patt 
Jason Cargill! 
Bo wen Wescott 
Halsey Miller 
George Cargill 
Syria Humes 
Olney Cargill 
Willis Cook 
Rodeiick Holley 
Wilder Fuller 
Edward G. Slocum 
Charles Titus. 



Ezra Carpenter 
Alexander S. Bennett 
Moses T. Humes 
Samuel C. Whipple 
George Slocum 
Levi Carpenter 
Samuel E. Woodward 
Joseph Whipple, jr. 
Barnard Miller 
Green Mathewson 
John Irons 
Zaphee Skinner 
Williams Blanchard 
Benjamin Austin 
Joseph E. Dawley 
Calvin Paine 
Alvin Bartlett 
Russell Chase 
Lewis R. Blake 
Ebenezer J. Paine 
Uriah Jones 
Chester B. Morse 
Joseph Rose 
Lyman Pond 
James Austin 
Asa Dunham 
Samuel Wild 
George Witherell 
Benjamin Ingraham 
Abner Crocker 
Thomas J, Hathaway 
Richard Smith 
Benjamin B. Brown 
Pardon Newell 
Elhanan Miller 
James Jackways 
James H. Harvey 
James M. Patt 
Oren Mowry 
John B. Eggleston 
John F. Carpenter 
Norris W. Mathewson 
John Leach 
David Whilman 
Arnold Carpenter 
Joseph C. Fiske 
INathaniel C. Dana 
John E. Richardson 
John Eddv 
Muxcv Miller 



Rep. No. 546. 



533 



CUMBERLAND-Continued. 



Mowry Curtis 
Amaziah Ballon 
Clarke J. Sweet 
Eber Miller 
William H. Fuller 
Charles Fisk 
William C, Crapon 
John Boyden, jr. 
Nathaniel Devereux 
Kobert Prentis 
Gideon Angell 
Bela Whipple 
William Spear 
James Whipple 
Edmund G. Hopkins 
Enoch Weatherhead 
Benjamin Luther 
William Aldrich 
Daniel Mnnley 
Willis B. Taft 
Charles Thayer 
Otis Hall 
John A. Mowry 
Edwin Hixon 
Gardner Warren 
Philip Williams 
Job Cooper 
Nathaniel Sweeting 
Carleton Cushman 
Benajah Allen 
William Dexter 
Amos Kimmings 
Thomas D. Paine 
Zebina GolTe 
Darling White 
Mowry Staples 
Albert Rogers 
Curtis Steere 
Welcome Alexander 
Nathaniel Scott 
Russell Jenckes 
Daniel Jenckes 
William Allen 
Joseph Capron 
Stephen Joslin 
Leprelet Thayer 
William Bartlett 
Welcome A. Whipple 
Albert Barber 
Arnold Paine 



William T. Weaver 
David Bartlett 
John Capron 
Lyman Mann 
Nathan Jillson^ 
Olney Ballou, 2d 
Hiram Allen 
Stephen Whipple 
Eppes W. Aldrich 
Jacob Morse 
Jonathan Wales 
Obadiah Kimball 
Philip Briggs 
Benjamin Bushel 
Loring Saunders 
George B. Lapham 
George H. Law 
Barton Grant 
Elbridge Read 
Joseph P. Childs 
Benjamin Taylor 
Lyman Tonrtellot 
Henry Collier 
Hezekiah Cook 
Eleazer Cook 
Reuel Smith 
Willis Jefferson 
Dennis CrufF 
William Freeman 
Oren Smith 
Ellis Cook, 2d 
John O. Preston 
John W. Barrett 
Joshua Aldrich 
Jonathan M. Dow 
Billings S. Farrington 
Henderson Rowell 
German Potter 
George W. Weekes 
Otis P. Handy 
Lewis W. Jillson 
George Robinson 
James M. Taft 
James Verry 
Willard Bal'lou, 2d 
Eseck Cook 
Henry A. Anthony 
Charles Wheaton 
Elijah Darling 
John Cass 



584 



Rep. No. 546. 



CUMBERLAND-Coatinued. 



Welcome Cook 
Joseph R. Hardin 
Joseph M. Perkins 
Nathan Ballon 
(Simeon Lilley 
George J. Hawkins 
Willard Joslin 
Barton Clarke 
John Armstrong 
Welcome Darling 
Sandford Aldrich 
Ira Lee 

Albin G. Reynolds 
Elisha Gaskill 
Henry Morris 
Thomas W. Bishop, jr, 
Isaac Bennett 
Elias Nickerson 
Levi F. Leonard 
Benjamin Horton 
Stephen Nortluip 
Horace Goff 
Edwin Hagan 
James Cole, jr. 
Seth Clarke 
Otis Fisher 
Daniel A. Thompson 
Levi Carpenter 

James B. Parker 

Oiis Shepardson 

Joel P. Harris 

William F. Harris 

Alfred Kandall 

Luther C. Pitcher 

Frederick Sibley 

Joshua Clarke 

Jacob Dunham 

Giles E. Greene 

James Chase 

Ira Sayles 

Oren Dexter 

Alfred P. Dunham 

Joseph Matteson 

Amos Lane 

William Langiey 

William Rude 

Samuel Whipple 

Richard Mowry 

Allen Smith 

George Wellman 



Jona. Fisher 
Fibenezer Fuller 
Samuel G. W. Alexander 
James O. Whipple 
Naaman Fuller 
Jonah Razee 
Nathaniel Humes 
Samuel Gorton 
Randall O. Mowry 
Levi T. Cheever 
Levi Weatherhead 
Levi Simmons 
Benjamin Slocum. jr. 
Squire Fiske 
James Titus 
John Hopkins 

John Craig 

Augustus "Millard 

Milton S. Morse 

Crawford Potter 

Russell Miller 

Barton Cargill 

William Cargill 

Ezekiel Staples 

John E. Bishop 

John M. Walcott 

Alexander Thompson 

James Thompson 

George A. Howard 

Nahum Cook 

Sylvester R. Whipple 

Simeon Siedman 

William Fuliett 

William C. Harrington 

Jabez Newell 

H. D. Walcott 

Darius Fisher 

Arnold Staples 

Solomon Peck 

Eddy C. Smith 

John Whipple 

Willard Grant 



dualified, 293 

Not qualified, 599 



Total, 



892 



Rep. No. 546. 



mm 



No. 1Q9. 



VOTERS IN BURRILLVILLE, PROVIDENCE COUNTY. 



Ziba Phetteplace 
Joseph Clark, jr. 
Alfred Lapham 
Stephen Evans 
David Phetteplace 
Robert P. Dean 
Jonathan Lackey 
Joseph Clarke 
Smith Mathewson 
Asael Keech 
Eddy B. Ballon 
Charles S. Smith 
Eraslus Mathewson 
John B. Mathewson 
Rowland Mathewson 
Solomon Smith 
Duty Lapham 
William Stone 
Cyril Paine 
Othniel B. Young 
Asael Bnllard 
Othniel Young 
Elisha Mathewson 
Aaron Phillips 
John Mathewson 
George Harris 
Welcome Mathewson 
Martin S. Salisbury 
Joseph Ballon 
Lay ton Cass well 
Dennis H. Smith 
Duty Salisbury 
Alexander Salisbury 
William Howard 
Moses Taft, jr. 
Olney Inman 
Benjamin Brown 
Darling Mathewson 
Hiram Ross 
Silas Howard 
John Chase 
William Stanfield 
Sylvester Mowry 
Joel Thompson 
Dennis Paine 
Samuel Smith 
Esten Angell 
John Salisbury 



Noah Shumway 
Harris C. Sayles 
Amos Stone 
Marcus Eddy 
Washington Logee 
Mowry S. Inman 
George W. Taft 
John Smith 
Albee White 
VVillard Steere 
Elisha Taft 
Almon Paine 
William Clarke 
Stephen Esten 
Alfred L. Comslock 
Jesse Comstock 
Abner Inman 
James Inman 
Elisha Darling 
Willard Ballou 
Caleb Comstock 
Smith B. Walling 
Silas Comstock 
Amasa Ballou 
Arnold Sayles 
Elam Inman 
George W. Sheldon 
- Willard A. Mowry 
Nathaniel Jenckes 
John Darling 
Emor B. Comstock 
Jason Olney 
Abm. Baker, jr. 
Francis H. Inman 
Otis W. BIy 
Silas A. Comstock 
Sabui Brown 
Josiah R. Hill 
Charles Brown 
Jeremiah Mowry 
Jason Jenckes 
Asa Walling 
Eddy Keech 
Edwin VV. Walling 
Enoch Thayer 
Isaac Wallitig 
Isaac W. Thayer 
Smith Mowry 



536 



Rep. No. 546. 



BURRILLVILLE-Continned. 



George W. Jenckes 
Israel Tucker 
James Ballon 
Warren Walling 
Alfred Hicks 
John Whipple 
Burrill Logee 
Mowry White 
James Paine 
Daniel JVlathewson 
Enoch Harris 
Alfred Albee 
Sanford Brown 
James Brown 
John C. Trask 
Ezekiel Phetteplace 
Cyrus Williams 
Nelson Paine 
Stephen Phillips 
Jonathan Arnold 
Mowry Walling 
Caleb B. Mowry 

Moses Gould 

Welcome Ballou 
Theron Steere 
Ephraim Young 

Noah White 

Leander Smith 

George Inman, jr» 

Lyrie Lampson 

Lorenzo Lackey 

Coomer Smith 

William Hicks 

Smith Wood 

Joseph Esten 

David Ballou 

Aaron Esten 

Martin Phetteplace 

Mowry Lee 

Sayles B, Phillips 

Jesse Morvell 

Alonzo Gleason 

Levi Battey 

Dewitt C. Remington 

Stenson W. Smith 

Mansou Phillips 

James Wood 

Smith Preston 

Lyndon Hix 

Henry A. Alexander- 



David Covell 
John Briggs 
Lawton Wade 
Benjamin M. Paine 
Merril Elbridge 
Charles Wight 
Adin Steere 
John Walden 
Royal Keith 
Lorenzo P. Ward 
Joseph Ballou, jr. 
Reuben Albee 
Stephen Clarke 
Olney W. Fairfield 
Sanford H. Bowdish 
John Casswell 
Joseph Oat ley 
Daniel M. Brown 
George S. Hopkins 
Willard D. Spaulding 
Jeremiah Smith 
Mo?es B. Salisbury 
Lyndon Fairbanks 
Francis Callahan 
Simeon B. Marsh 
Francis Reynolds 
Benjamin H. Johnsort 
Allen Bowen 
Amos Taft 
Enoch M. Taft 
Riley Barnes 
John Brown 
William R. Ballou 
Henry Phillips 
Francis N. Buxton 
Nelson Kecch 
George W. Marsh 
Oliver A. M. Smith 
Preserved Greene 
Randall A. Smith 
William S. Hodges 
Oliver Morse 
Samuel Comstock 
Seth Wheelock 
Lewis Harris 
Jirah Ballou 
George W. Darling 
Harris Keech 
Jeremiah E. Tinkham 
Georg-e W. Harris 



Rep. No. 546. 



537 



BURRILLVILLE— Continued. 



John Grossman 
Elias Mowry 
Walter P. Smith 
Elisha Brown 
Emor C. Smith 
Arnold Paine 
Russell Straiofht 
William Gould 
William Bellows 
Camarial Y. Smith 
Dexter Grossman 
Moses L. Batchellor 
Thomas F. Handy- 
Jonathan Harris 
Daniel J. Pickering 
George W. Whipple 
Alexander B. Hunt 
Nathan Williams 
Harrison Darling- 
Ransom Inman 
James P. Washburn 
Joseph Garroll 
Daniel Yoimg 
Stephen Mitchel 
Amos Arnold 
Joseph Mowry 
Silas Mowry 
Josiah S. Thayer 
Isaac W. Darling 
Dennis Inman 
William S. Mowry 
Otis P. Davis 
Simeon Hix 
Moses Batchellor 
Irad Lapham 
Stephen Handy 
Alexander Batchellor 
Zebedee Anthony 
Sterry Young 
Benjamin Phetteplace 
George Waldron 
Nathan Gleason 
Abram Sayles 
George W. Williams 
George W. Esten 
Ezekiel Young 
Jason Young 



Arthur Barnes 
Edwin G. Sayles 
Chauncy Ballou 
Richard A. Armstrong 
William Brown 
William H. Gutter 
Benjamin C. Mitchell 
Jedson Young 
Nelson Keech, jr. 
Charles L. N. Lyttleton 
Richard B. Taft 
Joel Taft 
Cyrus Albee 
Abram Tourtellot 
Arnold S. Irons 
Asael Stone 
Moses Cooper 
Henry Hapgood 
Uriah H. Read 
Stephen Paine 
Eliphalet Bailey 
Collins Keith 
Warren Darling 
Luther S. Keith 
William Waterman 
William Knight 
Augustus Wilcocks 
Wellington Young 
Thomas Ballou 
Lewis S. Bailey 
Augustus Durfee 
Josiah B. Stratton 
Stephen Chauncy 
Simeon Phetteplace 
Joseph H. Hold 
Stephen Harris 
Dexter Taft 
Area Thayer 
Ezek Phetteplace 
Lewis Smith 



dualified, 
Not qualified. 



Total, 



134 
149 

283 



538 



Hep. No. 546. 



No. 110. 

VOTERS IN QLOCESTER, PROVIDENCE COUNTY. 



George J. Winsor 
Nelson Ballou 
Thomas Sunmore 
Henry Angell 
Jacob Davis 
Asa Hawkins 
Archibald Pray 
Mathewson Andrews 
Sayles Brown 
Hugh Pray 
John Paine 
Frederick A. Squiers 
Caleb Bradley 
Lawton Owens 
Obadiah Winsor 
James B. Reynolds 
George G. Hawkins 
Henry S. Taylor 
Gideon Durfee 
Jonathan A. Tourtellot 
Joseph B. Waldren 
Cyrus Winsor 
Joseph F. Thornton 
Samuel Phillips 
Asa Greene 
Riley C. Shippey 
James Irons 
George Eddy 
Stephen A. Brown 
Jervis J. Smith 
William Gross 
William Wilcox 
Thomas P. Sweet 
Smith Peckhani 
Dexter Davis 
Albee Bellows 
Zenas Andrews ■ 
Otis Dexter 
Lawton C. Rounds 
Darius Darling 
Jeremiah Mathewson 
Franklin B. Mowry 
Joseph Andrews 
Joshua Bowen 
Artemas Smith 
Amasa Eddy, jr. 
Samuel Durfee 
Jesse Irons 



Ezekiel Bishop 
Joseph W. Sheldon 
William Aldrich 
Isaac Winsor 
Benedict Aldrich 
William Winsor 
Jarvis Smith 
Seril Bowen 
Samuel Blackman 
Jonathan Davis 
Zephaniah Bishop, jr. 
Penuel Bassett 
Albert Eddy 
Esaias Pray 
Daniel Clarke 
Samuel Mowry 
William Hopkins 
Gideon Smith 
Reuben Place 
Asahel Steere 
Jesse Phetteplace 
Arnold Eddy 
David Coman 
John Gross 
John W. Wood 
Harris W. Col well 
Timothy Sweet 
Jedediah Sprague 
Benedict W. Shippey 
George N. Turner 
Sabin Durfee 
Horace Sprague 
John S. Durfee 
Hiram Hopkins 
George B. Wood 
John Gross, jr. . 
Benajah Dyer 
William Davis 
Alexander Eddy 
Jeremiah S. Lawrence 
Nehemiah Clements 
Thomas O. Evans 
Joseph C. Medbury 
Davis Hill 
Ira W. Steere 
George Frissell 
Oliver Greene 
W' illis Bowen 



Rep. No. 546. 



GLOCESTER-Cominued. 



William S. Potter 
George L. Owen 
Amasa Smith 
George R. Sayles 
Jesse S. Tourtellot 
Zattara Paine 
Allen Hawkins 
Potter Steere 
Solomon A. Owens 
Otis Well man 
Renben Place, jr. 
Henry O. Burlingame 
Wanton Potter, jr. 
Amos Hawkins 
Jeremiah Sweet 
Samuel Y. Alwell 
Albert S. Peckham 
Charles Andrews 
Samuel Davis 
Thomas N. Gleason 
Samuel Burgess 
Ishmael Sayles 
Charles A. Slocum 
Joseph B. Smith 
George H. Brown 
Ziba Olney 
William Young 
Clovis H. Bowen 
Manning H. Angell 
Gjeorge Emerson 
Dexter Walling 
Jason Clements 
Hiram S. Kelley 
Julius Reynolds 
William Ken yon 
William Allen 
•Otis Thornton 
Erastus Polk 
Edwin Phillips 
Abel Whitaker 
Otis Clements 
David Bowen 
George V. Austin 
Simon Phillips 
Dutee Green 
Henry T. Brown 
John M. Eddy 
Abijah Slater 
Sprague Hopkins 
AVilllam R. Sprague 



Elisha Hopkins 
Samuel Phillips, jr. 
Benjamin Smith 
David Page 
Warren Young 
Amos A. Hawkins 
Salisbury Freeman 
Adfer Eddy 
Jonathan Valet 
Nathaniel Sheldon 
Clark R. Straight 
Anthony Place, jr. 
Harris Clements 
Paris O. Davis 
Dwight F. Hammond 
Robert S. Tucker 
Daniel Tucker ' 
George N, White 
Arnold Capron 
Andrew G. Sweet 
Sabin Mathewson 
Samuel Steere 
Sabin Ballon 
Nelson N. Eddy 
Stephen Walker 
Samuel T. Willard 
Randall Colwell 
Sullivcin Daggett 
William Irons 
Jeremiah Sweet, jr. 
Smith Sprague 
Jeremiah Sheldon 
Philip Waldron 
James Reynolds 
James Watermer 
Simeon Uaker 
Orrin Stephens 
Paris Owen 
R. K. Webster 
George W. Paine 
Daniel P. Inman 
Anthony Clemmons 
Elisha Chapman 
John Wilkinson 
Stephen Eddy 
Jackson E. Mowry 
Jesse Irons, jr. 
Elisha Keech 
Horace Smith 
James R. Wood 



540 



Rep. No. 546. 



GLOCESTER— Continued. 



Enos Steere 
Squire B. Tucker 
Nathan Place 
Philip Waldron Hawkins 
Martin Brown 
Benjamin Hare 
i)utee Place 
George A. Smith 
Stephen Aldrich 
Aaron F. Spencer 
Alanson Sprague 
William R. Page 
Ethan F. Place 
Nehemiah Angell 
Benjamin Keach 
Edward P. Place 
Benjamin Waterman 
Sabin Adams 
George R. Potter 
Albert Armstrong 
Angell Darling 
James M. Owen 
Mansur Shippey 
Ezekiel Potter 
Ezra Hawkins 
Benjamin Grossman 
Elijah Bowen 
Russell Kelley 
Rufus Daggett 
Seril N. Daggett 
James B. Preston 
King G. Tucker 
Amasa Potter 
Bray ton Vallett 
Samuel Potter 
William Luther 
Amasa Burlingame 
David Whitney 
David Medbury 
Nathan Page 
Jesse Haven 
Bennett Steere 
Paris Wade 
Charles H. Steere 
Effingham Lawrence 
Abel Mann 
Obadiah King 
Esek Harringdeen 
Ira Hawkins, jr. 
Allen Brown 



Charles M. Lockwood 
Thatcher Harringdeen 
Aaron Bardeen 
John A. Inman 
Welcome T. Miller 
Jeremiah Pray 
Lyman Corney 
John Briggs 
Orin W. Andrews 
Joseph C. Keech 
Alfred Keech 
Augustus Irons 
Levi Covin 
Benjamin Cook 
Caleb Blanchard, jr. 
Ebenezer Aldrich 
Henry Gross 
Obed Seaver 
Horace Vallet 
George Olney 
Stephen Hawkins 
William Dudley 
Joseph P. Sweet 
David W. Smith 
John McBride 
Lyman Bowen 
Orin Reynolds 
James Sprague 
Ira Potter 
Jeremiah Andrews 
Lyndon Smith 
Seril Paine 
Azaniah Cutler 
William Gleason 
Joseph C. Steere 
Eddy Evans 
Emory Swift 
Wanton Potter 
Jonathan Paine 
Silas Baker 
Horace Bardeen 
Haiie Sayles 
Amos Eddy 
Sabin Owen 
Elijah W. Preshoe 
George Smith, 2d 
Darlinff Medbury 
Caleb E. Tucker 
George Chappell 
Nicholas Tucker 



Rep. No. 546. 



541 



GLOCESTER— Continued. 



Simon Brown 
William H. P. Smith 
Coomer Soule 
Edward Babbitt, jr. 
Horace W. Keech 
Silas Aldrich 
Gardner Lewen 
David Bo wen, sen, 
Edward Cook 
David Young 
Cyrus Farnum 
Randall Davis 
Almon Steere 
Obadiah Smith 
Hiram Mathewson 
Winsor Colwell 
Thomas R. Eddy 
Russell Harrington 
William Wade 
Antony Sprague 
Juni Irons 
Nathan Young 
Leonard N. Austin 
Robert Bennett 
Frank Trask 
John P. Moffit 
John MofRtt 
James Bowen 
Ephraim Pray 
Arnold M. Bowen 
Welcome Barnes, jr. 
Caleb D. Bsrdith 
George Saunders 
Nelson Armstrong 
Jeremiah Steere 
Mason W. Evans 
Darling S. Durfee 
Spencer Smith 
Jesse Steere 
Thomas Irons 
Robert Paine 
Colwell Irons 
Orrin Vallet 
Adolphus Thayer 
William Steere 
Wyman Culler 
George Sprague 
Willard Wade 
Nathaniel Bowdish 
Aalhony Place 



Simeon Place 
Perry Cole 
Wilson Daggett 
TertuUus Millard 
William Colwell 
Harris Keyes 
Horace Kimball 
Wheaton Bowen 
Arthur Wade 
.Jeremiah Pray 
.leremiah Smith 
John A. Law 
William Brown 
Reuel Place 
Parley Young 
Hugh Pray 
Rhodes Page 
Daniel P. Spencer 
Esek Burlingarne 
Rufus West 
Joseph WilmartH 
John Sprague 
EHsha Farr 
Clovis H. Eddy 
Orrin Smith 
Maxsori Woodmancey 
Peleg Hopkins 
William Dexter 
Joseph P. Smith 
Harding Mitchell 
Simeon Bowen 
Nicholas Bussey 
James Hammon 
Nehemiah Coman 
Abel Wade 
Bowen Smith 
Joseph Mitchell 
Adiii Patten 
Enos Ballon 
Nathan Shippee 
Charles Walker 
Henry Trask 
Laban Irons 
Albee Wade 
Olney Eddy 
John L. Smith 
James G. Moffitt 
Richard Boulster 
George F. Cahoone 
John 0, Hopkins 



.-.^ J -i,^>''?5i 



542 



Rep. No. 546. 



GLOCESTE R-Coniinued . 



Joseph Paine 
Palmer Vallett 
Daniel Adams 
Dexter Adams 
Nathan Irons 
Amasa Eddy 



duahfied 
Not qualified 

Total 



192 
210 

402 



No. 111. 

VOTERS IN FOSTER, PROVIDENCE COUNTY. 



Joshua Angell, jr. 
Anthony S. Aldrich 
Daniel Austen 
Lucius Aldrich 
Esek Aldrich 
Stephen G. Albro 
Joseph T. Anthony 
"William Arnold 
Anan Aldrich 
Samuel Adams 
Harris W. Aldrich 
Sylvanus Albro 
Elliot Button 
Simeon G. Bennett 
Calvin Brown 
George V, Bennett 
Israel Bennett 
Abraham Bennett 
Silas Baltey 
Ichabod Bennett 
Alpheus Bo wen 
Charles Bowen 
Lionel Bennett 
Sampson Battey 
William Brown 
Angell P. Boss 
Andrew Brown 
Frederick A. P. Bacheldor 
James M. Blanchard 
George Bennett 
Cyril C. Bowen 
Nathan Bennett 
Asaph Bowen 
Olney Burgess 
Daniel Battey 
Leonard Burgess 
George Burgess 



Brands Brayton 
George E. Brown 
James Cole 
Harris Bowen 
Otis W. Coop 
Rufus Cole 
Jonathan S. Cole 
Silas Cole 
Israel Cole 
Orison Cole 
David A. Chapman 
Brayton H. Cole 
George A. Cole 
William Cole 
Sterry Cahoone 
Ezekiel Col well, jr. 
Horace S. Cole 
Serill Cornell 
William L. Carpenter 
Daniel Cole 
Joseph C. Cooke 
Samuel D. Cole 
Joseph H. Corp 
George Cornell 
Richard S. Cross 
Othniel Davis 
Abraham Dorrance 
Benjamin Dexter 
William Drown 
James Dorrance 
Abraham S. Durfee 
King Easton 
Jonathan Earle 
Ira Eddy 
Sterry Frye 
Obadiah Fenner 
Robert C. Fuller 



Rep. No. 546. 



548 



FOSTER— Continued. 



Richard Fry 
Lindsey C. Greene 
Leander Gleasou 
Otis H. Hopkins 
John Harrington 
Arnold Hix 
Samuel Howard 
WiMiam Harrington 
Joseph B. Hopknis 
Otis Hopkins 
Gideon M. Hopkins 
Andrew Hopkins 
Samuel Harrington 
George E. Hopkins 
Jonathan Hill 2d 
Jireh Hill 
Henry H. Hopkins 
William Hill 
Sahin Hopkins 
Pardon A. Holden 
Seril Harrington 
Peleg Harrington 
Daniel Hicks 
Emory Hopkins 
Horace Hopkins 2d 
Jeremiah Hopkins 
Ezekiel Hopkins 
Peter Hopkins 
Paris Hopkins 
Amos Harrington 
James Howard 
increase Handel 
Asahel Hopkins 
Albert W. Hopkins 
Alfred Horton 
Thomas T. Hill 
George W, Hopkins 
William Hopkins 3d 
Baronet Hopkins 
James Howard 
Harrison C. Hopkins 
Horace Ida 
Elisha Johnson 
Joshua Jones 
Alfred S. Jones 
Asa Jordan 
Dwight R. Jenckes 
Smith Jones 
Freeman Jones 
Caleb Johnson 



Gardner Jordan 
George Kennedy 
William E. Kennedy 
Alexander Kennedy 
Reuben Lyon 
Chad Miller 
OIney Mowry 
Benjamin L. Medbury 
Nathan Malhewsoa 
John JVlathewson 
James Merithen 
Dexter OIney 
Stephen Place 
Jeremiah Patterson 
Gardner Phillips 
Nathaniel Phillips 
Hanson L. Payson 
Richard Pray 
Charles Phillips 
Horace W. Phillips 
Samuel Phillips 
Allen S. Pearce 
Abrahan) Place 
Rhodes Pray 
Caleb Phillips 
Jeremiah Phillips 
Raymond G. Place 
Atwell Pray 
Job W. Place 
Samuel Pattereon 
William Pray 
Jonathan Pray 
Peleg Place 
John L. Randall 
OIney Randall 
Eddy Randall 
Alfred Randall 
Holden Randall 
George W. Round 
Esek Russell 
Henry Randall 
John C. Randall 
Emory Round 
Asa Round 
Benoni Round 
Charles Round 
Alvin H. Shippey 
Solomon Shippey, jr. 
Caleb Seamans 
Sabin Smith- 



544 



Rep. No. 646. 



FOSTER-Conlinued. 



Robert -Seamans 
OIney P. Smith 
George Slater 
Solomon Shippey 
Elijah Seamans 
Charles H. Searle 
Richard Salisbury 
James Stone 
West Smith 
Nathaniel Searle 
Daniel Stone 
Asa B. Seamans 
Robert D. Salisbury 
Charles M. Stone 
George B. Smith 
Hezekiah Seamans 
Robert Saunders 
Nelson L. Seamans 
George H. Seamans 
Charles Salisbury 
Othniel Saunders 
William Seamans 
Joshua Turner 
John Taylor 
William L. Taylor 
Dexter W. Tyler 
William L. Thayer 
Lyman Tyler 
William L. Tripe 
Atwell A. Williams 
Hiram Wells 
Cyrill Whitman 
Charles Walker 
Nelson T. Wilcox 
Joseph Wells 
Stephen Webster 



Benjamin Weigh 
Thomas S. Willams 
William T. Wood 
Turner Williams 
John Weaver 
Joshua Wells 
Henry D. Williams 
Thomas W. Williams 
Stephen Williams 
Olney Williams 
Winsor Wade 
Xerxes Williams 
Samuel Whitman 
Ransom Wood 
Philip Winslow 
Abner Winslow 
Abel M. Wilder 
Sheldon Williams 
Daniel Wilcox 
Otis Williams 
Samuel W. Weaver 
Benjamin Wright 
David Yeaw 
Sterry T. Young 
David A. Young 
Welcome Yeaw 
Stephen Yates 
Welcome T. N. Yeaw 



Freeholders, 124 

Non-freeholders, 113 

1 against 



Total, 



238 



No. 112. 
VOTERS IN SCITUATE, PROVIDENCE COUNTY. 



Freeholders. 

Benjamin Boss 
Zephaniah Bishop 
Ohiey P. White 
Amos Johnson 
Alfred Greene 
Jutties Whipple 



James Wilbur 
George Yeaw 
Stephen Greene 
Seth C. Hopkins 
Albert Olney 
George Mathewsoa 
John H. Eddy 
Albert Stone^ 



Rep. No. 546. 



ms 



SCITUATE— Continued. 



James Pollard 
Josiah Thornton 
Stephen Dexter 
Sylvester Taylor 
Elijah Hawkins 
Harley Luther 
Kichard Grayson 
John A. Harris 
Rhodes Hopkins 
Alden Round 
Je?se Corey 
Jason S. Harrington 
Charles Morse, jr. 
Zephaniah Ramsdell 
George W. Brown 
Stej)hen Bowen 
Jonathan Hill 
John Bardin 
Caleb Hill 
Marinas Collins 
Solomon Taylor 
Joshua B. Harrington 
jRussell Smith 
Charles L. Hawkins 
Noah Kimball 
Arthur F. Randall 
Rhodes Burke 
Mathewson Smith 
Stephen H. Ohiey 
William Taylor 
John H. Marble 
Reuben Johnson 
Peter K. Taylor 
William R. Gardner 
Robert Salisbury 
Jt)hn Kamsdell 
Jeremiah Ang^ell, jr. 
Samuel Austin 
Arnold 'I'anner 
Charles Griffiths 
Arnold Austin 
John Hill 
William Miller 
RusS' 11 Yeaw 
Matthew Hill 
Alpheus VVallen 
Faruum Hopkins 
Eliplialet M. Bennett 
John H. Btrdin 
Jeremiah Dexter 
35 



Andrew Waterman 
James Yeaw 
Russell Round 
Isaac C. Bardin 
Knight Hill 
John Peck ham 
Benjamin Owen 
Stephen E. Brown 
John Graves 
Levi Fuller 
Vincent Brown 
Jeremiah Angell 
Samuel Baker 
Allen Chandler 
Lawton S. Johnson 
Jarvis Eddy 
Miles O. Pray 
Flavel Patterson 
Richard K. Thomas 
Isaac H. Place 
Ezra R. Wilbur 
James Healey 
Arnold Salisbury 
Knight Wilbur 
William Miller, 2d 
Jerry S. Battey 
Douglas F. 
Burrill Brown 
Robert Knight 
Jesse B. Tucker 
Alexander Allen 
Benedict Johnson 
Christopher Fenner 
Joab Wood, jr. 
William P. Olney 
Mathewson Wilbur 
Simon Mathewson 
Richard Olney 
Arthur F. Aldrich 
George W. VVinsor 
Horace Martin 
Charles A. Harris 
Abel E. Taylor 
Henry Yeaw 
Darius Durfee 
Stephen Colvin 
Job Wilbur 
Morris Durfee 
Alpheus li. Angell 
Albert Randall 



Briggs 



Rep. No. 546. 



SCITUATE-ComiDued. 



David Phillips, 3d 
Jeremiah Cole, jr. 
Whitman Steere 
Isaac Saunders 
Jonah Titus 
Joseph W. Warner 
Ira Bishop 
Ezekiel Ramsdell 
Russell Wilbur 
Wilmarth N. Aldrich 
Gardner Lyon 
Harley Fisk 
Russell Smith, 2d 
Seneca Brownell 
Bray ton Mo wry 
Parley Round 
William Eddy 
John H. Anthony 
Pardon Tilling^hast 
Jenckes Thornton 
Aaron Wheeler 
John Bond 
OIney B. Steere 
Anson W. Barnes 
Albert W. Harris 
James Farnum 
Luther Eddy 
Abel Salisbury 
Horace S. Patterson 
Ezekiel C. Hopkins 
Albert B. Phillips 
David Mathewson 
Stephen Randall 
George A. Rhodes 
Ezra N. Barnes 
John W. Cook 
Stephen Olney 
William Bellows 
Daniel M. Harris 
Cyrus T. Eddy 
Marun Smith 
Abner W. Peckham 
George W, Sherman 
Joshua J. Rath bone 
Levi Matteson 
John A. Budlong 
Perry I{. West 
Jonathan Potter 
Peleg Barnes 
E^ra Potter 



Eleazer U Phillips 
Joseph Potter 
Amos Collins 
George Searle 
Elisha Williams 
Stephen W^illiams 
Abraham S. Angell 
Westcott Wilbur 
Elihu Randall 
William Hammon 
Henry Smith 
Lnther Waldren 
Fenner Smith 
INehemiah Randall 

Nehemiah Wood 

Samuel Hoyt 

Christopher War n- 

Arnold Co I well 

John Battey 

William Hill 

Stephen Hill 

Lyman Hanks 

Joshua Rathbone 

Jeren)iah P. West 

George Mattison 

John Harrington 

Patrick Kelley 

Orrin L. Battey 

Nathaniel Hill 

Anthony K. Potter 

William B. Mattison 

Enoch Place 

James Williams 

Sylvanus Moffitt 

Henry Williams 

Job Angell 

John Davis 
Robert Round 
Pardon Angell 
David Wilbur 
Caleb T. Place 
Richard C. Young 
Solomon Angell 
John Gee 

Non-tYeeholders 

Peieg R. Davis 
Jacob W. Warner 
Joseph Ney 



Rep. No. 546. 



mi 



SCITUATE-Continued. 



Albert G. Harris 

George Smith 
William VV. Warner 

James E, Hawkins 

Samuel A. Winsor 

Gardner Gibson 

Curtis Cornan 

William Roberts 

Joseph Bigford 

Jonathan E. Randall 

Dean Kimball 

Charles Potter 

Cyrus Leach 

William N. Fisk 

Zadok Luther 

James E. Hawkins, jr. 

William Field 

John G. Bowen 

Stephen R. Davis 

Valentine Whitman 

Richard Howard 

Horace Sfeere 

George W, Brown 
Albert Yeaw 

William P. Bates 
James L. Bushee 
Paris Latham 
Hart/ord Marshall 
Harley Colwell 
Seth S. Bennett 
Dennis H. Graves 
Pentecost Sweet 
Larey Nichols 
Rufus Potter 
Edmund Burton 
Holden Colvin 
Gorton Wescott 
Stephen Davis 
Thomas Fenner 
Harrison White 
Russell Eldridge 
William Cahoone 
Abraham Angell 
Arnold Ano^ell 
Bradford W. Johnson 
Ziba Steere 
George R. Yeaw 
Phillip Wells 
George Baker 
Saiilh Edwards 



George J. Foster 
William O. Austin 
Arthur Arnold 
Cyrus Tinkham 
George S. Kn owl ton 
James A. Harris 
Arnold Colvin 
George W. Taylor 
Job W. Bardeen 
Stephen W. Hawkins 
Olney H. Austin 
Joseph Smith 
Rufus Amniidown 
Ambrose Rathbone 
Willard Walker 
Stephen M. Olney 
John Matteson 
George Simmons 
Waterman Tinkham 
William R. Stone 
Asahel Stone 
Ira Conee 
John McDonald 
Benjamin Angell 
Arnold Moffitt 
Thomas Winsor 
Zennis Stedman 
Asaliel Battey 
liewis Peck 
George H. SayJes 
Stephen Hawkins 
Stephen Hill, 2d 
Samuel West 
George Cahoone 
Joseph L. Hill 
Billings C. Kane 
Timothy M. Fiopkins 
Henry B. Robertson 
Warren S. Ballou 
William A. Bishop 
Daniel O. Bates 
Oliver H. P. Hawkins 
William H. Hall 
Thomas Hawkins 
Elisha Wilbur 
Henry E. Sweet 
John Fisk 
Enoch Hix 
Albert A. McDonald 
Austin Penfield 



648 



Rep. No. 546. 



SCITUATE— Continued. 



Robert Walker 
N lit 1 mil B. Graves 
E. K. Potter 
Otis Maltison 
Ira Colvin 
Albert Dean 
Darius Johnson 
William Rice 
Jonathan P. Davis 
WiUiam H. Hyde 
Harvey Suydam 
William O. Gavitt 
William H. Brayton 
Jonathan K. Fisk 
Richard M. Grayson 
Asa S. Kelly 
Elisha Lawrence 
John L. Tinkham 
Dntee «. Steere 
Henry VV. Dana 
Lyman Remington 
Ebenezer Williams 
Thomas W. Hills 
Otis Whitman 
George W. Stone 
Benjamin Bentley 
Joseph Dawley 
George H. Burl in game 
Thomas Leonard 
Lyman Ross 
Stephen W. Wood 
Josiah K. Weaver 
George Hall 
George Adams 
James Tucker 
Jeremiah C. Stone 
Arnold W. Brown 
Horace Cahoone 
Nathaniel Tucker 
Arnold Cole 
Sterry Fisk 
Erasius Stephens 
Arnold Mills 
George Trim 
Emory G. Harrington 
Daniel A. Clarke 
Hiram W. Potter 
Joshua Harrinton 
Job Johnson 
Harley P. Bardin 



Horace Mason 
Abel Tanner 
James Chadwick 
Simeon Harrington 
Larkin Stone 
Philip Mathewson 
Mancliester B. Taylor 
George Boomer 
William N. Fisk 
Daniel An gel I 
Horatio N.^Angell 
Joseph S. Manchester 
Harley W. Pray 
Ichabod Potter 
Ellison Buckminster 
Otis N. Angell 
Marvin M. Leavens 
Benjamin Right, jr. 
Job Wilbur 
William H. Jenckes 
Amasa Simmons 
William G. Smith 
William Bishop 
Jeremiah Hiorlihy 
Philip C. Aldrich 
Albert Anthony 
Marcus Cornell 
William H. Marsh 
William A. Roberts 
Welcome A. Patt 
William King 
(Charles H. BrowneU 
William S. Blackmar 
Richard Blackmar 
Horace A. SjM-ague 
Daniel MaiiUAVSon 
James Mathewson 
George Davis 
Waterman Green 
Paschal D. Aylesworth 
Horatio Hopkins 
Charles Angell 
Harrison L. Brastow 
Anthony O. McDonald 
Betijarain Potter 
James Graves 
Matlx^wson Steere 
Will'atn Satiiiders 
An>asa Abbott 
George Collins 



Rep. No. 546. 



SCITUATE— Continued. 



Rufiis A. Cole 
Martin Luther 
Ephraim Staples 
Horton Staples 
Benjamin B Aldricli 
George Hubbard 
John Woodman 
George W. Lawton 
Wilham R. Brown 
George B. Hutchens 
Frankhn Remington 
Joseph W. Thompson 
Daniel C. Moffit 
Wheaton Knight 
Andrew Mathewson 
William A. Brownell 
Paschal Handy 
William Putnam 
Lyman Fox 
Benoni Randall 
Stephen Angel 1 
James M. Dawley 
James O. Battey 
Harrison Chamberlin 
David Phillips, jr. 
Alfred B. .Mo wry 
Joshua Angell 
Daniel Davis, 
Job Steere, 2d 
Sterry Davis 
William A. Baker 
William H. May 
Israel White 
William G. Bentley 
Samuel Wright 
Elisha Partridge 
William A. Potter 
^'athan B. Wright 
Nathan Case, jr. 
Samuel Salisbury 
Jeremiah Smith 
William Gorton 
William Collins 
William W. Spencer 
Angell Austin 
John Capron 
James Fenner 
John J. King 
Arnold Chappell 
Abm. Norwood 



Elisha Phillips 
Edmund Monroe ' 
Naihan Potter 
John Miller 
Thomas E. Eldridge 
Daniel Austin, jr. 
Nathan Staples 
William B. Hammond 
Josiah Brown 
William Corbin 
Pardon A. Phillips 
Harris O. Brown 
Horatio N. Uattey 
Nelson Wade 
David Matthewson 
Alexander Lovell 
Alexander Lovell, 2d 
Albin C. Kinof 
Hawkins B. Wood 
Gardner Cahoone 
Zephaniah Hill 
Albert Martin 
Ransom Pooler 
John Whipple 
Allen Rogers 
Lewis Seamans 
Ira Manchester 
William Bellows 
Alva Dunham 
Owen Potter 
Samuel A. Eldridge 
Robert S. W. Hopkins 
Sheldon C. Potter 
Lawton Wright 
Emory Walker 
Othniel Saunders 
George Fid red 
Daniel Seamans 
George B. Salisbury 
Emnry Smith 
William A. Colwell 
Jeremiah Seamans 
Ira Ingrahani 
John Eldred 
Aaron M. Hall 
Lorenzo D. Oatley 
Stephen Collins 
Anthony Young 
James West cot t, jr. 
Edward S. Young 



sm 



Rep. No. 546. 

SCITUATE-Coniinued. 



Dennis Arnold 
Joseph C. Jacques 
James Howard, Sd 
Josiah Randall 
David Kelly 
Andrew T. Farell 
Nelson Luther 
George Congdon 
John A. Randall 
John Mathewson 



George Cole 
Riley Ck)le 
Thomas Hopkms 



Freeholders - 
Non -freeholders 



Total 



No. 113. 



VOTERS IN JOHNSTON, PROVIDENCE COUNTY. 



Richard Angell 
William H. Arnold 
John Alverson, jr. 
Ezekiel Angell 
Olney Angell 
Merritt Angell 
Olney W. Angell 
Burrill Arnold 
Angell Austin, jr. 
PhiUp Angell 
Silas Allen 
Abm. L. At wood 
Samuel Aldrich 
William Albro 
Palmer Austin 
Elijah Angell 
Benjamin Andrew 
Crawford G. Andrew 
Charles Atwood 
Thomas J. Abbott 
Daniel Bishop 
Joseph Blan chard 
Darius B. Bigort 
Alpheus Blanchard 
Jeremiah Bishop 
Mowry A. Bellows 
Nelson Barnes 
Dexter Barnes 
Barton Bennett 
George H. Blendell 
Jeremiah Briggs 
Thomas Bassett 
Andrew Bauson 
. Israel M. Bo wen 



Parley Batchelder 
Hosea Bicknell 
Gridley Barnum 
John B. Braonjr. 
Bonaparte Bates 
Wendell Barrows 
Charles Bennett 
Jeremiah Brailey 
William B. Brayton 
John O. Brown 
Zenah Bliss 
Harris Brown 
Jeremiah Cole 
Henry Cole 
Charles Calder 
James L. Calder 
William Gary 
Averv Chase 
Joseph Clarke 
Giles Chase 
James B. Case 
Otis Clements 
Nathan D. Corey 
Joseph H. Davis 
Robert Devereux 
Isaac S. Devereux 
Patrick Douglay 
Nathan Davoll 
Alfred Davis 
Nathan Eddy 
Jehu Evans 
Anthony Earle 
Henry Fenner 
John Farnum 



208 
316 

524 



Rep. No. 546* 



JOHNSTON-Contiaued. 



Zachariah Prench 
William W. French 
Stephen Fewner 
Jabez W. Fenner 
Henry Fisk 
"William Fenner, jr. 
John Farnum, jr. 
George Fenner 
Cyril Fenner 
Arnold Franklin 
James Fenner 
Samuel Fenner 
Otis Fenner 
Daniel Fisk 
Silas S. Franklin 
Selah Ford 
James Fenner 
John L. Fenner 
Thomas A. Greene 
William Gordon 
John Gordon 
Charles Gordon 
George Gunnison 
Emanuel Gardner 
Henry A. Griffins 
George S. Gallop 
Martin Gallop 
George J. Harris 
Elam S. Holloway 
Edward A. Hopkins 
Pardon Hopkins 
Weeden Holloway 
Joseph Higgins 
Ezekiel Hopkins 
Benjamin Hall 
Kussell Hall 
George L. Horton 
Ezekiel Holbrook 
Joseph Holbrook 
Gardner B. Hammond 
Joel P. Harvey 
Jarvis Hopkins 
Abm. L. Howard 
William H. Hastings 
Whipple A. Hendrick 
Joseph R.-Harrisoii 
William T. Hastings 
Perry h. Hopkins 
James Harrison 
John M. Hart 



Benjamin M. Hawkins 
Isaac Howell 
William R. Holloway 
John Hawke 
Samuel Irons 
Horatio N. Irons 
Elisha Irons 
Stephen Johnson 
Anthony Jones 
Levi Jenckes 
Oliver C Johnson 
Robert S. W. Joslin 
Welcome Johnson 
Edwin C. Kelly 
Earle Knight 
Benoni Knight 
James King 
Sterry Knight 
Jacob Knight 
James Kingsley 
Joseph Kingsley 
Jackson W. O. King 
Pardon King 
William L. Kelley 
Jeremiah King 
Miranda Kimball 
Dexter Knight 
Dyer Kingsley 
Dyer Kingsley 
Stephen King 
Harris Kelley 
Albert A. G. Kendall 
Hanson Kelley 
John Kelton 
William B. King 
Sion Kelton 
Sanford Knight 
Charles Knight 
Edward Kenyon 
Benjamin Knight 
William Latham 
Thomas W. Latham 
Abm. Lewis 
Ashel Luther 
Calvin Luther 
Elisha Luther 
Paris Mathewson 
Benjamin Meriwether 
George E. Munson 
Asa Mathewson 



552 



Rep. No. 546. 



J OHNSTON-CoHtinued. 



Caleb Malhewson 

Olney Mathewson 

George G. Mathewson 

Abner C. Manchester 

James Mathewson 

Jonathan Meriwether 

Angustus Moffitt 

Henry Millett 

William Mathewson , 

Joseph Mathewson 

Charles C, Mathewson 

Carlo Martin 

Philip Mathewson 

Benjamin O. P. MathewsoD 

Amasa Nicholas 

Caleb Newell 

Benjamin C. Olney 

William Olney 

Eself Olney 

John R. Peck 

Alvin Pray 

Benjamin Peck 

A. G. Place 

Beriah Potter 

Jesse Potter 

Alfred Parker 

Daniel Pettis 

James Paine 

Thomas Ptiine 

Alexander C. Pierce 

Elijah Potter 

Smith Phillips 

Isaac M. D. Pike 

John H. Paine 

Ashael Paine 

Jonathan Patt 

Charles Proctor 

Nathaniel Palmer 

Zachariah Place 

Henry Proctor 

John Place 

Fenner Potter 

John Rhodes 

Hezekiah Randall 

Abel Reynolds 

Jeremiah Konnds 

George W, Remington 

William H. Randall 

John H. Rathbono 

Horatio N. Rose 



William Rice 
Elkanah Rice 
Gilbert Read 
John P. Remington 
Asahel H. Robinson 
Joseph B. Randall 
Abner B. Rogers 
George Read 
Caleb B. Remington 
Francis Randall 
William W. Remington 
George B. Randall 
Edward S. Rhodes 
George W. Randall 
Stephen W. Remington 
George Randall 
Stephen Sweet 
David F. Sweet 
William Smith 
Orrin Sweet 
Lewis G. Smith 
Stephen T. Stone 
Daniel Sumner 
Thomas Simpson 
Hezekiah Smith 
Anthony Smart 
Henry Stone 
Peter S. Stone 
Richard Shearman 
Daniel-A. Sweet 
William L. Smith 
William W. Steere 
Amasa Sweet 
Augustus D. Sprague 
William G. Shearman 
Cyrus Stone 
Daniel Steere 
Philip Salisbury 
Thomas S. Smith 
John Steward 
Enos Sweet 
Philip A. Sweet 
WiUiam K. Smith 
Robert B. Stravens 
Ebenezer Sprague 
Otis Simmons * 
William C. Sweet 
Isaac F. Salisbury 
George Septon 
James W. Smith 



Rep. No. 546. 



55^ 



JOHNSTON— Continued. 



Daniel O. Smith 
Nathaniel Sweet 
Seril E. Sweet 
William B. Smith 
Isaac Swain 
Ezekiel Smith 
A. G. Sherman 
Roswell Saltonstall 
Gilbert Sepion 
Benjamin Sweet 
John Snell 
John W. Sweet 
Christopher Thornton 
Allen Taylor 
Nathaniel J. Taylor 
Jeremiah Thornton 
Randall Tallman 
Isaac Thornton 
Arnold Thomas 
Silas Thornton 
Ethan S. Thornton 
James H. Tobey 
Ira Thurber 

Christopher E. Thornton 
Richard Thornton 
Laban Thornton 
Silas Thurber 
William Thornton 
Paris 'I'hornton 
Daniel Thornton 
Benjamin Thornton 
William M. Vallett 
Resolved Waterman 
Laban C. Wade 
George A. Williams 
Nehemiah R. Waterman 
William B. Whipple 
Pardon White 
Cyril Waterman 
E. W. Walker 
Charles S. Winsor 
Oliver C. Williams 
Benjamin Waterman 



Benoni Waterman 
Augustus S. White 
Joseph C. Webb 
Marvin H. Walker 
Seril Winsor 
Jonathan P. Wescott 
Nicholas Waterman 
George F. Williams 
Benoni Wescott 
Ephraim Winsor 
John Wescott 
Edward Williams 
George H. Williams 
Samuel White 
George G. Warner 
Corner Waterman 
Granville S. Williams 
Gideon B. Waterman 
Henry Whitford 
Thomas W. W^illiams 
Job Waterman 
John White 
Ira Williams 
Ames L. White 
Charles Waterman 
Jeremiah R. Waterman 
Henry S. Waterman 
James Williams 
Stephen West 
Albert Waterman 
William B. Whiting 
George Wellman 
Elias^Wilbur 
Isaac Winsor 
Hiram Young 



Gtualified, 
Not qualified, 

Total, 



136 
210 

346 



m 



R^p. No. 546. 

No. 114. 

VOTERS IN THE TOWN OF NORTH PROVIDENCE. 



Armington. Samuel 
Angell, Lemuel 
Austin, Eldred 
Aldrich, Molton W. 
Albro, Henry 
Aldrich, Gideon 
Angeil, Daniel 
Albro, Henry R. 
Albro, Arnold 
Armington, John M. 
Andrews, WilUam 
Angell, Alfred 
Angell, Henry 
Angell, James 
Angell, Fenner 
Albro, Joseph 
Albro, Jonathan 
At wood, Thomas H. 
Angell, Joseph, jr. 
Angell, Joseph 
Angell, Gushing 
Anthony, Alfred 
Angell, Elisha O. 
Anthony, Jerome B. 
Andrews, Charles 
Aldrich, William B. 
Andrews, H. R. 
Arnold, Joseph 
Aldrich, Welcome 
Arnold, James 
Amesbury, Jeremiah 
Allen, Joseph W. 
Alexander, Charles H. 
Arnold, Joseph 2d 
Anthony, Bowers 
Aldrich, Andrew 
Alexander, Robert 
Allen, Esek 
Alexander, Whipple 
Alexander, John 
Adams, Abraham H. 
Adams, Arnold 
Armington, Levi 
Angell, Christopher B. 
Arnold, Horace 
Allen, George W. 
Allen, Ira 
Alney, Andrew 



Arnold, George 
Anthony, Benjamin 
Angell, Abraham 
Atkins, William 
Benedict, David 
Belknap, William 
Brown, Dexter 
Button, Leonard 
Baker, Richard 
Barnes, Stephen 
Bray ton, Benjamin 2d 
Beck ford, H. D. 
Briggs, Allen 
Barnes, Edmund 
Benedict, Thomas S. 
Barney. Beriah 
Bascome, Andrew J. 
Burt, Consider 
Belknap, Charles 
Blake, Elliott 
Ballon, Reuben 
Barnes, Tilmerick 
Barnes, John 
Bartlett, Daniel 
Brown, Elisha 
Ballon, Jesse P. 
Burnham, Lemuel P. 
Billingston, Robert 
Blue, Ethan 
Baxter, Josiah 
Bowen, Nathaniel 
Brown, SmUh W. 
Bullock, L. A. 
Bowden, John 
Bowden, William 
Bailey, Perry D. 
Bailey, Ira 
Bailey, William 
Boss, Man son 
Briggs, John W. 
Bailey, Sylvester R. • 
Bray man, Samuel G. 
Balcome, F. F. 
Bennett, Zephaniah 
Booker, Georije 
Bentley, Isaac 
Benson, John W. 
Brown, Isaac R. 



Rep; No. 546. 



SSH^A 



NORTH PROVIDENCE-Cominued. 



Bullock, Cyril 
Boyd, William 
Biirrill, Benjamin 
Burgess, Joseph 
Beiisley, John 
Bowen, Levi S. 
Brown, Jesse 
Bliss, Samuel P. 
Bennett, Benjamin 
Bennett, William H. 
Bennett, Job 
Boyd, William H. 
Bentsley, Samuel 
Bodwell, Frederick, 
Burgess, Henry O. 
Blanding, Abial D. 
Bates, Daniel 
Brintley, William 
Bowen, Nelson W. 
Bennett, Isaac 
Bowen, Ephraim 
Bliss, Albert 
Bowen Samuel 
Brown, Samuel A. 
Bowen, Harvey 
Brastow, Samuel 
Burgess, John W. 
Baker, Sylvanus 
IJrown, Richard 
Briggs, Hiram A. 
Bates, George F. 
Barnes, Thomas 
Bagley, John 
Burton, Gideon 
Brown, Nathan A. 
Baxter, Asa 
Booth, Samuel 
Barber, Adin 
Brown, Enoch 2d 
Bowen, George W. 
Booth, John 
Bagley, David 
Brown, Enoch 
Benford, John 
Bucklin, Stephen R. 
Bagley, William 
Brinton, Olney 
Blanchard, Gilbert 
Bre, Charles S. 
Carpenter, D wight G. 



Capron, Edwin 
Cozzens, Nelson P. 
Cozzens, John R. 
Crowell, Thomas 
Chase, Asa P. 
Carpenter, Sumner 
Chaffee, Samuel B. 
Cheney, Charles 
Comstock, Lyman 
Col well. Olney 
Cunliffij, Richard G. 
Cowing, Martin K. 
Carpenter, George W. 
Cunliffe, James M. 
Carpenter, Seba 
Case. Rufus 
Carpenter, John R. 
Cory, John A. 
Cranston, Peleg P. 
Clarke. Joseph G. 
Corey, Daniel 
Colvin, Earle 
CoUa, Thomas 
Corey, Charles E. 
Corey, Peleg 
Chase, Enoch 
Carr, Sylvester W. 
Crawford, .William 
Crawford, James 
Chase, George 

Carpenter, Albert W. 

Cameron, James 

Crowell, Joseph R. 

Chase, Dean 

Carter, Daniel 

Coggsill, Joseph 

Carpenter, George D. 

Collins, Henry F. S. 

Coggeshall, Royal 

Collyer, Isaac W. 

Chase, John L. 

Clarke, Elisha A. 

Ohase, Nelson H. 

Carpenter, Perez 

Colyer. Nathaniel S. 

Childs,' Alfred L. 

Cole, Alien 

Carpenter, Elias W. 

Cole, Edmund 

Chamberlain. Lucius 



556 



Rep. No. 546. 



NORTH PROVIDENCE-Conlinued. 



Cheney, Alfred 

Crowell, Kbenezer 

Carpenter, Emerson 

Cahoone, Esek B. 

Cash, Samuel 

Cahoone, Joseph 

Chace, William 

Chace, Sheffield 

Clark, Stephen R. 

Clark, Asa B. 

Crawford, Montgomery- 
Cowing, John K. 

Coggeshall, John S. 

Crowell, Henry 

Cooms, William 

Corey, Pearce 

Carr, Riifus B. 

Dexter, Nathaniel 

Draper, Joseph B. 

Dean, Martin 

Dawley, Benjamin G. 

Deverenx, William S. 

Dawley^ John T. 
Donley, Peleg 
Davis, Edward B. 
Develin, Lewis 
Develin, John 
Davis, Charles E. 
Douglas, William 
Davis, Joseph M. 
Dickerson, Joseph C. 
Douglas, Hiram 
Dexter, Waterman 
Douglas, Isaac 
Davis, James 
Damon, Lucius 
Dispean, John S. 
Dunham, Daniel 
Dexter, John W. 
Douglas, Robert 
Dexter, Jerameel J. 
Darling, Nathaniel J. 
Dean, Leonard 
Develin, Bernard 
Dexter, Horatio S. 
Dexter, Simon W. 
Esten. Esek 
Esten, Cornelius 
Edwards, Preserved 
Everett, William B. 



Eaton, Levi Curtis 
Everett, Gilbert N. 
Everett, Ebenezer 
Everett, Ira 
Everett, Ellis 
Eddy, Owen 
Eddy, Ferdinand S. 
Ennis, Daniel S. 
Everett, P. F. 
Frost, William F. 
Follett, Robert ^ 

Furlong, Edward 
Follett, Lyman 
Fenner, John O, 
Franklin, Nelson 
Farnsworthj Ephraim 
Fuller, Marcus M. 
Fisk, Abjjah 
Fur n ham, Joseph P. 
Fairbrother, Phineas 
Fairbrother, Samuel W, 
Freeman, Benjamin 
Field, George 
Fuller, Joseph R. 
Franklin, Darius S. 
Fales, John T. 
Fairbrother, John 
Fuller, Albert 
Furman, Jason 
Fechman, Ray 
Green, Stephen A. 
Gardner, Christopher D. 
Goldsmith, John 
Godfrey, Samuel 
Gilman, David 
Greene, Jofin 
Godfrey, Elisha 
Grid ley, Benjamin 
Gunman, Silas 
Greene, Henry P. 
Godfrey, Ezra 
Gage, Samuel 
Gridley, Jonathan F. 
Gregory, James 
Guild, Elias 
Rowland, Edwin 
Huntress, Andrew 
Hale. Silas 
Horr, William A. 
Horr, Darvis 



Rep. No. 546. 



55T 



NORTH PROVIDENCE— Comiaued. 



Havens, Samuel 
Hutchens, Samuel 
Handy, Allen 
Harris, William 
Hubbard, William M. 
Horr, Jacob C. 
Haswell, Isaiah C. 
Hoyt, Lewis 
Horr, Darius W. 
Hortoii, Andrew- 
Houghton, John B. 
Had ley, Benjamin H. 
Hopkins, Willett 
Hadley, Nicholas B. 
Havens, Nathan 
Holmes, Joseph J. 
Holmes, David A. 
Hunt, Elisha, jr. 
Henry, William 
Henry, William P. 
Hamilton, Gideon 
Hawkins, William L. 
Hawkins, David 
Harris, John 
Hall, Charles 
Howland, Shubael 
Higgins, Hiram H. 
Hicks, William H. 
Hawes, Joseph 
Harrington, Thomas 
Holbrook, Sylvanus 
Hutghinson, James 
Haskell, Levi 
Henry, Foster 
Hunt, Caleb 
Handy, Martin 
Haskell, Moses 
Hawkins, Darius 
Harris, Thoaias J. 
Handy, John 
Hall, Nathan H. 
Himes, Willard 
Hawkins, Josiah H. 
Hale, George 
Himes, Stuart 
Hathaway. Nathan 
Hodges, A. F. 
Hunt, Ira 
Henry, George 
Haskins, Lovett 
Haskins, George 



Howard, Hiram L. 
HoUoway, Ichabod K. 
Hawkins, Marvel 
Henry, Mat hew 
Irons, Amasa 
Irons, Edward W. 
Ingraham, H. N. 
Ingraham, Jabel 
Ingraham, Caleb 
Ide, Amos, jr. 
Ingraham, Joshua 
Irons. Morris T. 
In man, Ahab 
Jen ekes, Pardon 
Jenckes. Stephen 
Johnson, Isaac 
Jacquays, James M. 
Jenks, George 
Jepherson, Dutee 
James, Joseph 
Jo.slin, George, jr. 
Jenkes, William B. 
Jaqnays, Oliver F. 
Jaquays, David D. 
Jenks, Levi 
Jillson, Pardon P. 
Jillson, William O. 
James, John 
Johnston. Jason 
Jordan, Oliver 
Joslin, George 
Jenckes, Isaac T. 
Jenckes. Levi, 2d 
JefFers, Henry H. 
Johnson, Dutee 
Jenckes, Nathaniel M 
Jenks, Ichabod 
Jenks, Slater 
Jenks, James V. 
Jeifers, William 
Jenks, Pardon, jr. 
Jenks, George C. 
Jenks, Lyndon 
Jenks, Sterry 
Jenks, Jabez W. 
Johnson, John N. P. 
Jenks, William 
Kinnicntt, Shubael 
Kennedy, Thomas 
King, Jarvis 
King, George K. 



59S 



Rep. No. 546. 



NORTH PROVIDENCE^Cominued. 



Kingsley. William 
Kids, Orrin 
KdowIps. Benjamin 
Kin?, Benoni 
Kelly, Jedediah C. 
Kelly, Richard 
Knowles, Robert A. 
Kerr. William 
KenyoD. Jonathan C. 
Kenyon. Joseph G. 
King. Abner N. 
Kno\rlion. James 
LowdeD, John W. 
Lurabert. Thomas 
Leonard, Apoilos 
Lewis, Crandall 
Luther, Edmund 
Lincoln. Beta 
Luther. Hezekiah 
Leland. Alonzo 
Lockwood, Benajah T. 
Latham. Thomas W. 
Lawton, Isaac 
Lee. Newell 
Lawton, William H. 
Lyon. George W. 
Lewis. John 
Latham. Benjamin F. 
Lothrop, Lebbeus 
Lothrop. James F. 
Lyon, William 
Lord, Samuel 
Lewis, Thomas 
Lapham, William 
Leonard. Charles A. 
Le Craw, John B. 
Lewis, Robert G. 
Merry. Benjamin 
Mann. Jacob 
Miller. Samuel W. 
Merry. Samuel 
Maccomber, Frederick 
Marchant. Jeremiah 
Maccomber, Zebedee 
Mclntire, Joseph 
Manchester. Cornelias 
Mowry. Jenckes 
Metcalf. Owen 
Meeder. Daniel 
Maihewsrn, Benom 
Mowry, Randall 



Mowry, William 
MuUett, William 
Masterson, Michae 
Mowry, Horace B. 
Mitchell. Daniel 
Means, Joseph 
Martin. H. Otis 
Mitchell, H. Otis 
Mitchell. William 
Martin, Sampson 
McCallum, J. E. 
Marchant. Gorham 
Martin, Horace A. 
Miller, Barton 
Miller, Ephraim 
Mason, Edmund 
Mason. Jam^s S. 
Martin, Le Baron 
Norihnp Lebbeus 
Newell. John 
Northup. William H. 
Newell, George W. E. 
Nicolas. Nelson 
Nickerson. Enoch 
Northup. Rufus 
Northup. John S. 
Northup. David 
Nicolas, George 
Newell, Ziba" 
Norton, George 
Northup, Thomas R. 
Niles, Nathaniel 
Olney, Edward B. 
Olney, Edmund J. 
Olney, William H. 
Oluey, Solomon 
Olney, Obadiah 
Olney, Joseph 
Olney. < yrus 
Olney. Daniel 
Olney, Elisha 
Olney, Sullivan 
Olney, Charles 
Olney, Henry D. 
Olney, Almon 
Olney, Elisha 
Pack, Adams 
Perry. Edward 
Pond,' William H. 
Pond, Parker H. 
Pratt, William A, 



Rep. No. 546. 



5^9 



NORTH PROVIDE>XE— Coctinaed. 



Potter, Samuel B. 
Peckham, Benjamin L. 
Peck, Daiiforth L. 
Potter. Danforth L. 
Potter, Edmund 
Phillips, Otis 
Pierce, Sanford R. 
Parker. J. N. 
Pollard, James 
Peck, Foster S. 
Parsons, William E. 
Paul, John 
Perrin, Henry- 
Pond, Julius 
Peters, Albert 
Pait, Edwin C. 
Patt. Horatio N. 
Peck, Albert B. 
Putney, Otis 
Phinney, Zenas 
Patt. David 
Park. Appleton 
Paul, Jacob 
Read, Amos M. 
Ripley, Charles 
Rex, Jeremiah 
Randall, Shadrach 
Rounds. Caleb 
Randall, Nathaniel 
Reraineton, A. S. 
Reynolds. Erastus 
Rice, Emery 
Reynolds, Thomas Q» 
Ricker, Ezekiel, 3d 
Randall, Joseph 
Razee, Jesse E. 
Reynolds, George H. 
Robinson, James B. 
Robnson, Samuel 
Roberts, George A. 
Read, Ervin 
Read, Horatio N. 
Rex, Thomas 
Randall, John 
Ripley, Calvin 
Randall. Peter 
Rex, Charles S. 
Ryder. James 
Rechard, Gardner 
Rice, Archibald B, 
HeXj George 



Rex, John 
Ryder. David 
Reed. Adam 
Round, Charles M. 
Ripley, Charles B. 
Remington, Waterman 
Roberts, James A. 
Sisson, Joseph 
Sisson. Samuel 
Sumner, Frederick A. 
Spauidins:. Silas 
Smith, John F. 
Shepard. John 
Sweet, Daniel D. 
Smith, Dexter B. 
Sweet, Samuel 
Sweet. Eiisha W. 
Smith, Eben 
Staunton, John C. 
Slocura, Eason 
Stetson, Isaac 
Smith, Mowry W. 
Sweet, William A. 
Stone. John 
Steere. Asa 
Smith. Richard 
Steere, Asahel. jr. 
Sampson, Abiel M. 
Sherman. Benjamin 
Smith, Hosea 
Smith, Horace, jr. 
Smith. Nehemiah 
Sweet, Eiisha S. 
Smith. Salisbury 
Swan. Charles E. 
Salisbury, Arthur 
Sherman, Isaac 
Simonds. Alfred 
Sweetland. James H. 
Smith. Nelson E. 
Sweet. James W. 
Sundalin, Henry H. 
Shove. Robert 
Seamans, Olney E. 
Sears. Obed 
Sanders. Samuel 
Smith. Abiel 
Smith, Scott 
Snow, Edward 
Salisbury, Joseph 
Smiih, John 



560 



Rep. No. 546. 



NORTH PROVIDENCE— Conlinned 



Smitli, Jotham G. 
Stall, George W. 
Sweetland, William 
Salisbury, Luke S. 
Slocum, Jeremiah 
Smith, Cyrus 
Strange, Thomas H. 
Sweetland, Thomas 
Slade, Philip A. 
Smith. Samuel 
Smith, Nehemiah P. 
Steere, John 
Salisbury, Clement D. 
Tucker, John 
Teft, William H. 
Thorp, John 
Turner, Luther 
Trescott, L. E. 
Tyler, George 
Tyler, Archibald H. 
Tripp, John 
Thornton, Horace 
T|iurston, Peleg 
Tripp, William H. 
Tingley, Lyman 
Tudor, James F. 
Tanner, John B. C. P. 3d 
Thompson, William B. 
Teft, Henry 
Thatcher, Prentis 
Tompkins, Edmund C. 
Thornton, Joseph W. 
Tucker, Jeremiah 
Utton, John W. 
Utton, John T. 
Verry, John 
Vickere, Albert 
Vial, James M, 
Vose, George A. 
Wilcox, Robert 
Wetherell, Zelotes 
Wood, Ebenezer 
Walker, Kussell D. 
Weedon, John M. 
Wade, Noyes 
Ware, Gilbert A. 
West, Job Pv. 
Wilbur, Calvin 
Webbter, Lewis 
Whelden, Prince 
Woodberry, John R, 



White, Nicholas P. 
Whipple, Thomas J. 
Whipple, Thomas 
Whipple, Stephen 
Williams, Elisha S. 
Wilcox, Reynolds 
Whitman, Joseph 
Williams, Waterman C. 
Waterman, Charles B. 
Whipple, James M. 
Whipple, William O. 
Whipple, Benjamin 
Wilcox, John C. 
Williams, Andrew 
Whipple, John J. A. R. 
Wood, George H. 
Wilkinson, Abraham 
Williams, Larned 
Williams, Harrison, jr. 
WillianiS, George D. 
Whitmarsh, Thomas 
Wilson, Alexander 
Whitfemore, Mdward 
W hillock, Lawrence 
Willard, John H. 
Williams, T. William 
Wakefield, Chancey 
Winsor, Emor 
White, William W. 
Wilmarth, Harrison 
Warren, David B. 
Webber, William 
White, William G. 
Williams, Anthony S. 
Whipple, Daniel P. 
White, Isaac H. 
Whiting, Nelson 
Wilkinson, William W. 
Whipple, Amasa W. 
Whitaker, Ira C. 
Walker, Francis 
Young, Samuel 



Qualified - 
Not qualified 


- 221 

- 472 


'IV.ial 
Against 


- 693 

- 13 


For - 


- 680 



VOTERS IN 

Qualifiec:. 

Benjamin Hunt 
Jeremiah Carpentei 
Sheldon CoJvin 
Joshua [Iiint 
Caleb Colvin 
Henry Waterman 
■t^benezer B.irney 
David Mclntire 
Isaac N. Sprague 
isaac (A)ngdon, jr. 
Georae Harris 
Freeborn Potter 
l^uty Colvin 
•Rf'bert Grinnell 
"VViHiam Bno-crs 
Joseph Sheld'oli 
^evi S. Wilhams 
Andrew Es.sex 
Wjibnr Searle 
Charh-s Porter 
Joseph Nicholas 
^ams 8 /.each 
VV^'J'iam K. CarpeDtor 
-Tiiihjs ^'praffiie 
St' phen Wi'o-ht 
WilJutm F. Waterman 
Sylvester Stone 
J<>fT" A. King 
W/ll,am I). Williams 
^^GpUe,ti J. Colvin 

^ fseph Carpenter 
Joseph Sixi-W 
Caleb Williams 
George W. «pragne 
O'^s B. Sali^bur^ 
i;mierick Williams 

Arnold Smith 
William (Jorpe 
Wii!<om II. Havens 
t'^'Jjal: J)ay,jr 
««".^y A. Remington 

John K. Pierce 
f;et7j'amin Sprague 
J-i^hraini c. Thurber 

3€ 



Rep. No. 546. 

No. 115. 
CRANSTON, PROVIDENCE COUNTY. 

Joseph C. Kino- 
William Williams 
Phihp Paine 
William Eddy 
James A. Hills 
Nathan 'I'hornton 
Pardon Sheldon 
Harding Knight 
Keuben Smith 
John L. Ross 
A^ayton Knight 
OIney W. Arnold 
Wilham Thurber 
Jonathan Remington 
Pardon Williams 
Jose|>h S. Budlong 
Wilham H. Hunt 
Asahel Fenner 
Youngs Morgan 
George W. Sheldon 
Wilham E. Rutter 
H. Blai.'^dell 
James W. Scott 
Jsrael K. Potter 
John Fenner 
Niles Wescott 
Welcome Fenner 
Caleb Potter 
Harding Steere 
John Q. A. Davis 
Nathaniel Cole 
Fones Bngars 
Gardner LJuher 
Erastus R. Mowry 
Gzias Dan forth 
Edward Luther 
William Hardenburgh 
Benjamin Tallman 
Solomon W. Thornton 
John B. Whitehead 
John Beattie 
Mowry Williams 
J^yman Barney 
Wilham H. A. Aldr.ch 
<^>ren Baker 
Ebenezer Walker 
Nehemiah Wight 
Chdstopher Nicholas 



561 



Rep. No. 546. 



CRANSTON- Continued. 



William Slieldon 
George T. Potter 
Nathan Waterman 
Philip Paine, jr. 
James S. Williams 
William H: Prior 
James Youngs 
Benjamin E. Jones 
George Cunlifl:' 
Elisha A. Whitaker 
John D. Foster 
John S. Foster 
Christopher N. Levalley 
Thomas Grace 
Henry Jennison 
Joseph E. Bnrge.-!S 
Horace Williams 
Henry Bnr^jess 
Jeremiah Fenner 
Freeborn Potter, jr. 
William A. Sarll 
Burton Sarll / 
Thomas Roberts 
Horace Prior 
Charles Peck 
George VV. Spencer 
Benjamin Chapman 
Henry N. Thornton 
Samuel Slociim 
W^illiam Cunliff 
Elisha H. Rhodes 
Thomas B. Coles 
Eliakim Briggs 
Richard Fenner 
Henry Fenner 
Daniel S. Congdon 
Caleb W. Johnson 
Samuel F, Joy 
Benjamin G. Tallman 
Joseph Howard 
Leander L. Dodge 
Joseph Howard 2d 
Oliver Daw ley 
Joseph Sheldon 
Stephen Relph 
Charles Remiugton 
Ozias Danforlh 
David Sprague 
George P. Hazard 
De Witt C. Sprague 



William R. Butterworth 
Samuel Burgess 
Randall Relph 
Seth Baker 
George Hunt 
Edward Beasley 
George Waterman 
Stephen Sprague 
Christopher Thornton 
Gilford W. Cliase 
Augustus Carpenter 
James S. Chase 
John S. Baker 
Squire Baker 

Not qualified. 

Eborn Knight 
Leonard Salisbury 
Peter Harrington 
James Davis 
Olney M. Nelley 
Levi Bradford 
George M. Collins 
Albion N. Olney 
Hardin Briggs 
William Thorington 
Henry Reynolds 
Raymond Stone 
William Wright 
Joseph S. Lock wood 
Lewis R. Sprague 
Stephen Sheldon 
Daniel T. Remington 
John Lane 
Peleg Hedley 
Jesse H. Randall 
W^illiam H. Sterrat 
Pardon L. Wight 
Edward Li. Wight 
Stephen Arnold 
Morris Judd 
Joseph C. Gavitt 
John Reynolds, jr. 
Edwin Stone 
William Reynolds 
Lewis Potter 
Dean Kimball 
Caleb Henry 
Robert Benttie 



Rep. No. 546. 



56^ 



CRANSTON— Continued. 



James Wight 
Samuel Budloni^ 
Tillinghasl Williams 
Ebenezer Sprague 
John Slain 
George N. Foster 
Mo wry K. Aid rich 
George B. Richardson 
Stephen D. Olney 
Wilham F. Paine 
James B. Pitcher 
Hazard Ennis 
William H. Allen 
Peleg W. S locum 
Alpheus Smith 
Joseph W. King 
Henry Randall 
Sidney B. Smith 
Clarke Dawley 
Richard Fenner 
Charles Peabody 
Allen Lewis 
Levi Trumbull 
Ambrose B. Bailey 
John P. Waterman 
James Bates 
John Smith 
Thomas Knight 
Nathaniel Langley 
Arnold Lawton 
Sylvester R. Franklin 
Elihu Thomas 
John P. Nicholas 
Abel Angell 
Thomas Warner 
Anthony M. Angell 
Silas Rider 
Alexander Harrington 
Daniel C. Stone 
Seneca Stone 
Thomas H. Pollard 
ISehemiah Thnrber 
William C. Brigsfs 
AVilham G. Coffin 
William R. S locum 
M. B. Lord 
Thomas W. Allen 
John Stone 
Samuel Stokes 
Nathaniel W. Rounds 



William Ton more 
Benjamin Gorton 
Benjamin Roberts 
Charles Hortcn 
Rowland Lovell 
George Hawes 
Asa H. Marshall 
Dyer S. Essex 
Joseph Y. Reynolds 
Joseph W. Fuller 
Joel Benton 

Jonathan R. Remington 
William H. Allen 2d 
Dan Wilson 
Joseph Taylor, jr. 
Joseph Taylor 
Thomas R. Taylor 
Joseph F. Norton 
Amos Potter 
Asahel Fenner 2d 
Isaac liriggs 
John Heap 
Horatio N. Randall 
John Cornell 
William Owens 
John W. Greene 
Rnfus King 
William King 
Horatio King 
.lames Arnold 
Edward Mason 
Charles B. Hawkins 
Timothy Ralph 
Luther E. Brayton 
James S. Hill 
William Ash croft 
William H. Manchester 
Benedict Arnold 
Horace Lawton 
Luther Eldridge 
James Chi Ids 
George W. Whitehead 
Albert Tillinghast 
Jeremiah Knight 
Charles D. Warren 
Ebenezer Cushman 
Almond Arnold 
William Adams 
Norris H. Church 
David Lawton 



^4 



Rep. No. 546. 



CRANSTON— Coniinued. 



Albert Brijrgs 
WilHam H. Sprague 
Feuner Harris 
Be nan i Sprague 
ColviHe D. Brown 
William Sieere 
Darius Sessions 
Parker VV. Stephens 
Orrin Mowry 
Albert Mowry 
Syria Mathewson 
William Briggs, jr. 
William Keach 
Stephen KandaU 
Paris Roberts 
Joseph Watson 
Leonard Pearce 
Abm. R. Gary 
Henry Stone 
ISaihan Reene 
Ezra Kelley 
Abel Howard 

Benjamin F. Fuller 

Cyril Greene 

Darius A. Franklin 

Erastus N. Burlingame 

George W. Eddy 

Daniel L. Cook 

John D. James 

Ebenezer F. Kingsbury 

Abel G. Tripp 

James Mott 

jNorman Brown 

Robert Moon 

Harding Knight, jr. 

Silas Spink 

Arnold Spink ' 

Daniel Chedell 

Henry Graves 

Samuel Fisk 

Edward S. R. Remington 
Ellery Kinyon 
William Gardner 
William Whiiaker 
Caleb Stone 
Ezekiel Warner 
Nehemiah Warner 
Thomas Moor 
Nathaniel Mumford 
William Manchester 



James W. Johnson. 
Giles Phillips 
John Congdon 
Henry Taylor 
George Lawtou 
Arnold Tarbox 
George Arnold 
Sampson Burgess 
Abncr Wade 
Hazard James 
Walter H. At wood, jr., 
William H. Howard 
Peleg Groves 
Elisha Bowen 
Jasper Jordan 
Ledyard H. Brown 
William Sherman 
Pardon Sheldon 
Caleb N. Field 
William Burnnvs 
Peter ISorton 
Frink W. Dorrance 
Jabez Holden 
Joseph Loring 
William P. Plotter 
Charles Chace 
Thomas W. Wood 
John A. S. Ken yon 
Rufus Keach 
Arnold Knight 
Albert Himes 
William Arnold 
John R. Wood 
William Himes 
(jSeorge W. Shermati 
Stephen Roberts 
Roswell Webster 
Ozias Read 

Cliester A. Wood worth 
Alfred Wright 
John Scott 
Joseph Nutting 
Philip Baker 
Horace Austin 
William Horsewell 
William A. Arnold 
Robert Ralston 
John Franklin 
John Sweet 
George B, Potter 



Rep. No. 546. 



565 



CRANSTON— CoLtinued. 



Francis Horsewell 
Caleb Carr 
Francis C. Doane 
John Williams 
Benjamin (iardner 
John A. Gardner 
William V. Davoll 
Oliver Gardner 



Q,ualified, 
Not qua li tied. 

Total, 



159 
241 

400 



i\o. 116. 



VOTERS IN WARWICK, KENT COUNTY. 



Qnalified. 

CJeorge W. Cnrni ' 
Robert W. Arnold 
Burton Baker 
Christopher Greene 
Sylvester G. Manchester 
Christopher Spencer 
Owen Biirlinirame 
George W. Gardner 
Joseph \N. Potter 
Alfred Read 
William Battey 
Jonathan Remington 
Henry Dyer 
William W. Knight 
Benjamin Nichols 
Edmuntl Bn rk 
William Miller 
Christophpr Greene, S. W. 
Joseph W. Hammond 
Peleg R. Angell 
Caleb Whitman, jr. 
Thomas W. Warner 
Joseph B. Baker 
Edwin Johnj^on 
Pardon Spencer 
Robert M. Bennett 
James Barllett 
Nehemiah Brayton 
Palmer Sheldon 
Louis Greene 
Christopher S. Warner 
Russell G. Arnold 
Philip Matteson 



Thomas B. Vaiighan 
Thomas R. Stafford 
Nathan Sunderland 
John P. Remington 
Philip D. Sherman 
Thomas R. Stafford, jr. 
Smith W. Pierce 
Christopher Arnold, 'S'. ;S'. 
William Carder 
Emanuel Rice 
William Endlong 
Hazzard Carder 
Stephen Biidlong 
James Carder 
Jahleel VVestcott 
Oliver Baker 
Horace Smith 
Lawton Greene 
William Warner 
Nicholas P. Baker 
Harding W. Potter 
Nelson Levalley 
Thomas Remington 
Randall Carder 
Orrin Spencer 
John Warner 
Benjamin Tihbetts 
Joseph Baker 
Thomas Rice 
John B. Sheldon 
Jonathan A. Sherman 
John Kinnecom 
Benjamin Kinnecom 
James Fisher 
Uriah Eddy 



566 



Rep. No. 546. 



WARWICK— Continued. 



Thomas E. Anthojiy 
Allen Arnold 
Augustus Phillips 
Squire Millard 
Henry A, Bowen 
Isaac Nichols 
Thomas J. Rathbone 
John Shrieves 
Daniel Bahcock 
Benjamin Sweet 
Caleb A. Rice 
Stephen Andrew, jr. 
Charles Reynolds 
Isaiah W. Butfey 
Christopher Holden 
Moses P. Nutting 
Stephen Holden 
Stephen Thornton 
John Holden 
Alanson Wood 
Whipple Stone 
Sluk(^ly Wood 
John Carpenter 
Samuel F. Tibbetts 
John G. Mawney 
Abel Tanner 
George Levalley 
Jesse Dawley 
Samuel J. Sherman 
James V. Holden 
Nehemiah Slone 
Ezekiel Rogers 
John Weaver 
William Tibbelts 
Oliver C. Arnold 
John R VV^atcrman- 
Joshua VVhitefoord 
John F. Johnson 
Samuel N. Hopkins 
Sheldon J^uther 
Seariel Simmons 
Godfrey Greene 
Eldridge Dyer 
Rhodes Greene 
Otis Tyler 
Joseph W. Ladd 
Emory S. Bennett 
Richard Waterman 
Nicholas Arnold 
Stephen Browning 



Daniel Hall 
- John G. Reynolds 
Nicholas E. Gardner 
William Rice 
Robert G. Mawney 
Wheaton G. Bennett 
Festus L. Thompson 
Wanton Wilbur 
Nicholas R. Gardner 
Charles W. Atwood 
George C. Perry 
Amos G. Fenner 
Seth Burke 
John D. Spink 
Spicer Greene 
Alanson Hawley 
Edmund C. Cole 
Nelson Williams 
William Kinnecom 
Charles Millard 
Am but A. Wescott 
Benjamin P. Nichols 
Stephen Arnold 
Joseph Card 
Alexander L. Nichols 
Elijah Baker 
James S. Andrews 
Rowland Crandall 
Bowen Fenner 
Ebenezer Tourgee 
Harrison Collins 
.Oliver C. Mott 
Reuben Wickes 
Hanan Hawkins 
William A. Briggs 
Gideon C. Briggs 
Whipple A. Arnold 
Oliver Arnold 
Darius Hart 
Charles C. Shippee 
Lodowick W. Shippee 
Charles Nichols 
Benjamin Sweet, jr. 
John W. Atwood 
Lyman North up 
Amos Budlong 
James W. Clarke 
Thomas Tiffany 
Sylvester B. Merrill 
Samuel N. Phillips 



Rep. No. 546. 






WARWICK— Continued. 



Isaac A. Rhodes 
Benjamin Nichols 
Job Pierce 
Nathaniel Bennett 
Thomas P. Gorton 
Daniel Congdon 
Eben W. Sweet 
"William North Up 
Stephen Northnp 
James Graham 
Jam(!s Doran 
Man sir (J. Shippey 
Reuben S. Peckham 
Joshua A. Johnson 
Thomas M. Remington 
Benjamin Williams 
Henry Hamillon 
Nicholas Gardner 
Benjamin P. Phillips 
Ray G. Andrew 
Henry B. Slone 
Benoni E. Ijcwis 
James B. Bennett 
John Gardner 
Pelegf Homes 
George Greene 
John B. Tanner 
Osborn Mowry 
Richard Rice 
Joseph E. Lock 
Daniel Dyer 
John Blanchard 
James F. Hills 
Alfred Fairbanks 
Stephen Luther 
John PL Himes 
Andrew Kinnecom 
Asa Lock 
Ephraim Spencer 
Charles F. Buchinhead 
Josiah Baker 
George B. Himes 
George K. tJlarke 
David Baton 
James A. Tanner 
Merchant Weeden 
Joseph W. Arnold 
Isaac Allen 
Varniim Spencer 
Benjamin \V. Briggs 



Reuben Whiiman. jr. 
Richard B. Knight 
Thomas B. Arnold 
Dexter R. Spencer 
George W. Bates 
Allen Whitman 
Oliver Briggs 
Thomas Lock wood 
Joseph Hammond 
Charles Ross 
John Tucker, jr. 
Robert I -ovalley 
Benjan)in Snell 
Otis Martin 
Albert W. Knight 
Samuel D. Pierce 
Daniel Eld ridge 
Henry Tatcm 
Slocum Harrington 
Thomas W. Matterson 
Elijah Card 
Clarke N. Andrews 
Stukely B. Baggs 
Weaver Andrew 
Russell Youngs 
Charles Lock wood 
Elisha L. Baggs 
Ray W. x\t\vood 
Albert G. Smith 
Samuel Sisson 
Paul Wheeloek 
William Sprague 
Earle Builingame 
Alvin Wickes 
Abel Slocum 
Henry A. Arnold 
David Whitman 
Giles Spencer 
William Fason 
Burton Baker 
Albert G. Franklin 
John Norihup, S. A. 
Nathan W. J^ockwood. 
Amos C. Eurle 
Reuben W. Austin 
Nathaniel Millard 
Robert W. Greene 
W^illiam Arnold 
Edward Pike 
William Carter 



ms 



Rep. No. 546. 



WARWICK-Continued. 



George L. Mo wry- 
Joseph Burrows 
Stephen Smith 
Isbon Shermon 
Samuel Reynolds 
Abel Slocum, jr. 
Samuel Arnold 
Stephen Austin 
Cyrus Arnold 
Russell V. Batley 
Wescott Hanes 
Peleg Rhodes 
Henry Snell 
William Jones 
Hiram Biirlingame 
George W. Wells 
William Cottrell 
William C. Ames 
Henry Potter 
Gorton Atwood 
Oliver C. G.Arnold 
Colonel A. Carpenter 
William S. Cranston 
George Potter 
Stephen Potter 
William Arnold 
James H. Peckham 
Wanton Stone 
William Baker 
Frederic Arnold 
William T. Gardnier 
William Hopkins 
Oliver Arnold, ^Js'. P. 
Asa Kettle 
John Baker 
Caleb Whitman 
Stephen Levulley 
John.Levalley 
Samuel G. Allen 
Caleb Johnson 

Not qualified. 

Stephen B. Whipple 
Samuel Dyer 
Henry A. Barley 
Edmund Spencer 
Thomas B. Briggs 
Silas Hathaway ' 
Benjamin Tift 



Samuel P. Sweet 
Samuel K. Dayley 
Smith Northup 
John Mo wry 
John H. Chappell 
Christopher W\ Knight 
Benjamin B. Briggs 
James Russell 
Joseph Card 
Samuel Sweet 
Jason Strait 
Jeremiah Hawkitis 
Stephen Sunderland 
Solomon Matfison 
William Blanchard 
John Allen 
Stephen S. Northup 
Edward A. Cole 
Sweet King 
Amos Shermon 
Richard Gorton 
William Van riper 
William Remington 
Seth Keach 
Enos W. Barber 
David W. Wescott 
Horatio Bennett 
Isaac D. Phillips 
Wilson C. Scoit 
William B. Brown 
Nehemiah Dexter 
Jeremiah Blanchard 
Charles F. Thurston 
Barnet Allen 
James Casswell 
William Fisk 
William Vickory 
John M. Brant 
William Reynolds 
William S. Pieice 
Samuel H. Sherman 
Levi G. Bryant 
Benjamin Greene 
Benjamin F. Bryant 
Almerian Balvill 
John Barber 
Nelson Ken yon 
George B. Carpenter 
Thomas Covil 
Albert Chipman 



Rep. No. 546. 



569 



WARWICK-Continued. 



Arnold B. Austin 
Thomas Taylor 
James W. Brown 
Thomas B. Greene 
Elisha P. Ellis 
George W. Holden 
George W. Price 
John Vickory 
Johnson B. (I'olvin 
James H. Reynolds 
William Con^don 
Joseph P. Coggeshail 
Jesse B. Chamberlain 
Thomas Covil 
George W. Waternjan 
Pardon M. Baker 
Gordon Spencer 
Ichabod S. Phillips 
John Chamberlain 
John Howard 
Allen Austin 
John Nichols 
William A. Wickes 
Alpheus Collins 
David G. Taft 
George W. S. Noyes 
Cyrus Nicholas 
David Tripp 
James H. Bradford 
Silas A. Sweet 
Edmund D. Randolph 
John S. Colgrove 
Ephrnim Covil 
Asa Crandall 
Havens Tenant 
Samuel Tonrgee 
William Greene 
Israel Carr 
Joshua Carpenter 
Thomas Utter 
Thomas C. Hall 
Charles Millard, jr. 
John Tew 
Christopher Hill, jr. 
William Stafford 
George Vickory 
Hiram Stephens 
Sabin Knight 
Stephen Allen 
Joseph VV. Arnold 



Greene H. Capron 
Barton Baker 
Samuel Leach 
Christopher Harrington 
Benjamin Carter 
William B. Keach 
Wanton Sisson 
Ebenezer Fuller 
Sylvanus C. Newman 
George Vickory 
Silas Whitman 
.Tohn Holden 
Taber Hollis 
George Moon, jr. 
Ephraim Bennett 
Philip Dawley 
W^arner D. Greene 
James Douglas, jr- 
Stephen S. Burlingarae 
Charles S. Carder 
Edward G. Rogers 
Caleb B. Spencer 
William Tyler 
Robert H. Grmold 
Thomas Sunderland 
William N. Nichols 
Asahel Wood 
George W. Briggs 
Daniel Sunderland 
Braberry Dow 
William G. Wood 
Ebenezer Brayman 
Christopher Spencer 
Ray Earle 
Albert Phillips 
William B. Spencer 
Ezra W^hitford 
John H. Arnold 
John Douglas 
William Colvin 
Zebulon Northup 
Rufus Wheeler 
Randall F. Greene 
Elisha S. Peckham 
Caleb Rice 
William H. Hill 
Brintal Whitfoord 
Asael A. Bennett 
James Hill 
Abiel S. Brown 



570 



Rep. No. 546. 

WARWICK— Continued. 



George Hawkins 
Abel Bennett 
Peleg Brown 
John Colvin 
John C. Johnson 
Joseph Sheldon 
Thomas M. Pierce 
Jeremiah Staftbrd 
Ambrose Brown 
Caleb A. Bailey 
John P. Burke 
Sylvester W. Colvin 
George Comstock 
Ehsha Dickinson 
Philip A. Colvin 
James C. Jocoy 
Nelson T. Briggs 
Henry Arnold 
William Nichols 
John B. Bradford 
Lorenzo D. Reranigton 
Kay Johnston 
Stephen Norihup 
Henry Baker 
John Douglas 
William Tonrgee 
William Baker 
. Isaac Lawton 
James Nigh 
Amos Greene 
Stukely C. Himes 
Samuel Peckham 
Jonathan Rogers 
Thomas Hovey 
Ira Mattison 
Thomas Nichols 
John B. Bassell 
Henry A. Love 
Hall Gorton 
William Card 
Sheffield Reynolds 
James Gardner 
Zadoc Bnro:ess 
Noah Kinsley 
Sylvester H. Bennett 
John Himes 
Jeremiah C. Knight 
William A. Cory 
Daniel D. Greene 
Joseph Congdon 



Lymon L. Leach 
Edwin W. Arnold 
Anthony Carr 
Lyman Grinnol 
John Andrews 
Benjamin Albro 
Stephen B. Gardner 
John W. Towl 
Henry Rieves 
Isaac Mo\vry 
John W. Bennett 
John S. Budlong 
Nathan T. 1 -ock 
Georire W. Harrington 
James M. Tonrgee 
Joseph Johnson 
William Remington 
James Cole 
Harris Johnson 
Henry H. Stephens 
William H. Budlong 
Whipple Stoveyer 
Joseph G. Lawton 
Jonathan West 
Jabez Colvin 
Stephen S. Brown 
Sion Arnold 
Lorenzo D. Budlong 
James B. Arnold 
William Fairbanks 
William Mumford 
John R. Stafford 
John R. Brayton 
Isaac Carr 
Mason Cornal 
John Sunderland, jr. 
William Wood 
James Bowener 
James Carr 
Henry W. Greene 
William Randall 
Samuel G. Bo wen 
Hiram Clark 
Hazzard Wilbur 
Clark Spink 
John Bennett 
Christopher W. Greene 
Thomas S. Northup 
Harding P. Rice 
Lowry Greene 



Rep. No. 546. 



571 



WARWICK— Continued. 



Christopher T. Congdon 
William Case 
William Montgomery 
Israel Wood 
Amos Bndlong, jr. 
Henry Capron 
Walter R. Pearle 
Asaph Tennent 
Riifns Diirfee 
Nicholas VV. Shrieves 
Joseph S. Fones 
Thomas Keltoti 
Holden Fisk 
John Northup 
Daniel Stone 
Jetfrey H. Gardner 
Nathan Kenyon 
George Hoffman 
Benjamin VV. Vanghrj 
Edmund L, Endlong 
George W. Griffin 
William W. Matteson 
George A. Davis 
Leonard Vinton 
George W. Rawson 
Perry K. Browning 
Henry Hawkins 
William Boyle 
Charles Noyes 
Thomas IVlaihewson 
James Leach 
Moses Bndlong 
John Linlefield 
Benjamin Tonrgee 
Christopher Hill 
Alfred Whipple 
Robert Gavitt 
William Love 
Henry Collins . 

Thomas Matteson 
John Nutting 
George W. King- 
Nathaniel Champlain 
Jeremiah Randall 
William T. Arnold 
Stephen A. Remington 
El is ha Tew 
Edward Capron 
George Hutch ins 
George A. Smith 



Albert H. Alexander 
Joseph Matteson 
Davenport Simmons 
Thomas M. Tonrgee 
Nathan Card 
Silas Hunt 
James Johnson 
Rowland Greene 
John Carlwright 
Jacob Matteson 
Thomas J. Remington 
Douglas Blanchard 
Alfred Austin 
Benjamin Cornel, jr. 
Dudley Hall 
Philip Arnold 
Horace S. Youngs 
Joseph Pollard 
Stephen Briggs 
Alfred W. Potter 
John R. Barber 
Stephen Card 
Rhodolphus F. Whitney 
John Remington 
Courtland J. Crandall 
Palmer T. Briggs 
John M. Franklin 
Jerod B. Baker 
Elveton Arnold 
Caleb Bates 
George C. Perry jr. 
Joseph P. Essex 
Christopher A. Tillinghast 
Walter P. Wilcox 
Arnold Gavitt 
Allen Blanchard 
Edward K. Stone 
Horatio A. Stnne 
Sheffield S. Wiils 
Parish Andrew 
Benoni King 
Lyman Arnold 
Preserved Pierce 
Hugh Kelley 
Alonzo Borden 
William D. Budlong 
William S. Gardner 
John Austin 
Elijah Card 
George W. Matteson 



572 



Kep. No. 546. 



WARWICK-Continued. 



Samuel Eldred 

William M. Williams 

Emory Henry 

Reuben Essex 

William G. Spencer 

Dennis Dunn 

John A. Spencer 

James Howard 

Alanson P. Brownell 

Benjamin A. Brigg-s 

Augustus Remington 

Isaac Hall 

Joseph F'ones 

Anson Lewis 

William Stone 

Salma Wood 

Willet R. Briggs 

William Holley 

Thomas Maskey 

David W. Hajan 

Nicholas Brown 

Giles J. Jenkins 

Henry Lewis 

James Lamberton 

Caleb Brown 
Joseph B. Rice 

Thomas Worthington 
Dexter G. Wescott 
Alfred Sunderland 
George Bee bee 

William L. Chase 
Stephen Andrew 
Benjamin Andrew 
Benjamin Briggs 
Henry O. Sherman 
George Scott 
John R. Lewis 
Rodman James 
David C. Taylor 
George F. Brayton 
Joshua Tonrtellot 
George A. Phillips 
Henry Sunderland 
Benjamin B. Congdon 
Thomas Bowener 
Stephen Greene 
Nicholas Taft 
John B. Aylesworth 
Harden Hatch 
Warren Collins 



George W. Collins 
Benjamm W. Collins 
Thomas Shippee 
Austin Wilson 
James Davis 
Henry Freeman 
Caleb Gorton 
Thomas E. Remington 

Alden Knight 

Benjamin Wight 

Isaac F. Hollis 

Nicholas M. Gardner 

James H. Bndlong 

George G. Watson 

Lewis W, Briggs 

Caleb W. Bennett 

Nicholas Briggs 

Robert Card 

Josiah Merrill 

John D. Thomas 

Pardon Tillinghast 

Jeremiah Webb 

Beriah S. Brown 

Rowland Sweet 

Amos More 

Jarvis W. Reed 

George W. Nye 

Arnold C. Gardner 

Charles Sherman 

John Nuttinff. jr. 

Charles Stone 

Leonard Capron 

Bowen Kettle 

Wanton W. Potter 

Job Benson 
John Rice 

Samuel K. Nason 

Daniel F. Biirlingame 

Vacnum Taber 
William H. Carpenter 
Levi J. Bianchard 
Horace Franklin 
Simeon Spencer 
Lewis C. Merrill 
James Carroll, jr. 
Charles M. Sunderland 
Abner A. Hart 
Thomas Baker 
Christopher H. Dawley 
Benjamin M. Moon 



Rep. No. 546. 



a7S 



WARWICK— Continued. 



Gideon Wilcox 
Vinson Dawley 
Benjamin Francis 
Edward VVeuver 
John T. Nichols 
Albion N. Arnold 
Job W. Potter 
John W. Arnold 
William Barber 
Allen R. Hill 
Jonathan Noyefs 
William H. Healey 
William Nye, jr. 
Benajah Lockwood 
Daniel W. Peckham 
Albert W. Knight 
Joseph W. Holden 
Allen Brijjgs 
John Uowiiiof, jr. 

William S. Peckham 
Joseph Shaw 

Barney W. Davis 

William Hill 

Robert Brigors 
Avery Winslovv 

Joseph P. Chainplain 

Francis W. Carpenter 
Jeremiah Tourgee 

Joel E. Cady 

Benjamin Miichel 

David Nickerson 

George T. Ross 

John A. Taylor 

Thomas W. Lock 

William Smith 

Thonicis R. Parker 

Daniel Greene 

George Mowry 

Andrew G. Vaughn 

Jonathan Bazzel! 

John P. Sweet 

Kze! Keyix^lds 

Jeliery W. Sunderland 

Eleazer Fisl: 

Hazzard Clarke 

Hiram West 

Nicholas Harris 

Edwin Goggswell 

Kiishft Andrews 

Joseph Burgess 



Alfred Smith 
George Colvin 
Nicholas T. Allen 
Spanlding N. Ross 
Timothy Clarke 
Dennis Hunt 
Russell At wood 
James F. Rhodes 
Abraham Brightman 
George W. Keacli 
Andrew Arnold 
George H. Cooke 
William Tonrgee 
William Nye 
Caleb Johnson 
Benjamin Essex 
Thomas F. Greene 
Joseph E. Cranston 
Nelson Young 
William Bardeen 
Pardon Crandall 
Jonathan Taft 
William A. Leach 
Joel E. Cady 
Thomas W. Lockwood 
John F. Bacon 
Sumner Trumbull 
Giles S. Greene 
Barnard M. Hall 
Stephen Nutting 
Whipple Andrews 
George Cook 
James Kinsley 
William Wilbur 
Simon Sherman 
William Stone 
William Jennison 
Welcome Bates 
George Hodges 
George Johnston 
En OS Farrow 
George H. Arnold 
Bernard N. Eddy 
John Kini: 
Warren C. Gardnier 
Reynolds S. Wilcox 
Simeon W. Drown 
Joseph W. James 
Thonins P. R. A. Knox 
.Aitemas S. Fuller 



574 



Rep. No. 546. 



WARWICK-Coniinued. 



Chester Hinies 
Silas James 
John Cass we 11 
Christopher F. Collins 
Pardon Biirlingame 
Benjamin W. Arnold 
Benjamin Rogers 
John Campbell 
Warren Tanner 
Ray Greene 
Remington Sherman 
"William Stoveyer 
L. Can field 
Samnel R. Gavitt 
Stephen E. Card 
Mark Connelly 
Lewis Chaffee 
Solomon Arnold 



Jonathan Benson 




Ellis M. Cottery 




Daniel Nason 




Samnel Bennett 




Nicholas W. Cook 




Joseph My rick 




Joshua A. Davis 




James Carr 




Josiah LiCvalley 




Daniel B. Himes 




Qualified 


- 308 


Not qualified - 


- 587 


Total - 


- 895 



No. 117. 



VOTERS IN COVENTRY, KENT COUNTY. 



George W. Greene 
Coddmgton S. Burch 
Orrin Cahoone 
Alfred Cornell 
John Smith 
Hosea Cahoone 
Eber Phillips 
Andrew Colvin 
Allen Greene 
Abel Cornell 2d 
Arnold Pettis 
James Langley 
James A. Venney 
Jonathan Nichols ^ 
Nathan Walker 
Israel Wilson 
Christopher Carpenter 
James L. Ross 
Sylvester Andr3\v 
John R. Allen 
George Cahoone 
George Fairbanks 
David H. Culver 
Jonathan BIy 
Thomas J, Ross 



James M. Herrington 
Sheffield R. Greene 
Cromwell liCvalley 
Bowen Angell 
Benjamin B. Cotterell 
Thomas Hall 
Nehemiah Knight 
Benjamin S. Chace 
Albert Wickes 
William Knight 
William Cahoone 
Isaac B. Aylesworth 
Allen Cahoone 
Erasmus D. Clarke 
John'W. Davis 
Archibald Mattison 
Josiah N. Colvin 
Stephen G. Watson 
Isaiah Kettle 
William Brown 
Luther L. Col well 
Ira Cobb 

Thomas Tennent 
George W. Whitman 
Josiah Love 



Rep. No. 546. 



575 



COVENTRY— CoiUiiiued. 



Samuel Sweet 
Thomas O. Johnson 
Tchabod White 
Jeremiah U. Austin 
Israel Walker 
Benjamin Holden 
Christopher Robinson 
Samuel II. Cotterel 
Robert x\nsten 
Benjamin Greene 
Reuben Potter 
Hazzard B. Clarke 
Jason P. Stone, 2d 
Martin Bradford 
Alvin Greene 
Alfred I'aylor 
Ira West 
Henry O. Sweet 
Jenckes N. Kilton 
Sheffield VV. Havens 
Jason Weaver 
James Caswell 
Thomas A. Andrew 
Rufus Kettle 
Elisha B. Chappell 
William G. Perry 
Charles Holden 
George Dye 
Gardner P. Cottrel 
Philip P. Hawkins 
Ishmael Nichols 
Jareb Matteson 
Daniel Rice 
Charles H. Thayer 
Edward Slocum 
Stephen Salisbury 
Jeffrey Davis 
W^anton Gardner 
Joab \Vood 
John Wickes 
Benoni Slone 
Benjamin Dawley, jr. 
Asa Bennett 
George Trim, jr. 
Alvin Trim 
Ebenezer W. Chase 
Lawton Johnson 
Peter T. W. Mitchel 
Wilbur Mattison 
Geor^je Briggs 



Thomas J. Hines 
Benoni Rogers 
Perry Andiew 
Ira G. Briggs 
Benjamin Morse 
Wilham Kerr 
Charles Collins 
Asahel Jordan 
Benjamin Dawley 
Benjamin S. Briggs 
William Bowen 
Samuel F. Chappell 
Augustus F. Bowen 
Andrew J. Wright 
Francis W. Gardner 
David Wilcox 
W^illiam F. Potter 
Charles Colvin 
John Bennett 
Bowen Cahoone 
William J. Barber 
Augustus J. Lewis 
Stanton Ilazzard 
Jonathan Pettis 
Benjamin Cobb 
Benjamin B. Cobb 
Oliver Howard 
James Kendall 
Bowen Johnson 
John Bowles 
Caleb Colvin 
Joseph Gorton 
George A. C. Cole 
Jesse Wood 
Daniel Arnold 
Sylvester Rice 
Henry C. Peck 
Paul Harrington 
Dexter Moore 
David Blanchard 
Abm, Tillason 
Joseph Cass well 
Verbadus Mattison 
Royal Andrew 
Jefferson L. Kimball 
Samuel Greene 
Fileazar Briggs 
James B. Arncld 
Abel M. Sweet 
John P. Millerd 



E—" 



576 



Rep. No. 546. 



COVENTRY— Continued. 



John Moon 
Henry A. Maltesoo 
Isaac Hyde 
Abner Rogers 
James Warner, jr, 
George P. Gould 
Jolin Bro.vn 
James Sweel 
Ezekiel Johnson 
Albert O. Milchel 
Jeremiah Greene 
Samuel Whaley 
Peleo; Gorton 
Job Gorton 
Zebulon Gardner 
Samuel Franklin 
John A. franklin 
Nathan Rice 
William P. Scott 
Sheldon Potter 
Samuel P. Carr 
Oolvin W. Richards 
Aaron Bowen 
James Brigijs 
William G.^Battey 
Samuel A. Briggs 
Joseph Greene 
J Miller Briggs 
Richard Arnold 
Jeremiah Arnold 
Andrew Colvin 
Robert Havens 
William H. Sweet 
William G. Sheldon 
Jonathan Nichols 
George C. Sieevens 
Sheffield Wait, jr. 
Holden Andrew 
Reuben Nicholas 
Randall Knight 
Henry Morse 
Henry Cahoone 
Olney Wood 
Archibald Morse 
George W. Greene 
Jabez Stone 
Wheaton Knight 
Hale C. Manchester 
Job iManchester 
Abel Maiteson 



Benjamin Gorton 
Otis W. Arnold 
Cornell O. Havens 
John Wood 
Asahel Greene 
Darius Whit ford 
Stephen Richmond 
Samuel Bissell 
Arnold Maiteson 
Isaac H. I.awton 
William W. Whipple 
Daniel V. Reynolds 
Stephen Bennett 
William Taylor 
John Wilcox 
George W. Bowen 
Peleg Gorton 
John A. Wilcox 
Peter Eddy 
Klhan Angell 
George W. Johnson 
John'W. Dance 
Joshua Havens 
John Y. Johnson 
John A. Matleson 
Bowen T. Briggs 
Charles S. Adams 
John S. Maiteson 
Josiah Briggs 
C'harles Morse 
Silas Gorton 
Reynolds Lewis 
Nichols Austin 
Reynolds Austin 
OliVer Maiteson 
William G. Merrill 
William B. Merrill 
Easou Barb<ir 
Samuel Peck 
Leonard Love, jr. 
Curnell Gn^eue 
Lorenzo D. Morse 
David Reynolds 
Ira Cornell 
Eiisha Olney 
Leonard Love 
Samuel Jolmson 
George A. Wickes 
John Corey 
Samuel Eddy 



Rep. No. 546. 



677 



COVENTRY-Continued. 



Asahel Matteson 
Thomas T. Cahoone 
William H. Wise 
Obed Matteson 
Charles J. Matteson 
Rntven Matteson 
«Miner Reynolds 
William Jordan 
John Wood 
William D. Greene 
Barton Tanner 
Gardner W. Gavitt 
Elisha S. Leach 
Benjamin L. Kenyon 
William Dyer Greene 
Joseph C. Knight 
Elisha Jordan 
George H. Franklin 
Albert Rogers 
John W. Greene 
William F. Davvley 
Horace H. Thompson 
Sheffield Andrew 
Gorton Potter 
Samuel W. Arnold 
Joab Colvin 
Rowland Gaboon 
Warren F. Johnson 
Oalen \V. Sherman 
Andrew Wood 
Ezra Matteson 
James Angell 
Moses Colvin 
Arthur Aylesworth 
Joseph Matteson 
John Wilcox 
Arnold Potter 
•Stephen Taylor 
.James G. Smith 
John Potter 
William M. Gibson 
Joseph Harvey 
Ebenezer Brigors 
Caleb Lewis 
'Thomson Cory 
Joseph Bennett 
James W. Matteson 
Beriali Austin 
Job D.iwley 
Arnold R. Wickes 
37 



Isaac B. Peck 
David C. Wood 
Oliver Lewis 
Arnold G. Briffgs 
Almond Whitford 
John Malbone 
Reuben Rathbone 
Simeon W. Pike 
James Tew 
William Watson 
Edwin Parker 
Ira Wood 
Thomas Nason 
Asa B. Colvin 
Job Albro 
Simeon Mattison 
Benoni Card 
Job Spink 
Samuel C. Wall 
Albert G. James 
John Carroll 
Philip Sweet 
Oliver Moon 
Horace F^oster 
Gilbert P. Salisbury 
Carpenter Fenner 
Daniel J. Bates 
David Hopkins 
John Taylor 
Israel G. M. Bates 
Isaac Angel I 
Israel Angell 
Emanuel L. Angell 
Warren Johnson 
William Burton 
Curnell W. Austin 
John Gould 
Chauncey Gushing 
George W. Thomas 
Thomas S. Watson 
James Kettle 
Charles Thayer 
James Lovell 
Jabez W. Casswell 
Stephen A. Greene 
Richard Stone 
Potter R. Andrew 
Benjamin Grinnell 
James Matteson 
Gideon L. Johnson 



\^s 



ms 



Kep. No. 546. 



CO VENT RY- Conljnued. 



Stephen Knight 
Oliver S. Hazzardf 
Olney Abbott 
John Johnson 
James M. Wood 
Nathan Wentworth 
William B. Babcock 
ISathan Knight 
Robert Perry 
Henry Hierlihy 
William A. Tyler 
Samuel Warner 
William Wilbur 
James T. Monroe 
Horace Casswell 
John Arnold 
Samuel Q,. Briggs 
Harvey Sheldon 
James B. Arnold 
Philip Arnold 
Bo wen Potter 
Wanton J. Matteson 
Jeremiah O. Colvin 
Nathan Relph 
Cnrnell Nichols 
Elisha B. Wescott 
Gilbert Remington 
Joseph T. Congdon 
Henry Mowry 
Pardon S. Bowen 
Job Phillips 
Wanton Briggs 



Jabez Weaver 
John S. Sweet 
Benjamin Read 
Israel Johnson 
Samuel Kettle 
Thomas Kelton 
Seneca Kettle 
John Carpenter 
Lyman Dawley 
Albert Johnson 
Levi Johnson 
Samuel C. Cranston 
Jonathan Andrew 
Seneca Williams 
Nathaniel Arnold, jr. 
Caleb Cahoone 
Sheldon Read 
Asa Stone, jr. 
James Case 
Giles James 
■ Caleb C. Johnson 
Amasa Johnson 
Hiram T. Chappell 
Stephen Colvin 
Henry Barber 



Qualified 
Not qualified 



Total 



157 

4m 



No. 118. 

VOTERS IN EAST GREENWICH, KENT COUNTY. 



Qualijiedi 

Benedict Remington 
Albert A. Hall 
John Weeden 
William J. Burdick 
Samuel R. Rice 
Job Spencer 
Daniel W. Hiint 
Joseph Greene 
Dwiiel Bmwft. 



James S. Austin 
Richard Edwards 
Christopher C. Vaugh» 
Jonathan D. Huling 
Richard Spencer 
James M. Bartlett 
Dexter S. Remington 
James Slocum 
Ebenezer Vaughan 
John M. Spencer 
Jeremiah S. Slocum 



Rep. No. 546. 



679 



EAST GREENWICH— Continued. 



William Tibbetts 
Stephen R. Bryant , 
William T. JVJuwney 
Godfrey A. Greene 
John F. May 
George S. Gardiner 
John P. Roberts 
Peleg R. Bennett, jr. 
C. A. Sweet 
Stephen W. Thurston 
Gibbs Earle 
Robert Dawley 
William P. Salisbury 
Pardon T. Wightman 
Jared Bnrdick 
iiobert B. Hall 
William C. Greene 
James H. Eldridge 
John Mawney 
Ezra Spencer 
David Pennoyer 
Stukely Wickes 
Silas Weaver 
William A. Sweet 
Spencer Hall 
Sheldon Bennett 
Thomas I.. Spencer 
Oliver Wickes 
James Parkerson 
Job Manchester 

Not qualified. 

John G. Ladd 
Albert Pollard' 
George Weaver 
James Rose 
David Rose 
Russell Champlin 
James A. Capron 
Horace Hunt 
Paris Andrew 
Stukely Matteson 
Thomas R. Dawley 
Samuel S. Whiting 
Clarke Brown 
William C. Briggs 
Royal Weeden 
Stephen L. Rogers 
Benjamin B. Monroe 



Richard Cornell 
Edward H. Spencer 
Richard Spinser 
William W. Bennett 
Benjamin F. Pennoyer 
Abel D. Bennett 
Christopher Hawkins 
Manton Austin 
Stukely Matteson, jr. 
Peter VV, Pierce 
Elisha P. Phillips 
Erastus Sanford 
Roswell M. Miller 
George W. Tillinghast 
Potter Hazzard 
Ovid Hopkins 
George Spencer 
Enoch Steadman 
Alonzo V. Dawley 
William Barstow 
Benjamin G. Mawney 
Richard S. Spencer 
Benjamin L. Spencer 
John Edwards 
Angustns G. Greene 
John W. Cas^ 
Samuel D. Johnson 
Ebenezer Weeden 
Warren Remington 
John Matteson 
David Brown 
Samuel A Champlin 
James A. Roberts 
Peleg R, Bennett 
William M. Hunt 
Asaph Johnson 
Eldridge Sweet 
Wilbur Vaughn 
Luther Bugbee 
Henry Spencer 
Jacob Harvey 
John Perry 
Riley Darling 
Henry Whitmarsh 
Noah Glines 
Samuel Harrington 
David Glines 
George A. Casey 
James Capron 
Silas B. Whitfbtd 



5S0 



Rep. No. 546. 



EAST GREENWICH-Continued. 



Samuel C. Brown 
S. G. Waterhouse 
Sidney S. Tillinghast 
Absalom P. Ford 
Isaac S. Johnson 
Egbert Stanley- 
Absalom Northup 
John Blauchard, jr. 
Samuel Champlin 
Harvey M. Virgason 
John Hunt 
Oliver A. Wickes 
Eieazer Haling 
.Prosper G. Lewis 
Albert G. Liltlefield 
George More Cranston 
Stukely Underwood 
Zachariah Parker 



Against. 




John Brown 




William H. Card 




Oliver Dowd 




Charles C. Eldridge 




Simeon Weaver 




Carr Harrington 




Qualified 


50 


Not qualified 


85 


Against 


6 


Total 


141 



No. 119. 

VOTERS IN WEST GREENWICH, KENT COUNTY, 



Qualified. 

David Hopkins 
Daniel H. Goff 
Harrison G. Nichols 
Clarke Spink 
Willard B. Ellis 
Halsey Hopkins 
Peter T. Brown 
Samuel Albro 
Amos Reynolds, 2d 
Jonathan ^opkins 
Sessions Hopkins 
Cyrus G. Place 
Elisha Whitford 
John R. Congdon 
Joseph Browti 
Anion Hopkins 
Layton Hopkins 

Not qualified. 

Albert Hopkins 
Gardner Carr 
Stephen Brown 



Samuel Wood 
Horatio N. Caswell 
Samuel Will 
Slocum Strait 
James L. Barber 
Joseph Matteson 
Warren Briggs 
Solomon Strait 
Simon Matteson 
James Essex 
Fry Sweet 
Benjamin Cobb 
Nathan T. Strait 
Harry Whitford 
Ezekiel Whitford, jr. 
Burrill Hopkms 
Arthur Hill 
Archibald Jordon 
William A. Hathaway 
William Briggs 
Harrison O. Matteson 
Reynolds Sprague 
Edwin C. Johnson 
Royal Matteson 
Nathan Carr 
Horace ViCkery 



?wj; 



Rep, No. 546. 



581 



WEST GREENWICH-Continued. 



Thomas N. Whitibrd 
Alfred Hall 
William M. Myers 
Joseph Whitford 
John V. Franklin 
Ebenezer Green 
Oliver Nichols 
Lebbeus W. Whitford 
Calvin Barber 
William Clarke 
James N. Whitibrd 



Simon Reynolds 
Warren Cornell 
John W. Mattison 
Elanzo Myers 
Othniel Kettle 




Q-ualified 
Not qualified 


- 17 

- 45 



Total 



62 



' No. 120. 

VOTERS IN NORTH KINGSTOWN, WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



Qualified. 

Benjamin F. Brown 
William Potter 
Henry Tonrgee 
Simeon Phillips 
John McGnire 
Harrington Tonrgee 
George H. Church 
Robert Eldred 
Sylvester Hynes 
William Greene 
Westgate Watson 
Joseph Co 11 gd on 
Stephen N. Himes 
Elisha Pierce 
John Brown 
George T. Nichols 
Wanton Himes 
Whitney Hayden 
John A. Kenyon 
Thomas S. Hollo way ■ 
Christopher S. TillinghaU 
Stanton W. Congdon 
Benoni P. Bates 
Alfred Updike 
Edward Slocum 
George C. Arnold 
Stephen Green 
Baldwin Rathbone 
William Holloway, jr. 
Samnel Pierce 
Francis Chappell 



J. Ingraham 
Jeremiah Thomas 
Richard Thomas 
Edward L. Thomas 
Thomas Tonrgee 
James Tonrgee \ 
Daniel Havens 
Philip Tonrgee 
William Pierce 
William E. Pierce 
Wilbur Hazzard | 
Benjamin S. Williams 
Daniel E. Bullock 
Perry Arnold 
Charles Allen 
William E. Cozzens 
Isaac Briggs 
Jedediah L. Rathbon^ 
Henry R. Clarke 
Benjamin T. Watson 
Samnel C, Cottrell 
William Taylor 
Benjamin T. Clarke 
Benjamin Smith. 
Josiah Aiiiold 
Elisha Clarke 
Daniel G. Bates 
Thomas Biiggs 
Joseph Spink 
Edward Cole 
Andrew Hnling 
David Gardner 
Benjamin Gardner 



582 



Rep. No. 546. 



NORTH KINGSTOWN-Continued. 



William Arnold 
James W. Hnling 
Wilbur Shippee 
William H. Cole 
Jsaac Hall, jr. 
Isaac C. Champliti 
Edwin S. Chappell 
Benjamin C. Cory 
Robert H. Johnson 
Pardon T. Gardiner 
Gardner Wilcox 
Constant Sweet 
Thomas G. Matteson 
Benjamin S. Hazzard 
William G. Congdon 
Gardner Browning 
Pardon Tillinghast 

Not qualified. 

Beriah W. Reynolds 
Elisha May 
James C. Tennant 
James M. Madison 
Jeremiah Burlingame 
Samuel Gardner 
Jesse G. I/awton 
Jedediah S. Kingsley 
Manning King 
John Fowler 
Jesse Bicknell, jr. 
George W. Champlin 
Jedediaii Kingsley 
Enoch Lovel 
Robert Rodman 
Aaron B. Pratt 
INorthup Gardner 
Abel Willis 
William Maguire 
Ezra Tennant 
Rathbun Gardner 
John Willis 
Varnum Bicknell 
Palmer Gardner 
-John Brigg 
Robert Sherman 
Edward C. Briggs 
Willet H. Gardner 
Sylvester H. Briggs 
Edward Place 



John D. Fowler 
James N. Gardner 
Willet Himes 
Harenton N. Gardner 
Horace Woodmancey 
Perry B. Phillips 
Naaman Gardner 
Stukely Northnp 
John Smith 
Lewis Thomas 
Peter B. Mitchell 
William Pierce 
John B. Corey 
Rhodes Pierce 
George W. Brown 
John Lewis 
Cornelius Johnson 
John B. Jocoy 
Wm. B. Slocum 
Sylvester G. Wilcox 
Samuel C. Fowler 
Nathaniel S. Lewis 
John Thomas 
Thomas Cooper 
George R. Cottrell 
James E. McKenzie 
Sylvester J. Watson 
Benjamin W. Cozzens 
Josepn Hamilton 
Nathaniel R. Littleiield 
Joseph Waite 
Frederick Willis 
Amasa Tourgee 
William H. Slocum 
Daniel Sherman 
James W. Short 
David V. Gardiner 
Daniel W. Lawton 
Arnold Vaughn 
Samuel Place 
Henry Vaughn 
Fenjamin F. Spink 
William H. Reynolds 
Lewis Hopkins 
Nathaniel Fenner 
Levi L. Swain 
Constant Tourgee 
Oliver Kenyon 
Thomas C. Kinsley 
Allen Waite 



Rep. No. 546. 



-O^oe* 



NORTH KINGSTOWN— Continued. 



Jesse Gardner 
James Burlingarne 
Gideon S. Hunt 
Amos Havens 
Thomas Corey 
John Cooper 
Benjamin Brown 
George B. Thomas 
Benjamin Jocoy 
John B. Jocoy 
George Lewis 
Isaac Browning 
Wilbonr Browning 
Peter Cozzens 
Mark D. Willis 
David S. Baker 
Ehjah S. Johnson 
Bowen Reynolds 
Ehsha Gardner 
George Gardner 
George Waite 
John Slocnm 
Lewis Hazzard 
C. W. Searle 
Albert Nichols 
Freeborn Sisson 
Samuel N. Cranston 
James Sherman, jr. 
Daniel G. Bates, jr. 
Joseph Congdon 
Albert Gardner 
George Congdon 
Augustus Huling 
Elisha Gardner, jr. 
Horatio N. Arnold 
Paul G. Sweet 
Daniel Young 
Caleb Congdon 
William W. Thomas 
Jonathan P. Thomas 
Isaac Thomas 
Albert Himes 
William H. Allen 
Bowen Woodmancey 
John C. McKenzie 
William H. Reynolds 
William H. Hoyt 
Arnold Congdon 
Isaac A. Chadsey 



Edward Pierce 
John C. Northup 
Grin man Edwards 
Jesse Symmes 
Boon Gardner 
Rodman Hazzard 
William Holloway 
Edmon Johnson 
Peleg Hazzard 
George S. Searle 
Richard Smith 
Benjamin W. Gardner 
William Taylor 
Michael J. Johnson 
John L. Barber 
Porter Belknap 
Samuel Browning 
Potter Sweet 
Randall Gardiner 
Allen Tillinghast 
Grin W. Lewis 
William Himes 
"William Knowles 
Oliver Gardner 
Joseph Bailey 
Stephen Smith 
Wilbur T. Himt 
Christopher Allen 
George Mills 
Samuel Woodmancey 
Albert Cottrell 
William E. Clarke 
Hyman Reed 
Amos Baker 
Ezra N. Gardiner 
Jeremiah A. Ennis 
Zenas Weekes 
Jefterson Nason 
Pitt Vaughn 
Christopher C. Benlley 
Thomas Hiscox 



Q^ualified, 
Not quahfied, 



Total, 



84 
169 

2S3 



584 



Eep. No. 546. 



No. 121. 



VOTERS IN SOUTH KINGSTOWN, WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



Wag;er Weeden 
Samuel Tucker 
William G. Carpenter 
Joshua B. Curtis 
Reuben Wright 
William A. Clarke 
Christopher Browning 
Thomas B. Potter 
William French 
Luke Aldrich 
Jeremiah S. Shearman 
Warren Gavitt 
Ebenezer Adams 
Edmund S. Babcock 
Daniel M. C. Stedman 
Simeon C. Tucker 
Cranston B. Tucker 
Marlborough Gavit 
Peter G. Boss 
Daniel Rodman 
Samuel Smith 
Westgate Smith, jr. 
William Williams 
Rufus Rose 
James D. Rose 
John Smith 
Philip Rose 
Warren R. Potter 
Alfred Holley 
Benjamin Hazard 
Cyrus French \ 
Samuel Allen 
George Nichols 
John T. Dixon 
John P. VVhitford 
Daniel N. Harvey 
J^yman C. Tucker 
Christopher Champlin 
John Tucker 
Harvey Bradford 
James W. Bates 
Simeon Clarke, jr. 
Daniel Wilcox 
William H. Thomas 
George VVhitford 
William Allen, jr. 
John Holland 
William A. Slreeter 



George Thomas 
James Carpenler 
Robert C. Peckham 
Daniel Billington . 
Bethuel Webster 
Henry Holland 
Updike C. VVhitford 
Reuben Gavit 
James M. Holland 
John H. Clarke 
Thomas W. Brown 
Rufus M. Rose 
Thomas Grinold 
Perry P. Daw ley 
Samuel Albro, jr. 
Samuel S. Eldred 
Paul Champlin 
Jonathan Clarke 
Cyrus B. Champlin- 
Benedict Eldred 
John Tucker 
Thomas B. Harvey 
John H. Whalley 
George W. Crandall 
Samuel Brown 
Alvin P. Tucker 
Joseph Hall 
George H. Card 
Jonathan Tucker 
William H. Tucker 
Arnold Holland 
Daniel S. Gould 
Ezekiel Watson 
Stephen H. Carpenter 
' Job Greenman 
James J. Sweet 
Joshua Tucker 
Nathaniel Greene 
John C. Greene 
James "^rhomas 
Daniel S. Underwood 
Gideon W. Allen 
John T. Jaquays 
Frederick Chappell 
Arnold Bentley 
Joseph Champlin 3d 
Benjamin C. Perry 
Rowland Sherman 



Rep. No. 546, 



58^ 



SOUTH KINGSTOWN— Comitiued. 



James T. Oatley 
Asa Stedman, jr. 
John R. Perry 
Reuben Holland 
Benjamin F. Sims 
George J. Holland 
Clarke Tack6r 
Jonathan Gould 
Jeremiah B. Hazzard 
John C. Whilehorne 
Niles Potter 
Willard Hazard 
George W. Hazard 
Stephen G. Teft 
James W. Smith 
Joshua C. Tucker 
Welcome Kinyon 
John V. Northiip 
Samuel Crumb 
David North up 
Edward H. Horvey 
John K. S. Eldred 
Joseph P. Potter 
John Brayman 
Samuel Sweet 
Samuel T. Segar 
Elijah Champlin 
Thomas J. Champlin 
Joshua Tucker, jr. 
William M. Rodman 
Albert Burdick 
Arnold Tucker 
Jonathan A. Gould 
Jason Reed 
Luther Webster 
Samuel Allen 2d 
Joseph B. Gould 
William A. Weeden 
William P. Babcock 
Christopher G. Larkin 
Benjamin Grinold 
Henry Allen 
George Allen 
Jeremiah W. Whalley 
Nicholas Northup 
Benjamin Northup 
Joshua B. Card 
Robert Rathbun 
William W. Moore 
Raymond Holland 



Thomas A. Gould 
John Tourgee 
John G. Perry 
Nicholas Sherman 
William N. Knowles 
Willett A. Barber 
Raymond Chappell 
Daniel R. Curtis 
Mathew iNichoIs, jr. 
James W. Curtis 
James W. Rodman 
George Champlin 
Sylvester Albro . 
Samuel Curtis 
Erasmus D. Campbell 
Thomas Clarke 
Ebenezer Smith 
John A. Smith 
Asa Stedman 
Benjamin T. Rodman 
Esbon S. Taylor 
Henry B. Money 
Daniel G. Campbell 
James L. Eagleston 
John S. Whalley 
Thomas P. Church 
Nicholas N. Holland 
Gideon Greenman, jr. 
John D. Austin 
William J. Cory 
Samuel Stedman 
William Sims 
George 'Gardner 
William P. Hollo way 
Clarke Rodman 
Job Briggs 
John G. Brayman 
Thomas IJillington 
Champlin Dewey 
Orson Earle 
James Horndo 
Samuel P. Tucker 
Beriah Gardner 
John Austin 
Asa Dye 
David Nasou 
Henry Card 
Nelson Tucker 
Samuel P. Perry 
William Tourgee, jr. 



Rep. No. 546. 



SOUTH KINGSTOWN-Continu^d. 



Joseph Segars 
James- Reynolds 
Stephen S. Grinold 
Sylvanus Holloway 
JefFery Gardner 
Rowland H. Carpenter 
Robert Rodman 
Alexander Smith 
George T. Tonrgee 
Henry Holland, jr. 
Benjamin Clarke 
William Champlin 
Hazzard Holland 
Philip Toiirgee 
William Cook 
Daniel Holland 
Hazard H. Holland 
Charles W. Holland 
Silas P. Greenman 
Henry L. Jaquays 
George W. Eofg lesion 
Luke Church 
John Caswell 
John G. Larkin 
Henry Case 
Palmer Gardner 
George Weeden 
Nathaniel Armstrong 
Timothy Carpenter 
Levi Phillips 
Samuel S. Tucker 
Reuben Caswell 
Wescott Smith "^ 
John T. Bentley 
Peynold P. Potter 
Benjamin Cottrell 
Richard Carpenter 
Charles Ausiin 
Benjamin Holland 
Peter R. Whaley 
Reuben Cook 
John Holland, jr. 
Mathew Nichols 
John P. Dyer 
Joseph M. Taylor 
William Sims, jr. 
Ebenezer Knowles 
Raymond Austin 
Gideon Gardner 
Samuel Albro 



Joseph Champlin, jr. 
Nathan Tucker, jr. 
Stephen Clarke 
Nathan S. Webster 
Pardon Card 
George A. Mumford 
Nathan Webster 
Stanton Stedman 
James K. Taft 
Jeremiah Whaley 
Rodman Carpenter 
Benjamin F. Peckham 
Elisha A. Robinson 
Rowse N. Carpenter 
William K. Stanton 
Perry Gnvit 
Daniel P. Gavit 
Peter Holley 
Robert l^arkin 
Daniel Gavit. jr. 
William Gardner 
Sylvester R. Gardner 
Sweet Briggs 3d 
William Tourgee 
Samuel J. Allen 
Gideon Greenman 
Thomas J. Harvey 
John D. S. Brayman 
John Northup 
Rowland R. Gardner 
Elijah Champlin. jr. 
Peter Hazzard 
Adam P. Helmc 
Thomas J. Hiscox 
Thomas B. Hazzard, jr. 
William R. Brayman 
Benjamin Rodman 
Thomas Gould 
Henry Stedman, jr. 



Uualified, 138 for. 

Not qualified, 137 « 

Qualified, 9 against. 

Not qualified, 1 " 



Total, 285 



R«p. No. 546* 



587 



No. 122. 



VOTERS IN EXETER, WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



Qualijied. 

Willet R. Lillibridge 
Lyman Moore 
William B. HIiven 
William Johnson 
Cranston Bliven 
Moses Richmond 
Robert Richmond 
Isaac Moore 
Rowland Arnold 
Ellery Barber 
James Lewis 
George Barber 
Ezekici J. Boss 
Benjamin Richmond 
Bishop 'V. Nichols 
Noah Palmer 
John Palmer 

Benjamin B. Woodmanscc 
Sheffield Barber 
Clark Congdon 
Preserved Hall 
Henry Y. Joslin 
Christopher Smith 
Joseph A. Tillinghast 
John Davis 
John Allen 
Philip B. Davis 
John Whiiford 
Howland Smith 
Daniel Smith 
William Austin 
Robert Rath bone 
Daniel L. Money 
Emanuel Congdon 
Hiram G. Arnold 
John S. Place 
James R. Arnold 
Dutee J. Hall 
William W. Champlin 
George A. Wells 
Slocum Hall 
Isaac L. Arnold 
John Sisson 
John Brown 
Benedict Arnold 
William N. Brown 



Stephen Congdon 
James Congdon 
Eld ward Richmond 
Allen C. Douglas 
Mathew Palmer 
Asher Palmer 

Not qualified. 

Williatn Bliven 
Joseph P. Barber 
Alitius Burlingame 
Simons Ney 
Benjamin Sweet 
Benjamin H. Reynolds 
James R. Case 
John Richmond, 2d 
Daniel Sheldon 
Ezekiel H. Sanderlin 
Harris C. Geer 
Josiah Barber 
William R. Sweet 
Sheffield M. Palmer 
Richard Sweet 
William Townsend 
Daniel Barber * 

Nicholas Hawkins 
Nathan B. Lillibridge 
Simon Jordan 
Beriah Ney 
Robert B. Richmond 
Thomas L. Palmer 
Caleb S. Lewis 
Nathan Palmer 
Joseph Phillips 
Daniel Tanner 
Bo wen J. Gardner 
Benjamin Arnold 
James Roy 
William S. Fry 
Joshua Pendleton 
Ebenezer Brown 
Dennison Sisson 
Stukely Brown 
William Spink 
Daniel Arnold 
Emanuel Sheffield 
Barnot Sisson 



3SS 



Rep. No. 546. 



EXETER— Continued. 



John Reynolds 
Amos S. Sinclair 
Oliver D. Hall 
Gardner C. Slocnm 
Silas Bramar 
Jedediah D. Browning 
Warren G.' Lewis 
Sylvester S. Gardner 
William E. Tanner 
Joel Geese 
James Davis 
John P. Perkins 
Jacob Smith 
Sterry Parker 
Mo wry Bates, jr. 
Lyman Ney 
Johm Searles 
John B. Lawton 
Joseph Palmer 
George R. Spraglie 
Mowry L. Britton 
Benjamin S. Barber 
Abel B. Clarke 
Daniel Kenney 
Charles Tripp 
John Boss 



Benjamin Gardner 
William R. Wilbour 
John Phillips 
Joshua Pierce 
Simon Lewis 
Joseph Gardner 
Erastus H. Moore 
Elisha Phillips 
Schuyler Fisher 
Lemuel Sweetland 
William C. Cory 
George W. Allen 
Rathbone Northrup 
Oliver Lockwood 
Benjamin O. Spink 
James Hendrick, jr. 
James Teft 



Qualified, 
Not qualified, 



52 

82 



134 



No. 123. 



VOTERS IN RICHMOND, WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



William James 
Reynolds Jam»s 
Dennison D. Tillinghast 
Billings B. Lewis 
Isaac Kenyon 
Joseph Boss 
David Barber 
Benedict K. James 
Clarke Coone 
Benjamin R. Perry 
Joseph Crandall, jr. 
Aaron Church 
Moses Andrew 
Abner N. Woodmansey 
Daniel Larkin 
Ezekiel B. Phillips 
Elisha Coone 
Burdick Kenyon 



Nathan Wilcox 
Christopher Coone 
Samuel Kenyon 
George Niles 
Peleg S. Brown 
George Shoves 
George W. Potter 
William W. Jackson 
San ford W. Foster 
Benjamin Worden 
John H. Worden 
Jeremiah Boss 
Lewis C. Kenyon 
Daniel Kenyon 
George At wood 
Moses K. Woodmansee 
John Woodmansee 
Sabin Kinsley 



Rep. No. 546. 



589 



RICHMOND— Contiaued. 



Joseph Woodmansee 
Er Kenyoi) 
Benjamin Lock 
John Barber 
Reuben Kenyon 
Gilbert Barber 
Welcome C. Biirdick 
Johnathan Colgrove 
Reuben Tanner 
Edmund B. Johnson 
Luther A. Palmer 
Simon Matleson 
Benedict Brown 
John Warren 
Moses Clarke 
Varnum Ney 
James W. Clarke 
Clarke B. Coone 
James Burdick 
Georffe W. Baffgrs 
Silas James 
Harden Harris 
Horace Johnson 
Eson B. Lock 
Nathaniel Niles 
Silas R. Kenyon 
Wells Reynolds 
William Reynolds 
Rodman Kenyon 
Luke Clarke 
Card F. Sheffield 
Pitman V. Clarke 
Remington B. Kenyon 
William Byington 
Chatman Matteson 
Joseph Church 
William Larkin 
John Larkin 
Lodwick Church 
John P. Arnold 
Josluia Lock 
Jonathan Webster 
George R. Woodmansee 
Jeremiah Niles 
Enoch C. Stedman 
Edward N. Tillinghast 
Joseph C. Woodmansee 
Joseph Gould 
Joseph Gould, jr. 
Robert N. Barber 
F4eu Blake 



George B. Sisson 
John Reynolds 
Joseph Crandall 
Elijah Scranton 
Peleg Griffin 
Luther Matteson 
Thomas R. Worden 
Joshua Eldridge 
Silas Richmond 
"William L. Richmond 
Charles B. Lock 
Daniel J. Kingsley 
Maxson J. Kenyon 
Stephen Matteson 
John B. Kenyon 
Arnold Kenyon 
Stephen Sherman 
James Vallett 
Reynolds Hoxie 
William W. Kenyon 
Benjamin Worden 
Henry Northup 
John Phillips 
Daniel Beaman 
Nicholas Clarke 
Nathaniel Pierce 
Moses Clarke 
Augustus Btittbn 
Jonathan Pierce 
Joseph Maxson 
Robert Hazzard 
Ebenezer G. Churcli 
Nicholas H. Phillips 
Stedman Ken von 
S. S. Hulins 
Simeon P. Clarke 
V. R. Stephens 
Lymon Kenyon 
Charles Clarke 
Thomas Austin 
Francis Burdick 
John Targee, jr. 
Zebulon Burdick 
David C. Woodmfn>ee 
John Slocum, jr. 

Qualified, 
Not qualified, 

Total, 



• 44 
88 

132 



590 



Rep. No. 546. 



No. 121. 



VOTERS IN CUARLESTOWN, WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



Scranton Chappel 
William Greenman 
Thomas Webster 
Joseph Cross 
Hoxie Perry 
WilHam Card 
Caleb Ney 
John E. Smith 
Benjamin Tucker 
Ehsha Card 
Peleg N. Tew 
Gideon Holloway 
David C. Larkin 
Daniel Hall 
AA/glcome Chappell 
Hazard G. Ken yon 
Benjamin G, Card 
Peleg Tucker 
Samuel C. Card 
Noah Holloway 
Robert Clarke 
John Tucker 
Peter Boss 
Jesse Clarke 
Joseph Gavit 
Joseph H. Lewis 
William H. Perry 
Maxson Greene 
William B. Tucker 
Benjamin Tucker 
William Card 
Welcome B. Greene 
Jason P. Greene 
Henry Greene 
John Holloway 
Oliver Gavit 
Samuel Frye 
Jesse B. Crumb 
Benjamin C. Baggs 
Jeremiah A. Kenyon 
William N. Clarke 
Augustus Burdick 
George H. Sherman 
Robert Hazzard 
Joseph E. Baggs 
James N. Kenyon 
Edward L. Green 
Aldrich Pottet 



Samuel Stanton 
John Edwards 
Lodowick Hoxsie 
Robert B. Peckhara 
John Stanton 
Henry C. Burdick 
Arnold Hiscox, jr. 
Daniel B. Irish 
Arnold Hiscox 
Benjamin Burdick 
Lewis G. F. Randolph 
Dennis Ennis 
Lewis Kenyon 
Henry Crandall 
William Sheldon 
Pardon Kenyon 
Joseph Taylor 
John S. Hisrox 
William B. Rose 
Ethan Crandall 
Ephraim Gates 
Joseph Burdick 
John Macomber 
Charles M. Card 
George Browning 
James A. Whitford 
'I'horaas Clarke 
Welcome Burdick 
George F. Burdick 
John W. Tucker 
Alva Taylor 
Holden Almy 
George W. Sweet 
Charles Burdick 
Gilbert Taylor 
Joseph Chuch 
Joseph Wilcox 
David S. Davoll 
Sanford Gavitt 
Job Taylor 
George W. Taylor 
Simeon Adams 
John A. Keiiyon 
David N. Macomber 
Nathaniel Sheffield 
M arbor o N. Gardner 
Daniel W. Wright 
James Kenyon 



Rep. No. 546. 



5M ^ 



CHARLESTOWN— Continued. 



Billings Macomber 
Albert W. S taut on 
Alvin Greene 
Thomas Healey 



Qualified, 
Not qualified, 

Total, 



64 
'S6 

100 



No. 125. 



VOTERS IN HOPKINTON, WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



Joseph Spicer, jr. 
Joseph Spicer 
John S. Champlin 
Jesse Wilbur, jr. 
John Main 
Thomas Richardson 
George Gates 
John K. Barber 
Samuel Burdick 
Edmund Jordon 
Augustus L. Wells 
Reuben Larkin 
Lodowic Sisson 
Thomas T. Larkin 
John Lewis 
Timothy S. Wales 
Alfred L. Palmer 
Hezekiah Larkin 
George Beverly 
Samuel Woodmansee 
Jonathan Burdick 
Eli Button 
Pardon K. Tefft 
Joseph R. Allen 
Azariah Maine 
George W. Braman 
Simson Babcock, 3d 
Sanders Sisson 
John T. Edwards 
Stanton G. Edwards 
Daniel C. Crandall 
William C. Crandall 
Thomas Ken yon 
Philip C, Champlin 
Robert Langworthy 
Jedediah D. Wittee 
Joshua Button 
Horace Thurston 
Albert Wells 
William Burton 
Samuel Allen 
Ephraim Button 



Joseph Crandall 
George Y. Collins 
James Babcock 
Noyes W. Kinyon 
Benjamin B. Thurston 
David Avery 
Jonathan S. Larkin 
Noyes D. Wheeler 
Samuel Coone 
Daniel Coone 
Benjamin F. Wells 
Ichabod Burdick 
Oliver D. Cole 
Isaac C. Burdick 
Samuel Crandall, jr. 
Hezekiah Palmer 
Samuel Foster 
Jesse Wilber 
Adam B. Champlin 
Samuel Coon, jr. 
Pardon Wriglit 
Ray G. Burlmgame 
Jonathan C. Taylor 
Russell Crandall 
Luke B. Maxson 
Asael Gardner 
Tliomas C. Phillips 
Nicholas V. Crandall 
George Taber 
John Larkin 
William W. Tanner 
Benjamin B. James 
Stephen Bates 
Samuel Crandall 
Asa Woodmansee 
Isaac S. Crandall 
Thomas P. Dye 
Dudley F. Saunders 
Nathan Phillips 
Benjamin Taber 
Benjamin H. Young 
Henry Taber 



^92 



Rep. No. 546. 



HOPKINTON-Continuei. 



Thomas P. Kenyon 
Hazard B. Woodmansee 
Abel Fenner 
Matthew S. Barber 
Boweii Fenner 
Silas Teff 
Job Jordan 
Jared Barber 
Godfrey A. Kenyon 
Joshua A. Godfrey 
Green Allen 
Green B. Allen 
Jesse Brown 
Ephraim Stillraan 
Edward S. Wells 
Benjamin F. Chester 
Joseph Prosser 
Thomas Burton 
John Lampher 
Braddock Davol 
James H. Sheldon 
Georo^e Richmond 
Joseph P. Wilcox 
John P. Bnrdick 
Amos Kenyon 
William S. Alexander 
Ezra G. Palmer 
Nathaniel Hall 
Perry M. Palmer 
Joseph A. Richmond 
Rowse C. Kcjiyon 
Jeremiah Button 
Oliver Clarke 
Asa Jaques 
Daniel N. Hall 
David Brown 
William Clarke 
Sanford N. Button 
Kenyon Lampher 
Stephen A. Lock 
Peleg Green 
Paul Healey 
Christopher N. Chester 
Charles A. Phillips 
Asa Wordcn 
Sihoii S. Bnrdick 
Ephraim Clarke 
Mathew Bnrdick 
Artiold Browning 
John P. Babcock 
Simon Kenyoa 



LymaLi Woodmansee 
Abel Larkin, jr. " 
Clarke Sanders 
David Langworthy 
Stephen Austin 
Benjamin F. Newton 
William T. Thurston 
John H. Wells 
Jesse Kenyon " 
Arthur Fenner 
Jonathan Boss 
James M. Weeks 
James B. Anthony 
Beriah B. Knowles 
Mumford Burdick 
Stephen Wright 
Charles Noyes 
Arnold B. Barber 
George Barber 
Robert Douglas 
John E. Douglas 
Fones G. Wilbur 
Ehab Blake 
Charles R. Perry 
Christopher Brown, jr. 
James Stanbrough, jr. 
George A, Babcock 
Lester Crandall 
Henry Lewis 
Jacob D. Babcock 
Franklin Barber 
Samuel P. Kinyon 
Daniel M. Crandall 
George Hoxie 
Daniel Lewis 
Lebbeus Cottrell, jr. 
Peter Davis 
Horatio S. Berry 
Jonathan C. Johnson 
Jeremiah Baggs 



Qualified - 
Not qualified 



For 
Airauist 



Total 



81 
81 

162 
13 

175 



Rep. No. 546. 

Vo. 126. 



sm 



Maxiou Chase 
WilJiam Saunders 

Oeoro-e H. Peckbam 

John Pen-in 

^"•'ns Ames 

VViiJiam H. Keynolds 
Johu P. Main 
<^eor(re Brown 
Jerome Webster 
benjamin P. Babcock 
William Yorke 
VViliiam P. Arnold 
Ebenezftr Geers 
■Enoch Gould 
^amnei P. Uwton 
Peleg Sisson 
Horace iirig^htman 
George S. Coy 
Oaniel C. Hafnmond 
V urn urn S. Hide 
JoJin Pcckham 
Clarke S( ill man 
Hphraim Hiscox 
i^Jmeon Hall 
Ezra Babcock 
'Samuel Sims 
Jchabod R Sisson 
>'^niot. Pendleton 
James Lee 
Jfunes York 
William Champlin 
I>"vid O. Main 
Hosea Barber 
J^^iin H. Cro?s 
^>'^"i'«rnin Yorke, jr 
Sylvester Coon 
Robinson Dunham ' 
John G. Lamphere 
Kobert Burdick 
Joseph Craridall 
John B. Stedrnan. jr 
Ellas Coitrell 
William B. Tilt 
William H. Main 
Perry G. Babcock 
Lodowick liazzard 
John C. Geer 
Oliver Babcock 
3S. 



VOTERS ..WESTERLY, WASHINGTON con.TV. 



Daniel Stedrnan, jr. 
rhonms Brightman 
John Lee 
Charles Leonard 
Oharles Ford 
Samuel S. Larkin 
I-^aac W. Gavitt 
Albert Ciandall 
Adam Stilman 
Samuel Slocuni 
James Yorke, jr 
^^liarles C. Burdick 
■tisek Carr 
Si'as \Y. Kdwards 
Thomas G. Hazzard 
Charles Crandall 
VVilham Yorke, 2d 
CoddiniTton Bliven 
Amos P. Chapman 
»^ ill mm Sisson 
^-^''ark Lamphesr 
•^anford Sisson 
'[Ob W. Rathbone 
Ezra B. Thompson 
>;athaniel Chase 
George S. Barber 
^^"licin M. Chase 
David Gavitt 
William y. Parkinson 
Oharles L. Pendleton 
Gordon Porigo 
i *;ayer J. Crandall 
l^i^n h. Dunn 
Emery Sisson 
William R. Frazer 
fj^l'hen G. Norihup 
Henry C. Card 
gen.iamin G. Rogers 

J^renton. I. Clarke 

lardon Lewis 

William S. Breed 
^enadam Richardson 
David Saunders 
John B. Tim 
Jonathan Lamphere 
i>athamel West 
Alfred A. Crandall 
i^elson H. CrandaiJ 



^4 



Rep. No. 546. 



WESTERLY-Conlinued. 



Alfred Bliven 
William Greene 
Daniel Lampheer, jr. 
Benjamin Burdick 
Daniel Stilman 
Isaac P. Merrill 
lyiisha A. Cables 
Joseph L. Bliven 
Joseph Cass well 
Prentice Lampheer, jr. 
Elisha West 
Saxton Berry 
Phineas Slilman 
Samuel R. Wye 
Henry Davis 
Chrislopher Lewis 
Benjamin P. Crandall 
Samuel Saunders, jr. 
Bradford Bliven 
Amos Edwards 
Perry Lampheer 
^ Henry VV. Lee 
Enoch Lamphere 
Daniel Lamphere 
Silas Edwards 
Francis S. West 
James G. Bills 
Roberl Brown 
Nelson Brown 
William Gavit 

Frederick Duncomb 
Roy G. Burdick 

3ohn Scoit 

John C. Thurston 
; Jcseph C. Nash 
; Henry Remington 
^ Benjamin, Yorke 
-Samuel Chapman 

Oliver Wilcox 

Henry Ci Gavitt 
* Jeremiah S. Dodge 

Nathan BUy.en 

Pardon Greene : 

Henry R. Guvitt 

Peleg' Clarke 

Lemuel. Yose, jr. 

Daniel Bliven . 

Johnson IVIillef. 

Timothy'Sissqh , 

George' Bk'rber 



William Rathbone 
David T. Rathbone 
Barney Sisson 
Joshua F. Sisson 
Thomas Brightman 
Edwin P. Berry 
James Peck ham 
Maxson Greene 
Jared Main 
Edward N. Taylor 
Benjamin Gavit 
Elias Saunders 
Tsaac Hall 
George Wilcox 
Stephen Saunders 
Joseph W. Bliven 
Benajah Gavitt 
Georsfe G. Chapman 
Ezekiel Gavitt 
Joseph Gavitt 
James Ross 
Joseph Hiscox 
John Hiscox 
John A. Champlin 
Augustus York 
James Crandall 
Philip Saunders 
Samuel Saunders 
Stephen Burdick 
Thayer N. Crandall 
William Crandall 
Mathias Crandall 
Russell Cottrell 
Albert Clarke 
Peleg Peck ham 
Elisha Saunders 
Weeden Barber, jr. 
Charles Saunders 
Charles Burdick 
Christopher Rallibone 
Joshua C. Crandall 
Darius Bliven 
Lebbeus Cottrell 
William Brown 
Gideon H. Noyes 
San ford Noyes 
Sanford Noyes, jr. 
Gorton Gardner . 
Lyndon Taylor 
Beiijaiiiia L. Burdick 



Rep. No. 546. 



595 



WESTERLY— Continued. 



William Thompson 
Edmund Rogers 
Alexander Bradford 
Thomas H. Vmcent 
VVarren G. Crandall 
Joseph Sisson 
Ira Burden 

Franklin M. Saunders 
James H. Clarke 
Charles Murphy 
Sumner Chapman 
Weeden H. Bsrry 
Joshua Barber 
John P. IN ye 
William Thompson 
Jonathan Burdick 
John Crandall 
Oliver Davis 
Amos Burdick 
Arnold Crumb, jr. 
Paris Eldridcre 
Charles Bliven 
Thomas N. Bliven 
Stephen Codner 
John Ross 
Clark Burdick 
James Crandall, jr. 
Clark Hiscox 
Truman Burdick 
William Langworlhy 
Joseph Macomber 
Rowland Babcock 
Peter Crandall 



Rowland Peckham ' 

Joseph Burdick 

John P. Dyer, jr. 

James Babcock 

David Harvey 

Joseph 1\ Ross 

Weeden Barber 

Charles Vars 

David Peckham 

Rowland C. Sanders 

George Lamphere 

Richard B. Carpenter 

Francis Carpenter 

Benjamin S. Burdick 

Benjamin P. Barber 

George W. Ells 

George F. Crandall 

Dudley Frink 

Henry Crandall 

Jonathan Burdick 

George W. Crandall . 

George Eddy 

Horaiio W. Burdick (against.) 



(Qualified 
Not qualified 



For - 
Asrainst 



Total . 



- 107 

- 144 

- 251 

- I 



Freeholders. 

Henry H. Thurston 
Joseph E. Cranston 
James Hart 
William R. Budlong 
Nicholas Hazard 
Richard Sanford 
John H. Barker 
John Goddard 
Benjamin Oman 



No. 127. 

VOTERS IN NEWPORT. 



William Hall 
Samuel Watson 
Daniel Brown 
Elisha Case 
John H. Moore 
Otis Chaffin 
Nathaniel Smith 
Micah W. Spencer 
Henry W. Vernon 
George W. Stanhope 
Francis B, Peckham 



596 



Rep. No. 546. 



NEWPORT- CoDiinued, 



John Carr 

Francis Henderson, jr. 
Eleazer J. Read 
John F. Tennant 
Stephen F. Slanton 
Horatio N. Tracy 
William P. Cory 
Samuel H. Oxx 
.Samuel Greene 
George B. Hazard 
Simon S. Nichols 
Dutee J. Pearce 
James Pitman 
John 0. Card 
Richard Hazard 
William N. G. Hchiie 
Benjamin B. Hazard 
James A. Greene 
Henry Oman 
Joheiiiou T. Almy 
Joseph M. Lyon 
Robert R. Carr 
Danie! B. Davis 
Abiel Spencer 
James G. Card 
ijteoYoe Hazard 
Henry H^dley 
Peleg Brier 
Samuel Vaughan 
Joseph Joslin 
W'illiam S. Cranston 
Charles Williams 

Benjamin H. Ailman 

"t'harles VV. Underwood 

John Allan 

<;aleb (J. Tripp 

Samuel Hazard 

John J. Grinman 

William Peabody 

Robert C. Sisson 

W^illiam Gray 

Samuel Sterne 

Henry McGown 

iSoah Barker 

Perry W^eaver 

George W. Anthony 

Thomas Aldrich 

Daniel McAllister 

George Comstock 

jQeorge Turner 



William Swan, jr. 
John Alger 
William C. Tennant 
William W. Horsewell 
William Rider 
Thomas J. Peckham 
Elisha Atkins 
Nathan Stanton 
Joseph Crandall 
William Botteraore 
Edwin Wilcox 
Milton Hall 
Caleb Tripp, jr. 
Job S. Eldridge 
David S. Holl'oway 
Charles E. Bell 
Benjamin H. Lawton 
John Sterne 
James Smith 
James L. Weaver 
.leremiah B. Eddy 
Peter B. Underwood 

Daniel Peckham 
.loseph Anthony 
Andrew Winslow, jf. 
Abraham M. McGregor 

Michael Corney 
Robert Settle 

William G. Hammnnd 

William J. Tiiley 

William Goii" 

John C. Clarke 

William Alger 

William Vars 

Clark Burdick 

.lohn Siringer 

Benjamin \V. Carr 

William B. Rider 

John B. (Jlarke 

Gilbert Chase 

Sumner M. Stc .vart 

Sand ford Bell 

Henry G. Place 

John Wilson 

George C. Shaw 

Edward H. Tew 

John H. Watson 

Joseph Southwick, jr. 

Samuel Moses 

Charles Barker 



Rep. No. 546. 



597 



NEWPORT—Conlinucd. 



'Cyril fJ. Weaver 
Walter W. Simmons 
John H. Crossby 
John T. Anthony 
John A. Stacy 
John Salisbury 
William 1). Ross 
John McGreijor 
Stephen S. Vars 
Raymond Dnrfee 
Benjamin T. Freebody 
Joseph F. Havens 
Edward Mc Hough 
Morris Ashton 
Jesse Cud worth 
John L.ewis 
Gilbert Stanton 
Josiah Southwick 
Peleg G. Swet-t 
Samuel P. Mason 
James Simmons 
Truman B. Spooner 
Siepheii Albro 
Kdward Watson 
Joshua Tew, jr. 
William Lewis 
Thomas P. White 
William (/ard 
Nathaniel M. Chaffee 
Giles Barney 
Ben on i Ward 
William Smith 
John F. Brown 
Joshua Stacv 
Edward Willis 
Thomas C. Weaver 
Henry A. Mulligan 
William B. Wilson 
William F. Smith 
John H. Watson 
Pitts South wick 
Thomas J. Stedman 
Johnathan R. Gardner 
Nicholas Austin 
John Hunt 
Thomas E. Gardner 
Alexis Menage 
William Shearman 
Thomas B. Shearman 
Solomon Peckham 



George A. Peahody 
George W^. Albro 
Kdward T. Williams 
George Harrington 
Joseph Freeborn 
William Card, jr. 
Josiah S. Monroe 
John Gladding 
William McCan 
George B. Kelton 
John }. Stacy 
Samuel Iveenon 
George C. Scott 
John Patterson 
William Lewis 
Robert Wyiie 
Charles Russell 
William Giles 
Jamos L. Hazard 
William G. Crandall 
James Webb 
Edward L. Tilley 
James Alger 
Staunton Peckham 
John Easton 
Samuel .1. Carr 
Lewis Mitchell 
Joseph South wick 
Jereuiiah Green man 
William Mansfield 
William Greenman 
Simon Scott 
Francis Scott 
Thomas Pratt 
Simon Hart, jr. 
John E. GofF 
George Popple, jr. 
Joseph Simmons 
Thomas C. Shearman 
William H. Settle 
William Young 
Clarke Weaver 
William Hall 
Thomas Rotch 
William Ennis 
Thomas Sweet 
Benjamin G. Hunt 
Abm. T. Peckham 
Stephen Deblois 
John Hull 



598 



Rep. No. 546. 



NEWPORT-Continued. 



Samuel S. Maxon 
Isaac Burdick 
Benjamin C. Steevens 
George Chirke 
Joseph M. Coit 
John Gladding 
Albert Watson 
Job A. Peckham 
William G. Peckham 
Robert H. Stanton 
Alden F. Simmons 
Henry Anihony 
James M. Tut-1 
Benjamin Peabody 
Heleven Hollowcll 
James Cornell 
Joseph Smith 
William II. Chase 
Asa Shaw 

William W. Stoddard 
Isaac Sissnn 
Thomas Fowler 
Job Cornell 
William H. Pvead 
Willi mi Turner 
Charles Collins ^ 
Richard Shaw 
William D. Read 
William J. Holt 
Laughlin Dowling 
George L. White 
Pardon Cory 
Benjamin Gardner 
John Spooner 
Benjamin S. Settle 
Joshua Tew, jr. 
Peleof Sanford 
Gideon Palmer, jr. 
Edwin Peabody 
Ezekiel Hopkins 
Perry C. Irish 
Robert M. Franklin, jr. 
Richard B. Mumford 
Charles R. Budlong 
Stanton Congdon 
Nathaniel Lock 
Robert M. Franklin 
Daniel Peckham 
Edward N. Sands 
Samitel R. Carr 



John Dring 
Philip Dring 
Caleb L. Ball 
Green G. Reynolds 
Silas Southwick 
Benjamin Southwick 
Joseph B. Freeborn 
Thomas C. Allen 
Lewis B. Caswell 
Thomas H. Tew 
Thomas T. Franklin 
James K. Tift 
Thomas B. Peabody 
Samuel Southwick 
Jeremiah Peabody, jr. 
Samuel Ball. jr. 
Stephen Weaver 
Seneca B. Sprague 
Samuel Smith 
Robert Dunham 
Samuel Gladding 
William Sweet 
Thomas H. Oxx 
Ebenezer Briggs 
Philip Shearman 
W^m. P. Congdon 
Wm. Young, jr. 
Wm. S. Clarke 
Henry J. Hudson 
Thomas Gould 
Wm. Wilbur 
Geo. G. Chase 
A. G. Shearman 
Richard Sisson 
Sanford Kiiiyon 
S. W. Robinson 
John Graham 
Patrick Doyle 
John Smith 
James C. Butter worth 
Rhodes A. Bndlono; 
John C. Chapman 
Charles Williams, jr. 
Charles T. Hazard 
John Peabody 

Not/.-frecholders. 

James Patterson 
George J. Steele 



Rep. No. 546. 



dm 



NEWPORT-Continued, 



Thomas Armstronsr 
Thomas Hambleton 
Albert Scott 
Wiliiam Mallett 
Jeremiah Murphy 
Timothy Downer 
Caleb S. Knjo^hts 
Charles N. T!ll(?y 
Augustus Teft 
Jesse W. Nichols 
Elliot Boss 
Pardon A. White 
Benjamin Chase 
John A. Buffingtoii 
Malhew M. Trundy 
Isaiah Bnrdick 
William B. Greene 
George S. Lyndon 
D. B. Bon telle 
Daniel Albro 
Stephen Green man 
Simon Moffitt 
William Hnddy 
Hnnlick Hnddy 
Royal West 
John R. Esbreck' 
Daniel Flanders 
James Grand all 
William Bnrronglis 
John Daniel 
James N. Allen 
Charles Fenno 
Gregory E. Hazard 
Solomon Gladding 
Joseph D'^witt 
Samuel Potter 
Sniith Bos worth 
George A. Wilson 
Isaac Peckhnm 
Patrick Ward 
James Danghertv 
Thomas Gould ' 
James Rielly 
John Hughes 
Josiali O. Burdick 
Michael Benson 
Mathew Lyon 
John Jaquay 
James D. Herrick 
Charles Chadwick 



William R. Phillips 
Alexander Asher 
Alexander Morgan 
Jacob Smith 
William B. Fales 
Charles Mason 
Walter Rodman 
Joseph B. Carr 
William H. Smylie 
Albert Cottrell 
Beriah Crandall 
Da^'id Sisson 
Gideon Barker 
Robert Minkley 
George W. Babcock 
George C. Davis 
Henry Moore 
Nathan Cory 
Jonathan Baker 
James M. Gill 
John Millard 
James Congdon 
James Barker, jr. 
Oliver D. Slocum 
Joseph C. Francis 
Abraham Thiirston^ 
Alexander Williams 
Oliver Peckham 
Samuel T. Oman 
James Dubling 
Richard A. Shearman 
George Henderson 
Henril Bacock 
William A. Davis 
John Clarke 
William Cowgeshail 
Henry R. Underwood 
Oliver Tennnnt 
Knight W. Oli.iey 
James M. Meliville 
William White 
Eiisha Smith 
William Bowler 
Holden Almy 
Benjamin W. Underwood 
Edward Deacon 
Joseph Carpenter 
James M. Levis 
Patrick Gleason 
John O'Neal 



mo 



Rep. No. 546. 



NEWPORT— Coatinued. 



Patrick Fearlley 
Benjamin VViliard 
George W. Johnson 
Benjamin Ford 
George Patterson 
John Lawson 
Elisha Bevvins 
Daniel McEnnis 
John Connelly 
John R. Stedman 
William Bolmley 
John Cheney 
Patrick Dutmegaa 
William H. Dennis 
Job Lawton 
Robert W. Goffe 
Henry Kinch 
Wilhelm Mayer 
John L. Lawrence 
David Giftbrd 
Thomas Stacy, jr. 
H. C. Martin ' 
Benjiiniin Crov/ell 
Samuel T. Hopkitis 
(Sylvanns Wilbur 
Samuel Hunter 
David Melville 
Samuel Peckhatn 
George Tripp 
Gilbert Tompkins 
Henry Gibbs 
Charles B, Bowler 
Cromwell Barlow 
John S. Cook 
Ele;izer Allen 
Silas Ward 
Peleg Cosgesliall 
James Ormsbee 
Jeremiah Bliss 
Thomas Stacy, sen- 
Jeremiah Hazard 
Eliab King 
Jefferson 6. Riley 
, John Barney 
William B. Lewis 
John Barts 
Henry Servans 
Lawton Riggs 
Michael Fennegan 
William C. Tillev 



Green Burroughs 

James Barker 

Diiniel T. Swinburne 

Samuel A. Parker 

James T. Shearman 

Thomas Cutter 

Thomas Durfee 

Robert Lawton 

Levi H. Gale 

William H. White 

Albert Vernon 

Abel Stevens 

David Ross 

George Taylor 

John Yoimg 

Samuel Wilson 

John Brown, jr. 
Dennis Chambers 

Nicholas Weaver 
Alvin Crowell 
Pardon V. Smith 
Charles C. Heath 
Edward Smith 
William W. Dawley 
William H. Carr 
William Peckham 
Joseph T. Monro 
Caleb M. Davis 
James M. Tew 
John R. Smith 
Reuel Hewitt 
Henry Curtiss 
Henry T. Walker 
Calvin B. Bowers 
Benjamin G, Tift 
Nathaniel Simmons 
Sydney J. Ashley 
John H. Rider 
Reuben Phillips 
David Sisson, jr. 
Elijah Baker 
David B. Hall 
James H. Dcmarest 
Joseph Burroughs 
Ebenezer l-'arlow, jr. 
George H. Read 
Whitman Peckham 
Bovv^en Briggs 
l^atham T. Tew 
George J. Almy 



Rep. No. 546. 



601 



NEWPORT— Continued. 



Giles P. Kose 
David Ho<jde!i 
John H. Hall 
Charles B. Weaver 
Albert H. Hewitt 
William S. Browti 
Daniel Dewley 
Thomas Allen 
John S. Harvey 
Orman Ellsbree 
John J. Hazard 
Nathaniel Davis 
Job Fisher 
John Henry 
Benjamin Bhven 
Edward M. Gladdinj.'- 
Jacob Y. Clarke 
Joseph S. Havens 
John Blalfe 
William Gladding 
Benjamin Allen 
B. F. Knapp 
John F. Cronch 
Stephen Cross 
William W. Brewster 
Joseph Turner 
W illiam Smith 
Charles Lascelie 
Simon C. Healey 
Francis C*VYaldron 
Abner Hathaway 
WiUiam Oman 
Daniel D. P. Benedict 
John H. Anderson 
James Hubbard 
George Shearman 
Stephen Bigelow 
George Handy 
William Martin 
Harrison Brownell 
Wright Carpenter 
Gorton Briggs 
Miles Barber 
James Harvey 
Ebenezer M. Brailey 
Charles M. Kaul! 
Dennis Rliine 
Franklin Marqne 
George Dun well 
Andrew Field 



Israel Sherman 
E. K. Thorndike 
William P. Burt 
Easton Peabody 
Isaac Silsbee, jr. 
Patrick Shaw 
William Glenniiig 
Joshua Davis 
James Bright 
John Deblois 
John Murray 
Bernard Hill 
liCwis Titus 
Edward H. Brigos 
Jonatiian Crowell 
Patrick Fraley 
Eben Winslow 
Jonathan James 
Henry M. Brownell 
George M. Friend 
Henry Drain 
Patrick McKeen 
James L. W'ilkie 
Henry H. Young 
James 1^. Pliiliips 

E. J. Alexander 
J, iVIcCormick 

F. Dexter Potter 
William Orcutt 

Ch. Th. Velamnouski 
Joseph A. Salkeld 
John Beattie 
Francis Allen 
Francis E, Tanner 
Joseph W. Parkinson 
Reynolds Dawley 
Joseph Boss 
George E. Nasou 
Stephen Gorton 
James Mahou 
John Allan 
Samuel Young 
Edwin Peckham 
Stephen B. Slocum 
Bowers Fisk 
John M. Fornick 
John O. Sullivan 
Michael Riley 
John Cornell 
Jolin PauU 



Rep. No. 546. 



NEWPORT— Conlinued. 



Volney P. Gleason 
James Alexander 
John Drain 
William A. Fry 
Albert GofFe 
Nathaniel Litllefield 
Andrew Manchester 
Michael Lee 
Silas Ward 
Joseph Smith 
William H. Bailey 
Robinson Barker 
Walter D. Stanton 
William H. Waldin 
Obed King 
John Regan 
John Young 
Thomas A. Burgess 
George W. Turner 
James Kelley 
Charles Beautrick 
John Young 
Stephen B. (?liase 
Allen Dudley 
James E. Weeden 
Robert Woodward 
Samuel Young 
Philip Rider 
Ray Bliven 
Daniel Albro 
Edward Langley 
Nathaniel R. Litllefield 
William Austin 
William C. Jaquay 
Thomas Wood 
Thomas White 
William Stacy 
Samuel Lock 
Lowell Brown 
Solomon Green 
Joseph 0. Lawton 
Erasmus K. Peckham 
Giles Norton 
George Shearman, 2d 
Samuel Morrell 
Edward Landers 
William H. Townsend 
William A. Allen 
Truman J. Burdick 
Ephraim B. Irish 



Edward Rose 
Nicholas G. Northup 
Benjamin H. Peckham 
Wilson Greenman 
Daniel Weaver 
George Deblois 
John B. Swan 
Gardner B. Reynolds 
Hosea Lewis 
John Goffe 
David K. Carr 
Henry C. Hubbard 
Peter Slocum 
David M. Barker 
William T. Potter 
Silas D. Deblois 
William Tew 
Thomas Oakley 
William Cutter 
David Bailey 
John L. Cranston 
George Burroughs 
Alfred Hudson 
John Pierson 
William A. Vickery 
David Albro 
Samuel Spooner 
John F. Brown 
Nathan Jaquay ^ 
Peter Cowlins; 
Nathaniel Smith, jr. 
William Caswell, jr. 
William Batcheller 
Paul M. Eiinis 
John E. Ennis 
James W. Gilford 
Zacheus Chase 
Albert G. White 
Dennis Leary 
Peter Wood 
William Barber 
Richard Burns 
John Fuller 
Francis Short 
James Clarke 
Samuel S. Mumford 
John Holland 
Thomas Pease 
Richard Landers 
Thomaf^ Landers 



Rep. No. 546. 



60S 



NEWPORT— CoBtinued. 



Patrick Benson 
Florence Sullivan 
Timothy A. Murphy 
Peleg Lawton 
Roger McCormick 
T^eison Uawley 
Oliver W. Spencer 
Daniel A. Murphy, jr. 
Robert Prior 
John McCartey 
William A. Weeden 
Charles Mathews 
Seth Brewer 
John McCorrey 
Timothy F. Congdon 
Thomas Dun more 
John Salisbury 
James Kennon 
Darius Shainoe 
James B. James 
William Prophy 
Daniel Loughdellboro 
Timothy Sullivan, jr. 
John Murray, jr. 
Daniel Garry 
John Sullivan 
Owen McManners 
James R. Manney 
Thomas Dawson 
Samuel A. Murphy 
James Connell 
William May 
Francis Tripp 
Aaron I-oughboro 
INicholas Alger 
Henry Lee " 
Luke Bliven 
Joseph Watson 
Joseph M. Riggs 
John B. Hammond 
Charles Alger 
George Barney 
Daniel Anderson 
Pardon W. Steevens 
Samuel Burroughs 
Willard Work 
James Harregan 
Patrick Murphy 
Timothy Divine 
Arnold L. Younff 



Dennis Holland 
James Vail 
Michael Cuddy 
Andrew Rotcli 
Darby Shed 
Patrick M. Sullivan 
Peleg A. Daw ley 
Michael h). Peckhani 
Thomas J. Manchester 
John Case 
William Hammond 
William Hill 
William Sisson 
William J. Roberts 
Benjamin S. Dunwell 
John Peabody 
Charles Afferi 
Patrick Murpiiy 
Timothy Sullivan, sen. 
Dennis Bryne 
Michael McBride 
Samuel Freeborn 
Michael McNamarra 
Thomas McNamarra 
Nathan E. Hammett, 
James Ellsbree 
William B. Cranston 
Michael Dilley 
David Cudworth 
Thomas Millington 
Silas H. Lamphire 
.Tohn Short ridge 
Daniel B. Bartholic 
William H. Howard 
Thomas Kelton 
Benjamin Spooner 
John Terney 
Joliu O. Niel, jr. 
John Whiteliouse 
Greene S. Greene 
William A. Handy 
William M. Mowry 
George Weaver 
Edward Allen, jr. 
Ellery Coggeshall 
Benjamin I-Veeborn 
William Proctor 
Rowse P. Gardner 
David Northup 
Russell J. Clarke 



m4 



Rep. No. 546. 



NEWPORT— Continued. 



Richard Sisson 
John Williams, jr. 
Nathan Whiiins: 
Patrick Gorman 
John Pitman 
William Younsf 
Joseph May 
William W. Whales 
Thomas B. Carr 
William O. Sullivan 
William S. Lawton 
Alfred W. Hill 
James Miller 
Rev. Joseph .Smith 
Geoige VV. Albro 
Thomas Gladding 
Nathaniel Nason 
John Heath 
Peter W. Wilkey 
Isaac Picket 
Isaac Brown 
John Delana 
Michael Drowry 
Valentine Mathews 
Bartholomew Dolan 
Patrick Roatch 
Johnson H, Mathews 
Michael Hanly 
Henry Gladdmg 
Edwm Sdlhnan 
Patrick Sullivan 
John McNamarra 
Charles Hagan 
Thomas Mayner 
Dennis McNamarra 
Dennis Shay 
Timothy Scantlin 
George Ken yon 
James Millburu 
Joseph E mi y 
Thomas Greene 
Samuel Leggett 
Joseph Graham 
James Patterson 
John P. Smith 
"Walter Mnmtbrd 
Thomas Gill 
David G Baker 
ChristopherG. Rodman 
John W. Webster 



Clarke Wilcox 
James Asher 
Mumford G. Northup 
Thomas J. Whitman 
Robert Grant 
Wanton Hopkins 
George B. Gardner 
Alexander P. Jannegan 
Sylvanns H. Albro 
William Eldredge 
Jeremiah Coleman 
George Patterson 
Stephen Potter 
George Thomas 
Seth C. Bradford 
James U. Stedman 
Robert D. Cogcresljall 
Stephen A. Robinson 
Luther L. Allen 
Charles J. Bliven 
Jeremiah Goodspeed 
Jonathan Perry 
William K, Bennett 
Dill S. Knight 
Robert L. Church 
Warren J. liCwis 
Charles 1). Beard 
William E. Rogeis 
Isaac J, Coddington 
Henry E. Wilkie 
Philip C. Palmer 
David C. Dnrfee 
William L. Woodrnfl" 
Joseph C. Winters 
Judson (Jranston 
Hezekiah Van Buren 
Thomas Wall 
John Cotirell 
Georafe E. Barrows 
William L. Tilley 
Stephen N. Jacqnays 
Owen Boote 
P. A. Gaskin 
Robert Hartin 
Henry Dubois 
Michael Masterson 
Patrick Reynolds 
David Donovan 
William B. Peabody 
John Dougherty 



Rep. No. 546. 



605 



NEWPORT-Conlinue(7 



David H. Gonld 
Eii McDaiiields 
Peter Squint 
John Pan 11 
Israel S. Griffin 
Jeffery C. Poller 
Charles Barniim 
Isaac S. Fowler 
Weeden Underwood 
James D. Aldrich 
Joshua D.ivis 
Henry Barker 
VVilliam L. Slocuni 
Jonathan Shearman 
William Wilcox 
George H. Wilson 
Wilha..! 11. Friend 
Jacob Lake 
Wiliiam C. Thurston 
Benjamin Almy 
Joseph Gladding 
William Welch 
John O. Connell 
Andrew Ha! pin 
Patrick Mayner 
John (Jleary 
John Broader 
William Freaner 
John Uuigley 
Michael Conwell 
William Carr 
Jamts O Reiley 
Wing Green 
David (Jiffurd 
Goilieb J. Weyser 
Palmer Brown 
Francis Harris 
William Popple, jr. 
William li. Howard 
William Nason 
Ernest Goti\i 
Frank Pease 
William flnsscll 
Charles Russell, jr. 
David B. Taylor 
Jesse Gardner 
Cyrus Johnson 
Thomas L. Boss 
Job Rowland 
Charles M, Thurston, jr. 



Benjamin Taylor 
Bernard Donnelly 
Ira French 
Arnold Draper 
Benjamin Douglas 
Peleg C Anthony 
Samuel L. Church 
Peter Dilman 
Loring C. (Jooke 
Curtis J. Parker 
John Myers 
William Daws 
George W. (,'arr 
James Hamilton 
Thomas Leonard 
Peleg n^hompson 
Eliab King, jr. 
Nathaniel King 
William Kelley 
John Pike 
George Dunwell,jr. 
John Bachelder 
Joseph E. Dawley 
Nicholas Alger, jr. 
Robert Ewing 
Robert Leggeit 
AmbrosH Andrews 
Stephen D. Stanton 
William Pengley 
Michael Bowel! 
Timothy Harrington 
Philip Caswell ■ 
Daniel Harrington 
A 1 ford Mealy 
Dennis Regan 
Jeremiah Lynch 
Patrick Murphy 
James Core 
James Congdon 
Mark Sullivan 
John Harrington 
Robert Maofuire 
John Bradley 
William Dunn 
John Murphy 
Patrick Dimican 
Daniel Hurley 
Thomas Record 
George Beattie 
Lewis B. Caswell, jr. 



Rep. No. 546. 



NEWPORT-Continued. 



Samuel Sirnson 
Patrick Stitown 
Edward Gladding 
John Crosby 
Michael McDonner 
James M. Cook 
Kichard Lyon 
Alonzo Hunt 
Alex. B. Burdick « 
Daniel Congdon 
Perry G. Case 
John Cunningham 
William Cunningham 
John B. Barker 
Benjamin 'V. Pfc>ckham 
Thomas L. Stanhope 
Nathaniel Monroe 
James Cowrey 
John Murphy 
John Donkey 
John Bardell 
Dennis Harrington 
Joseph Hart 
William Hnse 
John Hnse 
Nicholas Francis 
William Cowsen 
Thomas Ryan 
John Ryan 
Thomas Finnegan 
John M. Mahoon 
Thomas Murphy- 
George W. Taylor 
John Harrington 
Cornelius Mc<^arty 
Thomas Holloway 
Cornelius Way 
James W, Doyall 
Thomas Luff 
Dewis Harrington 
Jereniiah Flinmati 
Michael Regan 
Johettion Palterson 
Feleg Weeden 
John Scott 
Simon T. Webster 
Patrick McNutty 
William Smith 
Thomas Simsoii 
John Francis 



John Richardson 
George Simson 
Moses Barlow- 
Thomas Huddy 
Charles Taylor 
Ebenezer Parlour 
William King 
John Cunningham 
Charles C Jordan 
Henry Edmonds 
William F. Clements 
Joseph L. Barnes 
George Shellman 
Warren L. Lewis 
Richard Milton 
Williatn E. Bennett 
Stephen R. King 
John B. Nichols 
James A. Farrell 
John Langford 
Taber Bennett 
Arison Brownell 
Selma M. Spink 
John Steale 
Benjamin Bateman 
Charles Clarke 
William E. Chappell 
Thomas Sherman 
Anthony Stewart 
David P. Peckham 
John Goff 
Jaii-es Wood 
Asa Hildreth 
Daniel Austin 
George Lewis 
David A. Baker 
George Congdon 
Philip Cass well 
Daniel Patterson 
John H. Clegg 
John Hogan 
Peter Kelly 
James Meagher 
William Bailance 
Peter O'Connell 
Daniel Kearney 
Richard Norris 
Thomas Me Elver 
Daniel Doyle ^ 
Cornl. Barry ' 



Rep. No. 546. 



607 



NEWPORT— Conlinned. 



William Poran 
Patrick Whaleii 
William Rowe 
Daniel O. Sullivan 
Michael Sullivan 
B. Ganniticr 
James McGowan 
Charles P. Barber 
Edward J. Allen 
Joseph C. Dennis 
John Clarke 
James H. Ail man 
Syria Vaughn 
James H. Wilson 
Cliarles B. Horsewell 
Samuel C. Potter 
James Clifton 
James Ogle 
James Monkhouse 
Darius E, Barker 
James Hammond 
William D. Callahan 
John T. Freeborn 
Laurent F. Nicolai 
Giles Pearce, jr. 
Rhodes Budlong 
Edmund A. Brown 
James Rusher 
John Rusher 
J. Francis Albro 
Richard C. Spencer 
James Dunn 
Thomas Jeffery 
Richard Newman 
John Callahan 
Michael McGrath 
W'illiam Powers 
A. Newton 
Jeremiah Sullivan 
Alexander Luney 
Edward Lahwa 
Christian Biah 
John Coho 
Benjamin G. Harvey 
William H. Davis 
Jspheth Mason 



Samue! Goddard 
James M. Sherman 
Oliver P. Sherman 
John M. Allen 
John Washburn 
Georo-e W. Potter 
David Crook 
James Dority 
George Martin 
George Edgar 
James Clarke 
John Bailey, jr. 
Samuel Lee 
George L. Putnam 
Edward R. Collins 
Thomas J. Peckham 
W'illiam C. Olney 
Israel T, Horion 
Henry Jewett 
James R. Jacobs 
Samuel Stewart 
George N. Burch 
John .1. Andrews 
Curtis A. Monro 
W^illiam Tucker 
Lorenzo Riley 
Alexander N. Austin 
Albert S. Manchester 
John F. Taylor 
Jeremiah L. Fowler 
Augustus H. Bobbins 
John Hamilton 
Philip Armstrong 
James Graham 
Patrick Rufte 
Henry T. H. Gate wood 
John White 
Rol)ert B. Luwton 



Glualified, 
Not qualified, 



Total 



317 

890 

1207 



608 



Rep. No. 546. 



No. 128. 



VOTERS IN MIDDLETOWN, NEWPORT COUNTY. 



Freeholders. 

Gardner Brown 
Nathaniel Wyalt 
Gideon Peckham 
Barzillai Barker 
Benjamin T. Remington 
John S. Bro\vn 
Wiliiani 'W VVyatt 
Caleb J. Albro 

Noti freeholders. 

William Kanll 
Abraham Barker 
Abel Sherman 
William Kaull, jr. 
Levi Barker 
Arnold Brayman 
John N. Northup 
George C. Kaull 
Thomas C. Wyatt 



Abraham Sherman 
Edwin Barker 
Gardner T. Slocum 
Henry iJarker 
.loseph S. Barker 
Robert Caswell 
Uriah Staflbrd 
Jonathan B. Northup 
Oliver Dawley 
Georoje W. Allen 
William C. Allen 
James K. VVyatt 
G. Barker Peckhain 



Freeliolders 
Non freeholders 



Potal 



8 
22 

30 



No. 129. 



VOTERS IN PORTSMOUTFL NE APOili COUNTY, 



John Tall man 
Thales Tall man 
.Tonathan Tallman 
Alexander Davoll 
James Brownell 
Thomas i?rownell 
John Burrington 
l^vi Almy 
John Brownel! 
John S. Brownell 
Samuel (3orey 
Benjamin Greene 
Ix)renzo D. Tallman 
Levi Tallman 
Royall Davoll 
William T. Eddy 
John M. Keith 
William B. Browrnell 
Benry F. Greene 



George F. Hood 
Joseph W. (ireene 
Oliver D. Greene 
Otis P. Cobb 
Peter Fagin 
David B. Irish 
l^'k•^ T. Wait 
Philip Almy 
Peieg Almy 
Isaac Peckham 
Pardon Wliite 
David Fish 
Henry F. Fish 
Stephen Freeborn 
Daniel Wilcox 
David E. Monroe 
Charles M. Vaughn 
Edmund Freeborn 
Robert; Hicks, jr. 



Rep. No. 546. 



609 



PORTSMOUTH— Conimu-d. 



Peter Wood 
Caleb A. Chadsey 
Daniel Wait 
Daniel Philips 
William Dawiey 
Rowland Chase 
Philip B. Bowen 
John R. Babcock 
Joseph W. Fisk 
JN'icholas Tallman 
Albert G. Cook 
George Cook 
Cook Wilcox 
Edward T. W. Cook 
John W. Sherman 
Job Sisson 
Ciiarles S. Freeborn 
Benjamin Sherman 
Isaac S. Cory 
Benjamin Gardner 
Hawkins Greene 
Leonard Fish 
James Boyd 
Samuel Sisson 
John W. Fish 
Thomas Cory 
Barzillai Fish 
Robert Wilcox 
Jonathan W. Coggeshall 
Philip D. Lawton 
William B. Lawton 
Giles Lawton 
James Irish 
Stephen Slocum, 3d 
Benjamin Peckham, jr. 
Abner Macomber 
Leonard Brown 
Georo;e L. Fish 
John Dennis 
William H. Barker 
David Brownell 
Peleg Cornell 
Samuel F. Essex 
Abner B. Cory 
Stephen C. Monroe 
Abiel C. Fish 
John McCorrie 
Jesse T. Durfee 



William C. Hazard 
Benjamin Sisson 
Raymond P. Dennis 
John Cory 
Henry P. Sisson 
Asa Cory 
Levi W\ Cury 
Thomas Gardner 
Richmond W, Dennis 
Joseph Cook 
George Hall 
Lorenzo D. Watts 
George W, Brownell 
Richmond Hazard 
Abner Tallman 
Andrew Brownell 
Peleg Almy, jr. 
Charles Almy 
John Tallman 2d 
David Anthony 
Oliver Brownell 
John W. Almy 
Otis T. Peters 
Stephen \\. Cook 
William A. Chase 
( /oriolanus Cook 
John Almy 
Charles E. Boyd 
Arnold Pierce 
Stephen W. Cory 
Samuel Allen 
Thomas Sherman 
Frederick Sherman 
William Sisson 
Joseph S. Sherman 
George Wilcox 
Joseph Thomas 
Charles P. Cornell 
Parker Hall 
Borden Chase 



Freeholders - 
Non-freeholders 



Total 



- 67 

- 69 

- 126 



39 



Rep. No. 546. 



No. 130. 



VOTERS IN JAMESTOWN, NEWPORT COUNTY. 



.John Reminffton 


Ebenezer Tift 




John 0. Dockray 


Redmond Hull 




George Anthony 


William Briggs 


' 


WilHam A. Weeden 


Arnold Weeden 




Robert Carr 


Isaac Carr 


""■- 


Joseph M. Carr 


George Hull 




Daniel W. Carr 


Ananias Lockwood 




WilHam P. Carr 


James Tew 




Ohver Hopkins 


James A. Grinnell 




WiHiam A. Weeden^ jr. 


William B. Reynolds 




Joseph Hull 


William Nye 




WilUam W. Brings 






George C. Cnrr 


— 




Joshua Clarke 






Charles H. Eldred 


Freeholders, 


18 


John W. Carr 


Non-freeholders, 


13 


John E. G. Weeden 




— 


John C. Grinnell 


Total, 


31 


John Hammond 




— 


John T. Potter 







No. 131. 



VOTERS IN NEW SHOREHAM, BLOCK ISLAND. 



Freeholders and oldest sons. 

Solomon L. Dodge 
Simon Ball 
William Wesgate 
John Sprague 
Simon Babcoek. jr. 
John P. Allen 
Simon R. Ball 
William Clarke 
Thomas D. Sprague 
William Ball 
Benjamin Sprague 
Daniel R. Mitchel 
William Rose 2d 
John Dunn 
Martin W. Rose 
Rowland S. Oatley 
Ray Liitlefield 
Jonathan Mitchell 
John Ball 



Joshua Ball, jr. 
Levi L. Sprague 
Rathbun Littleiield 
Samuel Ball 
Henry B. Stedman 
Daniel Brown 
James R. Mitchell 
Daniel Rose 
Littlefield Rose 
Jonathan S. Ball 
Jordan Rose 
Simon Mitchell 
Joseph B. Dickens 
Lemuel B. Rose 
John Mitchell 
John L. Mitchell 
Simon Dodge 
William Vose 
Noah Dodge 
Amos D. Mitchell 
Elias Littlefield 



Hep. No. 546. 



611 



NEW SHOREHAM— Continued. 



Enoch Rose 
Ezekiel Rose 
Samuel Dunn 
Giles P. Dunn 
Barzillai B. Dunn 
Noah D. Dunn 
Joshua Dunn 
George C. Ball 
Nathaniel Donsre 
Anthony Littlefield 
Frederick Littlefield 
John P. H. Sands 
Caleb Westgate 
Oliver D. Sprague 
Frederick Rose 
Ichabod Mitchell 
Enoch Rose. jr. 
Gideon Dodge 
Silas N. Littlefield 
Abel Ball 
Joshua Ball 
Henry Willis 
John R. Mitchell 
Gideon Sprague 
Daniel Dickens 
Caleb L. Rose 
Hiram Dodge 
Welcome Dodge 
Lyman Ball 
Edward Sands 
Joshua Dodge 
Sylvanus D. Willis 
Hiram Ball 
Gideon D. Ball 
Trustum D. Mitchell 
Joseph Mott 
Levi Mitchell, jr. 
Silas Mitchell 
Joseph H. Smith 
Moses D. Ball 
Thomas Mitchell 
John G. Sheffield 
Reve Paine 
Joshua Dodge 
Isaac Chase 
William Sprague 
"William Dodge 
John E. Sands 
Charles Babcock 
Green Card 
John Littlefield 2i 



Bartlett Ball, jr. 
George W. Ball 
James Rose 
Bartlett Ball 
Nathaniel Dodge 2d 
Nathaniel BalT 
Perry Clarke 
Jesse Ball 
Reuben W. Paine 
Rath bun Dodge 
George Rose 

A'ot qualified. 

Levi Mitchell 
George E. S. Ely 
Charles E. Thompson 
W^arren L. Beebe 
William H. Mitchell 
Jesse D. Mitchell 
Asa Ball 
Henry Ball 
Nelson Dodge 
Henry Dodge 
John T. Dodge 
Varnum Dodge 
Simon Sprague 
John S. Ball 
Joseph Hull 
John W. Dodge 
Jasper L. Dodge 
John Wright 
Seneca Sprague 
John M. Rose 
Fred. W. Sprague 
William M. Rose 
Benjamin Coe 
Elijah Macomber 
Gideon Ball 
John Wright, jr. 
Elhandar C. Dodge 
Jasper Latham 
Amos Dickens 
Moses R. Dodge 



Qualified, 
Not quahfied, 



Total, 



102 
30 

13a 



612 



Rep. No. 546. 



No. 132. 



VOTERS IN TIVERTON, IvEWPORT COUNTY. 



Allen Dnrfee 
Oliver Chase, jr. 
John Grinnell 2d 
Charles Manchester 
Edward Wilcox 
Thomas J. Brown 
Abraham Manchester 
Joshua B. Rathbun 
David Hambly 
Philip Manchester 
Andrew VVillislon 
Isaac H. Borden 
David Seabury 
Oliver Hicks 
Isaac T. Wilcox 
Job Lake 3d 
Allen Wilcox 
John Manchester 
Edward W. Lake 
Paul T. Wilcox 
Oliver Manchester 
Alfred Kin(( 
Joseph liake 
Joseph Hart 
Charles Wilcox 
Abraham Borden 
Isaac S. V\ illistoii 
Abraham Brown 
Abner Lake 
Pardon Williston 
Arlinglon Wilcox 
Oliver Wilcox 
Jabez Manchester 
Isaac Manchester 
Arnold Dnrfee 
Edward Slierman 
James Westgate 
James Bailey 
Green Fish 
Perry Lake 
Lot Sherman 
Joseph Church, jr. 
Benjanjin Sherman 
Holder Westgate 
Wna. C. McCorrie 
Gardner Hambly 
John W. Hicks 
Dtiniel D. Owelty 



Samuel T. Cook 
Gilford H. Evans 
Giles Manchester 
William Manchester 
William Sherman 
William A. Gray 
Henry A. Brown 
Isaac Barker 
Abraham B. Manchester. 
Elias Hicks 
Pliilip Lake 
Jeremiah Manchester 
Nicholas E. Durfee 
Nicholas E. Durfee, jr. 
Asa Gray 
Benjamin Wilcox 
Leonard Sanford 
Nathan B. Earl 
Gardner S. Dean 
Stephen Sanford 
Isaac Borden 
Thomas C. Johnson 
George Havens 
I'eier Cook 
.lames B. Jones 
Samuel B. Wilcox 
Barker Hathaway 
Dwell y Durfee 
Ucal Woodman 
Alexander Borden 
Joseph Tallman 
Willard Winter 
George W. Hopkins 
Samuel S. Manchester- 
Peleg S. Shaw 
Arnold Brown 
W^illiam Tompkins 
John DevoU 
Daniel H. Davis 
Hezekiah Monroe 
William Sanford 
Southard H. Miller 
Tillinghast Records 
Earl B. Anthony 
Benjamin Manchester 
Robert Hart 
James F. Devoll 
Russell G., Peckham 



I 
I 



Rep. No. 546. 



613? 



TIVERTON— Continued. 



Ward C. Copeland 
Clarke Brown 
William Wilcox 
Newell Ambler 
Theodore Warren 
Oliver Gray 
William Woodman 
George B. Fish 
Stephen M. Taber 
Andrew Alamhested 
Abraham Manchester 
John Hiin 
Thomas San ford 2d 
Gardner S. Anthony 
John A. Chase 
David Brownell 
Leonard Nickerson 
Seth Borden 
Jeremiah Wilcox 
Daniel Wilcox 
Clarke Whipple 
Borden Cook 
Joshua Wilbur 
Enoch Woodman 
John Burt 
Charles Tompkins 
Perry Chace 
William G. Borden 
Ira Clapp 
Joshua Dwelly 
Jeremiah B. Peitey 
An^uslus Chace 
Sylvanus Nickerson 
Adley Wilcox 
William B. Trofford 
Edwin Meeson 
Nelson Cook 
Isaac Negus, jr. 
John Harrison 
William B. Mowry 
Israel Coggeshall 
•David Manchester 
Edward Meeson 
Theodore liawton 
Taber Corey 
David Gifford 
Joseph Borden 
Alexander S. DevoU 
Cook Tall man 
Richard Borden 



Perry Albert. 
George A. Knapp 
William H. Harrison 
Reuben Davoll 
Willet M. Slocum 
W. G. Winters 
Gilbert Tompkins 
John Brayton 
Silas S. Manchester 
Isaac Manchester 2d 
Jonathan Hart 
John Grimshaw 
Charles Snell 
Benjamin F. Field 
Joseph C. Winters 
Richard Sisson 
Job Grossman 
Abner Devol 
David Gifford, jr. 
Noah Maccomber 
Samuel ("hace 
Edward B Davis 
William Winters 
Darius Cook 
Simeon Snell 
Isaac Bri^htman 
Nathan Pettey 
John W. Borden 
Richard S. Peckham 
Benjamin Slocum 
John B. Wilcox 
David Rider 
Ezra Marble 
Thomas Estes 
Joseph Church 
Hiram Atwood 
Charles P. Dring 
William Harrison 
Joseph Brow 
Joseph Wilcox 
Asahel W. Coggeshall 
David Durfee 3d 
Gideon G. Durfee 
Benjamin Nickerson 
Brownell Slocum 
George W. Fish 
Peter Estes 
Gideon Grinnell 
Job Durfee 2d 
Cornelms Cook 



Rep. No. 546. 



TIVERTON— Coniinucd. 



David Lake 
Jeremiah Lake 
Crofford Snell, jr. 
Samuel C. McCorne 
Goodwin D. Warren 
Thomas Simmons 
Abner G. Devoll 
Peleg Stafford 
Knowles Negus 
Job S. Mancliester 
John Dennis 
John Remington 
Joseph Tripp 
Samuel Manchester 
Joseph Wilcox 
Lewis Hart 
Nathan Tripp 
David Brayton 
Noah Smith 
Peleg Hart 
Joseph Sinmions 
Thomas Durfee 
Bailey Manchester 
William Beals 
Kdward Smith 
Job Andrews 
Richard Smith 
Elisha Fish 
Humphrey Fish 
Timothy Tripp 
Leander Sanlbrd 
Philip Manchester 
John Boyd, jr. 
Squire Simmons 
Stephen Manchester 
John Simmons 
John R. Gray 
Abel Grinnell 
Benjamin Manchester 2d 
Rodolphus H. Allen 
Joseph Cook 
David Grinnell 
Knight Springer 
David Westgate 
Edward Westgate 
David Evans 
Nelson Bennett 
Wilbur Maccomber 



John Manchester 2d 
Jefferson Watts 
Joseph Borden, jr. 
George W. Gould 
John T. Negus 
Isaac Negus 
James Stevens 
Beniamin Lake 
Peleg ToUey 
Albert Chace 
Wm. B. Gray 
John Maccomber 
Peleg Tripp 
Samuel Cottle 
George Manchester 
Joseph Lake 
Eseck Manchester 
Bailey Lake 
Joshua C. Durfee 
Edson V. Evans 
Edward Manchester 
William Fish 2d 
Ichabod Eddy 
Thomas Springer 2d 
Elisha Smith 
Benjamin Hambly, jr. 
Aaron Slocum 
Wm. Wilcox 
Eason Sherman 
Godfrey Estes 

Against constitution. 

Robert Seabury 
Harvey Chace 
Thomas Borden 3d 



(Qualified 
Not qualified 



Ajjainst 



Total 



27T 



Rep. No. 546. 

No. 133. 
VOTERS IN LITTLE COMPTON, NEWPORT COUNTY. 



For the constitution. 

Andrew J. A I my 
Oliver H. Almy 
Isaac C. Almy 
Warren Brown 
E. M. Brownell 
Abner W. Brownell 
Thomas P. ClarKe 
Alexander E. Giftbrd 
Joseph Weeks 
William Willard 
Fobes Hunt 
Philander Hunt 
Ellery Hunt 
Benjamin Hunt 
Philip Little 
Albert Manchester 
Clarke S. Manchester 
Bradford Pierce 
Peleg Pierce 
George W. Snell 
Isaac Snell 
Green B. Sisson 
Nathaniel Tompkins 
Lindol Tompkins 
William H. Wilbur 
Samuel Wilbur 
Jonathan Wilbur 
Thomas C. Wilbur 
James H. Wilbur 
Simeon Wondley 
Thomas Wilbur 3d 
Hezekiah Wilbur 
John Gray 3d 
Jonathan Carr 
John S. Almy 
Job Seabury 
Toby Little 
Lawton Brown 
Thomas G. Tompkins 
Henry Bnrlingame 
Andrew Gray 
Abner Gray 



Benjamin Clapp 
Pardon Almy 



Q,ualified, 
Not quahfied, 

Total, 



19 

25 



Against the constitution, 

Loring Gray 
Samuel S. Burgess 
Water Grinnell 
James D. Peckham 
Ezra Wilbur 
Thomas Burgess 
George M. Taylor 
Henry Wilbur 
Philip Wilbur 
Charles Wilbur 
Elisha Woodworth 
Kdwin Wilbur 
Owen Wilbur 
Benjamin T. Wilbur 
Clarke GifFord 
Job Manchester 
James F. Bailey 



(Qualified, 
Not qualified, 

Total, 

For, 
Against, 

Total, 



13 



17 



17 



616 



Rep. No. 546. 



No. 134. 



VOTERS IN BRISTOL, BRISTOL COUNTY. 



William H. Allyn 
Samuel Y. Allyn 
Jonathan Alo;er 
John H. Allyn 
Samuel S. Allen 
George A. Allen 
Kufus D. Arnold 
Alvin C. Aldrich 
Stephen W. Arnold 
Nathan M. Bunn 
Lemuel Bunn 
Robert H. Bullock- 
James Baker 2d 
Henry Baker 
Job M. Barras 
Lemuel Bunn, jr. 
Nathan Borden 
John Burgess 
Walter Bradford 
Jeremiah Bosworth 
Allen Bullock 
Simeon Bullock 
Parker Borden 
William Bradford 
James W, Burgess 
William Bullock 
Beriah Y. Browning 
Arnold W. Bush 
James Bourn 
Philip A. Baker 
John W, Bush 
Ebenezer W . Bullock 
Nathaniel Bunn 
Peter F. Bradford 
Martin D. Bonney 
Benjamin Bosworth 
John F. Baars 
Ermin F. Baker 
Jonathan Bosworth 
James C. Beebee 
John Baker 
John Bowler 
William P. Bradford 
Allen J. Bradford 
John Bullock 
William M. Bly 
James P. Brown 
Lorenzo D. Bennett 



Martin M. Baker 
David Bullock 
Jonathan Browneil 
Joseph Bullock 
Royal Bosworth 
John Boyd 
George A. Briggs 
Lemuel Cummings 
Jacob Cushman 
George CoggeshaU 
George Church 
William J. Clarke 
George B. Chase 
Thomas Cole 
Henry CoggeshaU 
David Coit 
Nehemiah Cole 
Joseph Coit 
John Douglass 
George W. Douglass 
Henry Daggett 
Francis M. Dimond 
William F. Dimond 
James Dimond 
William Davis 
John L. Daggett 
William Davis, jr. 
Alexander V. Y. De Wolf 
Henry Dimond 
Charles H. Davis 
Joseph Decoster 
Henry Y. Davis 
William Drown 
Onville Day 
Lewis Day 
Rufus B. Drown 
Jonathan Fales 
Elisha B. Franklin 
William C. Fales 
Benjamin Franklin 
Rufus Fisher 
William B. Phelps 
Joshua Gladding 
Josiah Gooding 
Squire Goff 
Edward Gladding 
James Gladding 
Edward Gladding 2d 



Rep. No. 546. 



617 



BRISTOL— Continued. 



Henry Green 
Henry W. Gladding 
John Gladding, jr. 
Samuel Gladding 2d 
James M. Goff 
Benjamin P. Gage 
James E. Chase 
Nehemiah Cole, jr. 
John F. Cook 
Nathaniel Church 
David Cole 
William M. Curtney 
William M. Card 
John Chawick 
James B. Card 
Sylvanns Coggeshall 
INathaniel Cory 
Stephen Chase 
Thomas F. Crandall 
Freeborn Coggeshall 
Henry Y. Coggeshall 
Timothy Cogo^eshall 
Daniel H. Collins 
Benjamin W. Doty 
Elbridge G. Davis 
HopestiU P. Dimond 
Robert Dunbar 
Stephen Douglas 
Thomas B. Davol 
Thomas C. Dennis 
James Dimond, 2d 
Abel Easterbrooks 
John Easterbrooks 
Jonathan Easterbrooks 
Aaron Easterbrooks 
(iardner Easterbrooks 
Benjamin Easterbrooks 
Cyrus Eddy 
Lemuel Fales 
Elisha Franklin 
Joseph B. Fish 
Hiram Frisben 
George P. Fish 
Marcus Franklin 
John Gladding 
John Gladding, jr. 
Oliver Gardner 
Samuel Gladding 
Samuel L. Gladding 
Stephen D. Gray 



James Grant 
Sylvester Harding 
JiUther Handy 
Daniel L. Howland 
George C, Hatch 
William Handy 
Solomon Hatch 
Abijah Hale 
James Hoar 
Henry Hale 
Frederick Hart 
Russell Handy 
Moses M. Hill 
John Hay 
Luther Horton 
Luther Handy 
Coomer Haile 
William Handy 
Barnard Haile 
Benjamin Harding 
John Y. Harding 2d 
Benoni Hawkins 
Levi Horton 
William Handy 
William Hoar 
Samuel Ingraham 
Gardner Jones 
Salathiel Jones 
William B. Johnson 
Lorenzo D. Kenny 
Cassander Kingman 
Abijah Luce 
Jonathan I^indsey 
Abraham Leonard 
Seth Lincoln 
Obadiah Luther 
Isaac Liscomb 
Jolin V. Lewis 
George W. Ling 
Sylvester Luther 
Pardon Lake 
Simon D. Liscomb 
Jeremiah Luther 
Thomas Lindsey 
Edward M. Luther 
William Lawless 
William Lindsey 
Woodbury Lindsey 
George Lawton 
Godfrey Lake 



618 



Rep. No. 546. 



BRISTOL- Coniinu.'d. 



Sotfi Lincoln 2d 
Nathaniel Lewis 
Jonathan Lake 
Benjamin Moot 
Marmadnke Mason 
INallian Monroe 
Samnel Monroe 
David Monroe 
WiUiaiu K. Mason 
Ezra M. Martin 
Isaac Manchester 
John Manchester 
John Mancliester, jr. 
William Monroe 
Tliomas K. Monroe 
Benjamin Morris 
Nallianiel Monroe Ist 
Hnam I J, Monroe 
Joseph Monroe 
Benjamin Mnrphy 
Nathaniel Mitchel 
Samnel S. Molt 
John Mnlchahey 
Al)ner Mefj-<»'it 
PliiHp A. Manchester 
George Manchester 
Henry A. Manchester 
James Molt 
George Monroe 
Nathaniel Manchester 
George Monroe 
Jeremiah Manchester 
Allen K. Monroe 
Joseph Monroe 
Henry Monroe 
Nathan Monroe 
Isaac II. Matteson 
Bosworth K. Monroe 
Jeremiah W. Monroe 
William Maxileid 
William Mitchel 
James Miller 
William Monroe 
George H. Martin 
Henry R. Manchester 
Benjamin Mann 
John Monroe 
Joseph Mason 
Joseph B. Manchester 
Nathaniel D. Maxfieid 



William H. Mann 
(Jaleb Monroe 
Samnel Norris 
Thomas Norris 
Joseph Norfhnp 
Samuel M. Oxx 
Nathaniel M. Oxx 
Reuben Oat ley 
Benjamin Pitman 
William Paul 
Geor<;e P. Pierce 
John A. Pitman 
Hezekiah Y. Pitman 
William Pearse, jr. 
John O. Pearce 
Walker Pearce 
John H. Pitman 
Williain H. Pierce 
Joseph Peck 
James Peckham 
Benjamin Peckham 
Angel Pierce 
William Pierce 3d 
Nathaniel Peckam 
John W. Pierce 
San lord M. Pierce 
James D. Pitman 
Isaac N. Penno 
John S. Plummer 
John Pierce 
Zebedee Patill 
William Reynolds 
George H. Reynolds 
Samuel Reed, jr. 
Samuel Reed 
Smith Robinson 
Joseph Ralph, jr. 
Jonathan Reynolds 
Jonathan Jteynolds, jr. 
Daniel I>. Reed 
Joseph Ueynolds 
John C. Rich 
James Smith 
Nathaniel P. Swan 
Josiah Simmons 
Mark A. I). W. Smith 
Smith B. Simmons 
Allen S. Simmons 
Joseph Springer 2d 
Thomas Swan 



Rep. No. 546. 



6ld 



'0 



BRISTOL— Conlinued. 



Charles Spooner 
Nathan Simmons 
WiUiam Smith 
William B. Spooner 
Nathaniel D. Simmons 
Jonathan Slade 
Edmund D. Sherman 
John W. Spooner 
Isaiah D. Simmons 
George Stetson 
Antony Snell 
Samuel Swan 
Isaiah Simmons 
John B. Sweet 
Joseph Springer 
William S. Simmons 
Antony Snell 
Benjamin S. Tanner 
Stephen Tolbey 
Nelson B. Tanner 
Joseph S. Thompson 
Daniel Tanner 
Benjamin Tilley, jr. 
Thomas Thornton 
William Thornton 
Isaiafi Vickery 
George Vaughn 
Benjamin D. Vickery 
Gideon Vaughn 
William Vincent 
Nathan Warren, jr. 
Hezekiah Willard 
Job Williston 
Job Williston, jr. 
George Wilson 
Danifl Wilcox 
John Wilcox 
John Waldron 
Amos T. Whilford 



Henry R. Warren 
Benjamin Wyatt 
William Waldron 
Joseph Waldron 
John West 
David Waldron 
Benjamin B. Waldron 
Benjamin Y, West 
William Wyatt 
Benjamin West 
Edmund Waldren 
Henry Wanning 
Amos Wilson 
Robert Wyatt 
William Wyatt 
Nathaniel Waldren 2d 
Thomas N. While 
William Wyatt 
Thomas Wilson 
Isaac Waldron 
Joseph Wardwell 
Henry Waldren 
Hezekiah 0. Wardwell 
Leonard Williams 
Nathan Warren 
Stillman Welch 
William Waldron 
Philip y. Wilson 
Samuel J. White 
George White 
Thomas Wilson, jr. 



Qualified - 
Not qualified 



Total - 



- 151 

- 218 

- 369 



No. 135. 

VOTERS IN WARREN, BRISTOL COUNTY. 

Qualified. Rufus Hunter 

George Parker 
Philip Chase 
John D. Mason 
Barnard Miller 
Nathan Kent, jr. 



Samuel Maxwell 
William L. Brown 
Hiram Andrews 
Nathan Luther 



6-20 



Rep. No. 546. 



WARREN— Continued. 



Anthony Mason 
Nathaniel Adams 
Joljn Salisbury, jr. 
Jacob Sanders 
William B. Snell 
Ansel Churchill 
Joseph Adams 
Zephaniah Mason 
Hiram Goffe 
Daniel Salisbury 
Giles Luther 
Henry Bartlett 
Martin E. Borden 
Ephraim W. Burr 
Francis Marble 
James E. Bowen 
Charles H. Salisbury 
Henry H. Bowen 
Joseph Y. Tibbetts 
Edward C Sparks 
David E. l.ulher 
John S. Allen 
John Salisbury 
liUther Cole 
Henry Coomer 
Ebezezer l/Ulher 
George Woodmancey 
Andrew B. Read 
Samuel A. DriscoU 
George Thurber 
Barney Grant 
Gardner Mason 
John Andrews 
"William S. Hunter 
Abram Greene 
Alvin Buflington 
Haile Bowen 
Collins Thurber 
Richard S. Waldron 
Charles P. f3owen 
John C. Hoar 
Samuel Wheaton 2d 
"William Martin 
Samuel Wright, jr. 
Nathan P. Cole 
James Mason 
Frederic Luther 
Allen Luther 
Oliver Johon not 
Lewis B. Pierce 



William G. Ingraham 
Allen C. Hoar 
.lohn Soles 
Henry F. Drowi 
Job MilL(-- 
James Sm\tf. 
William G. Hisco? 
John Ingraham 
Samuel S. Child 
Daniel B. Wheaton 
Stephen Davol 
Lewis T. Hoar 
Henry Sanders 
John H. Monroe 
Josiah T. Horton 
Samuel Mason, jr. 
Nathan Perry 
Howland Mason 
Job A. Mason 
Miller Barney 
Jonathan Smith 
Jonathan R. Simmons 
Howland Smith 
James V. Cole 
Charles A. Andrews 
Benjamin Parker 
Job Luther 
William Bowen 
Samuel Bowen 
Gardner Case 
Samuel Wright 
Henry Child 
John D. Tuel 
George Easterbooks 
Shearjashub B. Allen 
Benjamin W. Bosworth 
George Luther 
Alfred Cornell 
Jesse Davis 
Benjamin Bowen 
Caleb Bowen 
Martin Luther 
Stafford Healey 
Isaac L. Peck 
George Presbury 
Nathan Cary 
Philip Mosher 
Benjamin Foster 
Elisha G. Smith 
Philip Monroe 



Rep. No. 546. 



621 



WARREN— Continued. 



John K. Barney 
Simon Kinnicutt 
Caleb A. Carr 
Jeseph B. Tanner 
Charles E. Bennett 
Edward Sanders 
George S. Til ley- 
Joseph M. Smith 
William King 
William Haile,jr. 
Alvin Cole 
Barber Manchester 
James Smith, jr. 
Isaac L. Barrows 
Allen Drown 
Henry Cole 
John Cannon 
Stephen S. Swasey 
James A. Thornton 
Henry Burr 
Benjamin Drown 
Benjamin T. Cranston 
Pardon Hiscox 
iS'athan Goffe 
Billings Salisbury 
Luther Collamore 
William H. Bowen 

A'oi qualijied. 

Jotham Waterman 
Samuel Luther 
Elbridge G. Leonard 
Elisha G. Hiscox 
John S. Monroe 
James C. Child 
Charles H. Collamore 
Edward T. Child 
James S. Bosworlh 
Allen Cobb 
Benjamin Albro 
John IS. West 
Martin King 
Jonathan B. Barton 
Palmer Monroe 
Hezekiah Peck 
Aaron Phipps 
George Monroe 
William L. Hathaway 



John K. Slade 
John Slack 
James P. Burt 
Henry W. Child 
George H. Rounds 
Robert Cole 
Henry Cary 
Thomas C. Collamore 
William Liiither 3d 
Ambrose Barnaby 
Jeremiah Driscol 
Robert G. Cooley 
Lawton Kelly 
John Coomer 
Seth Simmons 
William Thurber 
David E. Clarke 
David Miller 
Samuel T. Burt 
George Butts 
Edward Sanders 
Joshua Van Dorn 
Thomas P. Aloore 
William S. Bosworth 
David Grey 
Nathan Burr 
Joseph H. Luther 
Benjamin Kelley 
George S. Brown 
Thomas Sisson 
Ebenezer Cole 
Zachariah T. Thornton 
Jeremiah C. Luther 
George P. Woodmancy 
Caleb Carr, jr. 
Henry Cole 
William P. Eddy 
Birnabas W. hlasterbrooks 
Eli^ha Cornel 
Amasa Mason 
Samuel Place 
Joseph Salisbury 
John B. Child 
Joel Sawtelle 
William Long 
Seranus A. Brayton 
Paul Ware 
Samuel VVhealOQ 
Wheaton Cole 



&>2 



Rep. No. 546. 



WARREN-Gontinued. 



Thomas B. Borden 
Liicher C. Short 
Johi] E. Luther 
Daniel H. Luther 
Horace Bean 



Qualified, 


103 for 


Not quaUfied, 


106 « 




1 against 



Total, 



210 



No. 136. 

VOTERS IN BARRINGTON, BRISTOL COUNTY. 



Qualijied. 

Grindall Chase 
BeDjamin B. Medbury 
Wihiiarth Heath 
Seba Peck- 
John Martin 
Joseph M. Smith 
Ira Kent 

Christopher Smith 
Benjamin Medbury 
Elbndge G. Medbury 
Ebenezor Grant 
Josepfi Bean 
Nathaniel Smith 
Asa Peck 

Nathaniel C. Smith 
Job Wheaton 
Enoch Remington 
Asa Smith 
Amasa Cook 
Allen Bowen 
Henry Smith 
Amariah Li Hey 
Daniel Drown 
John Kelley 
Ira B. Kent 
Custis Ladue 
James Maxfield 
Nathaniel Brown 



Not qualified. 

James Ingraham 
Charles H. Campbell 
Simeon Drown 
Albert Bowen 
Jonah Miller 
Samuel Thurber 
Caleb Cary 
George W'. Adams 
Ira Allen 
Martm Brown 
Paschal Alien 3d 
Ebenezer Adams 
Patrick Fin ley 
Cyrus S. Morey 
Calvin B. Thurber 
Allen M. Brown 
James H. Seymour 
Joseph Rawson 
Samuel Bosworth 
Alfred Willis 
Joshua Maxfield 
Solomon Drown 
William J. Bowcu 
John Short 



Qualified 
Not qualified 

Total 



28 
24 

52 



i 



Rep. No. 546. 623 

No. 137. 
CHARTER OF 1643. 

GRANTED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF PARLIAxMKNT. 

The following is the first Charter to the people of Rhode Islnnd, incorpo- 
ratinor them " by tlie name of the In corporal ion of l^rovideiice Planta- 
tions in the Narmgansttt Bay in New h'/igland,'' grnnied under the 
authority of ihe Purhament of England, in U343, givino: them ^'fuU 
power and authority to govern and rule themselves^ ^*c.*^ 

Whereas by an Ordinance of y" Lords and Comons now assembled in 
Parliament bearing date t!ie 2d day of November Anno Dom. 1613. Robert 
Earlle of Warwick is constituted 6c ordained Governor in Chief & Lord 
high Admiral of all thos Islands and other Plantations inha'.jited atid plant- 
ed by or belonging to any of his Majesties y- King of England subjects (or 
w<='' hereafter may be inhabited and planted by or belongmg to thf-m) w'^''" 
y" bounds and upon y Coasts ot America. And whereas y'- .said l^ords &. 
Comons have thought fitt and thereby ordained, y' Phillipp Earle of Pem- 
broke, Edward Earle of Manchester, William Vicont Say and Seale, Phil- 
lipp Lord Whorton, John Lord Roberts, members of y^ house of Peers, Sir 
Gilbert Garard, barrenet, Sir Arthur Helsri^/ge, liarrenet, Sir Henry V'aune 
Junior Knight, Sir Bh;njaniin Rudyerd, Knij^ht, John Pirn, Oliver Crom- 
well, Dennis Bond, Miles Corbett. Cornelius Holland, Sammuell Vassell, 
John Rolle and William Spurstowe, Esquirese members of y^ house of 
Comons, should be Commissioners to joyne in aide ifc assistance w''^ y« said 
Earle. 

And whereas for the better governing (fc preservings of y^ said Planta- 
tions it is thereby ordained, y' the aforesaid Govern'" and comm"^ or y« 
greater number of them shall have power and authority from time to time, 
to nominate, appoint, &, constitute, all such subordinat Govern""' Counsel- 
ors, Commanders, officers, and agents, as they shall judge to be best affect- 
ed, and most fitt and serviceable to govern y" said Islands «fc Plantations, 
and to provid for, ordere, & dispose all things w'*' they shall from time to 
time find most fitt and advantageouse for y^ said Plantation, and for the bet- 
ter security of y^ owners & inhabitants thereof to Assine ratify &, contirme, 
soe much of their afore mentioned authority 6c power, and in such man- 
ner, 6c to such Parsons, as they shall Judge to be fitt, for y- better Govern- 
ing 6c preserving of y" said Plantations 6c Islands from open violence, pre- 
judice, disturbance and distractions. And whereas their is a tract of Land 
in y^ Continent of America aforesaid called by y= name of y^ Naragansett 
Bay, bordering North and Northest on the Patten of y"- Massechusetts, East 
6c Southeast on Plymouth Patten, south on y- oation, and on y« weast and 
Northweast By Indians called Nahoggannsucks alias Narragansetts ; ye 
whole tract extending about twenty and five English miles, into y« Pecut 
river and Country, and whereas divers well afilcted and industrious English 
Inhabitants of y^ Townes of Providence. Portsmouth, and Newport, in the 
tract aforesaid, have adventured to make a nearer neighbourhood 6c sosiaty 
to 6c vi^^ y«= great body of the Narragansetts w'^'' may in time by y«= bless- 

♦ See page 634. 



624 Rep. No. 546. 

ing of GOD upon their endeavours lay a surer foundation of happiness lo 
all America, <fc have also purchased, &- are purchasing of & auionst y^ said 
Natives, some other places w*^*^ may be convenient both for plantation, and 
also for Bnilding of shipps, supply of pipe staves, & other Marchandice ; 
And whereas y^ said l^^nglish have represented their desires to y^ said 
Earle and Comm" to have their hopefnl begiimings approved and con- 
firmed by granting nnto y" a free charter ofcivel incorp^iration and Gouv- 
orment, y* they may order and govern their plantations, in such manner as 
to maintain justice, 60 peace both amongst themselves and towards almen, 
w'^ wliom they shall have to doe ; In due consideration of y*^ Premises y« 
said Robert Earle of Warwick Gover""^ in Chiefe, Lord High Admiral! of 
y« said Plantations, and y'' greater Number of y« said Commissionours, 
whose names and seales are her under written and subjoyned out of a desire 
to incourage y good beginnings of y^ said Plantations, doe by y*= authority 
of y^ aforesaid ordinance of Lords tfc comons give grant &, confirm to y« 
aforesaid Inhabitants of y*" Towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and New- 
port, a free and absolute Charter, of civel incorporation, to be known, by 
y-' name of the Incorporation of Providence Plantations, in the Narragan- 
set bay in New England, together w"' full poiver and authority, to Govern 
and rule themselves, and such others as shall hereajtere inhnbitt w"''"- 
any part of y" said tract of Land by such a forme of Civel Gover""^' as 
by voluntary consent of all or ^'greatest part of th^" shall be found most 
serviceable in their Estates and cojidition and to that end, to make and or- 
dain such civel Laws and constitutions and to inflict such Punish""*^ uppon 
transgressors and for execution thereof soe to place & displace, Officers of 
Justice, as they or y^ greatest part of y™ shall by free consent agree unto — 
Provided nevertheless y' y^- said Laws, Constitutions and Punishments for 
ye civell Govern"" of y^ said Plantation be conformable to y'^ Lawes of Eng- 
land, soe farre as y nature &- Constitution of y*^ place will adniitt; And al- 
ways reserving to y* said Earle and Comm'"^ and there successors power and 
authority soe to dispose y^ General Gover™' of y' as it stands in refferance to 
y*' rest of y^ Plantations in America, as they shall commissionate from time to 
time most conducing to y Generall good of y= said Plantations, y*^ Honour 
of his Magisty, &, y-' sarvice of this State, and y said Earll &. Comm" doe 
further authorice y*" aforesaid Inhabitants, for y^ better transacting of there 
Publique affaires to make and use a Publique scale as y^ knowne scale of 
Providence Plantations in y Narragansetts Bay in New England, in Tes- 
timony whereof y*^ said Robert Earle of Warwick &- comm" have hereunto 
set there hands and seales y seventeenth day of March y® nineteenth year 
of yc Raine of our Soveraine Lord King Charles and in y'^ yeare of our 
Lord GOD 1643. 

ROBERT WARWICK. 
Phillip Pembrook, Say <fc Scale, P. Whartone, Arthur Helsrige, Cor». 
Holland, Hen. Vane, Saai Vassellj John Rool, Miles Corbet. 



Rep. No. 546. 625 

No. 138. 

CROMWELL'S LETTER. 

JL^tler from Oliver Cromwell to Rhode Island, ichen. Dr. John Clarke was 
agent of the Colony, in England, dated 29M March, 1655. 

To our trnsly and well beloved the President, assistants, and inhabitants 
of Rhode Island, together with the rest of the Providence Plantations, in 
the Narragansett bay, in New England. 

Gentlemen: Your agent here halh represented unto lis some particu- 
lars concerning your government, which you judge necessary to be settled 
by us here. But by reason of tlie other great and weighty alfairs of this 
commonwealth, we have been necessitated to defer the consideration of 
them to a further opportunity. For the mean lime we were willing to let 
you know, that you are to proceed, in your government according to >: 
tenor of your charter, formerly granted on that beiialf ; taking care of the 
peace and safely of those plantations, that neither through any intestine 
commotions, or foreign invasions, there do arise any detriment, or dishonor 
to this commonwealth, or yourselves, as far as you, by your cure and dili- 
gence, can prevent. And as for the things which are before us, they shall, 
as soon as the other occasions will permit, receive a just and filling de er- 
niination. And so v»'e bid you farewell, and rest 

Your very loving (riend, 



29 March, 1655. 



OLIVER P. 



xNo. 139. 

The charter granted by King Charles II. 

Charles, the Second, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, 
France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, (fcc, to all to whom these pres- 
ents shall come greeting: Whereas we Itave been informed by the humble 
petition of our trusty ond well-beloved subject, John Clarke, on the behalf of 
Benedict Arnold, William Brentoit, William Coddington, Nicholas Easton, 
William Boulsloii, John Porter, John Smith, Samuel Gorton. John Weeks, 
Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, Gregory Dexter, John Coggeshall, Joseph 
Clarke, Randall Holden, John Greene, John Roome, Samuel Wildbore, 
William Field, James Barker, Richard Tew, Thomas Harris, and William 
Dyre, and the rest of the purchasers and free inhabitants of our island, 
called Rhode Island, and the rest of the colony of Providence Plantations, in 
the Narragansett Bay, in New England, in America, that they, pursuing, with 
peaceable and loyal minds, their sober, serious, and religious intentions, of 
godly edifying themselves, and one another, in the holy christian faith and 
worship, as they were persuaded ; together with the gaining over and con- 
version of the poor ignorant Indian natives, in those parts of America, to 
the sincere profession and obedience of the same faith and worship, did,. 
not only by the consent and good encouragement of our royal progenitorsj.' 
transport themselves out of this kingdom of England into America, but aisOj 
since their arrival there, after their first settlement amongst other our sub- 
40 



^26 Kcp. No. 546. 

jects in tfiose parts, for the avoiding of discord, and those many evils which 
were hkely to ensue upon some of those our subjects not beings able to bear, 
in these remote parts, their different apprehensions in reUgious concern- 
jfnents, and in pursuance of the aforesaid ends, did once again leave their 
desirable stations and habitations, and with excessive labor and travel, haz- 
ard and charge, did transplant themselves into the midst of the Indian na- 
tives, who, as we are informed, are the most potent princes and people of 
oil that country; where, by the good Providence of God, from whom the 
Plantations have taken iheir name, upon their labor and iiidustry, they have 
not only been preserved to admiration, but liave increased and prospered, 
and are seized and possessed, by purchase and consent of the said natives, 
to their full content, of such lands, islands, rivers, harbors and roads, as are 
very convenient, both for plantations, and also for building of sjiips, supply 
of pipe-staves, and other merchandise : and which lie very commodious, 
in many respects for commerce, and to accommodate our southern planta- 
tions, and may much advance the trcde of this our realm, and greaily en- 
large the territories thereof; they having, by near neighborhood to and 
friendly society with the great body of the Narrag^ansett Indians, given them 
encouragement of their own accord, to subject themselves, their people and 
lands unto us ; whereby, as is hoped, there may, in time, by the blessing 
of God upon their endeavors, be laid a sure foundation of happiness to all 
America: and whereas, in their humble addre^s, they have freely declared, 
that it is much on their hearts (if they may be permitted) to hold forth a 
lively experiment, that a most flourishing civil slate may stand and best be 
maintained, and that among our English subjects, with a full liberty in re- 
ligious concernments ; and that true piety, rightly grounded upon gospel 
principles, will give the best and greatest security to sovereignty, and will 
lay in the hearts of men the strongest obligations to true loyalty : Now 
know ye, that we, being willing to encourage the hopeful undertaking of 
our said loyal and loving subjects, and to secure them in the free exercise 
and enjoyment of all their civil and religious rights, appertaining to them, 
as our loving subjects ; and to preserve unto them that liberty, in the true 
christian faitli and worship of God, which they have sought with so much 
travel, and with peaceable minds, and loyal subjection to our royal progen- 
itors and ourselves, to enjoy : and because some of the people and inhabit- 
ants of the same colony cannot, in their private opinions, cou bim to the 
public exercise of religion, according to the liturgy, forms, and ceremonies 
of the Church of England, or take or subscribe the oaths and .u tides made 
and established in that behalf; and for that the same, by reason of the re- 
mote distances of those places, will, (as we hope) be no breach of the unity 
and uniformity established in this nation : Have therefore thought fit, and 
do hereby publish, grant, ordain, and declare, that our royal will and pleas- 
ure is, that no person within the said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be 
anywise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any dif- 
ferences in opinion in matters of religion, and do not actually disturb the 
civil peace of our said colony; but that all and every person and persons 
may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and 
enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious 
concernments, throughout the tract of land her'eafter mentioned, they be- 
having themselves peaceably and quietly, and not using this liberty to licen- 
tiousness and profaneness, nor to the civil injury or outward disturbance of 
others ; any law, statute, or ciausej therein contained, or to be contained, 



Kep. No. 546. 627 

usage or custom of this renlm, to the contrary hereof, in anywise, notwith- 
standing. And that they may be in the better capacity to defend themselves, 
in their just rights and liberties, against all the enemies of the christian 
faith, and others, in all respects, we have further thought fit, and at the 
humble petition of the persons aforesaid are graciously pleased to declare, 
that they shall have and enjoy the benefit of our late act ot indemnity andL 
free pardon, as the rest of our subjects in other our dominions and territo- 
ries have; and to create and make tliem a body politic or corporate, with 
the powers and privileges hereinafter mentioned. And accordingly our wiU 
and pleasure is, and of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and mete 
motion, we have ordained, constituitd, and declared, and by these presents, 
for us, our heirs, and successors, do ordain, constitute, and declare, that they, 
the said Wiflliam Brenton, William Coddington, Nicholas Easton, Benedict 
Arnold, William Boulston, John Porter, Samuel Gorton, John Smith, John 
Weeks, Roger Williams, Thomas OIney, Gregory Dexter, John Coggeshall, 
Joseph. Clarke, Randall Holden, John Greene, John Roome, William Dyre, 
■Samuel Wildbore, Richard Tew, William Field, Thomas Harris, James 

Barker, Rainsborrow. Williams, and John Nickson, and all 

such others as now are. or hereafter shall be, admitted and made free of the 
company and society of our colony of Providence Plantations, in the I5ar- 
ragansett Bay, in New England, shall be, from time to time, and forever 
hereafter, a body corporate and politic, in fact and name, by the name of 
The Governor and Company of tlie English Colony of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations, in New England, in America ; and that, by the 
same name, they and their successors shall and may have perpetual succes- 
sion, and shall and may be persons able and capable, in the law, to sue and 
be sued, to plead and be impleaded, to answer and be answered unto, to de- 
fend and to be defended, in all and singular suits, causes, quarrels, matters, 
actions, and things, of what kind or nature soever ; and also to have, take, 
possess, acquire, and purchase lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or any 
goods or chattels, and the same to lease, grant, demise, aliene, bargain, sell, 
and dispose of, at their own will and pleasure, as other our liege people, of 
this our realm of England, or any corporation or body politic within the 
same, may lawfully do. And further, that they the said Governor and Com- 
ipany, and their successors, shall and may, forever hereafter, have a common 
seal, to serve and use for all matters, causes, things, and afl^airs, whatsoever, 
of them and their successors; and the same seal to alter, change, break, and 
make new, from time to time, at their will and pleasure, as they shall think fit. 
And further, we will and ordain, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and 
successors, do declare and appoint (hat, for the better ordering and managing' 
of the affairs and business of the said company, and their successors, there 
shall be one Governor, one deputy Governor, and ten Assistants, to be from 
time to time constituted, elected, and chosen out of the freemen of the said 
Company for the time being, in such manner and form as is hereafter in these 
presents expressed ; which said officers shall apply themselves to take caret 
for the best disposing and ordering of the general business and afl^airs of and 
concerning the lands and hereditaments hereinafter mentioned to be granted^ 
and the plantation thereof, and the government of the people there. And,. 
for the better execution of our royal pleasure herein, we do, for us, our 
heirs and successors, assign, name, constitute, and appoint the aforesaicl^ 
Benedict Arnold to be the first and present Governor of the said Company, 
and the said William Brenton to be the deputy Governor, and the said WiU 



628 Rep. No. 546. 

liam Boiilstoi), John Porter, Roger Williams, Thomas Ohiey, John Smithy 
John Greene, John Ooggeshall, James Barker, William Field, and Joseph 
Oarke, to be the ten present Assistants of the said Company, to continue in 
the said several offices, respectively, until the first Wednesday which shall 
"be in the month of May now next coming. And further, we will, and by 
these presents, for us, our heirs, and successors, do ordain and grant that 
the (.Jovernor of the said Company, for the time being, or, in his absence, by 
occasion of sickness, or otherwise, by his leave and permission, the deputy 
Oovernor. for the time being, shall, and ujay, from time to time, upon all 
occasions, give order for the assembling of the said Company and calling 
them together, to consult and advise of the business and affairs of the said 
Company. And that forever hereafter, twice in every year — that is to say, 
on every first Wednesday in the month of May, and on every last Wednes- 
day in October, or oftener in case it shall be requisite, the Assistants and 
such of the freemen of the said Company, not exceeding: six persons for 
JSewport, four persons for each of the respective towns of Providence, Ports- 
mouth, and Warwick, and two persons for each other place, town, or city, 
who shall be, from time to time, thereunto elected or deputed by the major 
part of the freemen of the respective towns or places for which they shall be 
so elected or deputed, shall have a general meeting or assembly, then and 
there to consult, advise, and determine in and about the affairs and business 
of the said Company and Plantations. And further, we do, of our especial 
grace, certain Knowledge, and mere motion, give and grant unto the said 
Governor and Company of the English colony of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations in New England, in America, and their successors, that 
the Governor, or, in his absence, or by his permission, the deputy Governor 
of the said Company, for the time being, the Assistants, and such of the free- 
men of the said Company as shall be so as aforesaid elected or deputed, or 
so many of them as shall be present at such meeting or assembly as afore- 
said, shall be called the General Assembly; and that they, or the greatest 
part of ihem present, whereof the Governor, or deputy Governor, and six 
of the assistants, at least to be seven, shall have, and have hereby given 
and granted unto ihem, full power and authority, from time to time, and 
atalltimes hereafter, to appoint, alter, and change such days, times, and 
places of meeting and General Assembly as they shall think fit; and to 
choose^ nominate^ and appoint such and so many other persons as they 
shall think Jif, and shall he willing to accept the same, to be free of the 
said Company and body politic, and ihem into the same to admit ; and to 
elect and constitute such offices and officers, and to grant such needful 
commissions as they shall think fit and requisite for the ordering, man- 
»fring, and despatching of the affairs of the said Governor and Company and 
^heir successors ; and, from time to time, to make, orditin, constitute, or 
repeal such laivs, statutes, orders and ordinances, fo)-fns and ceremonies of 
government aud magistracy, as to them shall seem meet, for the good and 
welfare of the said Company, and for the government and ordering of the 
lands and hereditaments hereinafter mentioned to be granted, and of the 
people that do, or at any time hereafter shall, inhabit or be within the same ; 
«so as such laws, ordinances, and constitutions so made be not contrary and 
repugnant unto, but as near as may be, agreeable to the laws of this our 
jealm of England, considering the nature and constitution of the place 
and people there, and also to appoint, order and direct, erect and settle, 
«uch places and courts of jurisdiction, for the hearing and determining of 



Rep. No. 546. 629 

all actions, cases, matters, and thinpfs happening within the said colony and 
plantation, and which shall be in dispute and depending there, as they shall 
think tit: and also to distinguish and set forth the several names and titles, 
duties, powers, and limits of each court, office, and officer, superior and in- 
ferior; and also to contrive and appoint such forms of oaths and attestations, 
not repugnant, but, as near as may be, agreeable, as aforesaid, to the laws 
and statutes of this our realm, as are convenient and requisit', with respect 
to the due administration of justice and due execution and discharge of all 
offices and places of trust by the persons tliat shall be therein concerned; 
and also to regulate and order the way and manner of all elections to offices 
and places of trust, and to prescribe, limit, and distinguish the numbers and 
bounds of all places, towns, or cities, wiihin the limits and bounds herein- 
after mentioned, and not herein particularly named, who have, or shall 
have, the power of electing and sending of freemen to the said General As- 
sembly ; a'ld also to order, direct, and authorize the imposing of lawful and 
reasonable fines, mulcts, imprisonments, and executing other punishments, 
pecuniary and corporal, upon offenders ;aid delinquents, according to the 
course of other corporations within this our kingdom of England ; and 
again to alter, revoke, annul, or pardon, under their common seal, or other- 
wise, sucli fines, mulcts, imprisonments, serstences, judgments, and condem- 
nations, as shall be thought fit ; and to direct, rule, order, and dispose of all 
other matters and things, and particularly tliat which relates to the making 
of purchases of the native Indians, as to them shall seem meet; whereby 
our said people and inhabitants in the said Plantations may be so reli- 
giously, peaceably, anct civilly governed, as that, by their good life and or- 
derly conversation, they may win and invite the native Indians of tlie coun- 
try to the knowledge and obedience of the only true CJod and Saviour of 
mankind ; willing, commanding, and requirinsf, and by these presents, for us, 
our heirs, and successors, ordaining and appomliiig that all such laws, stat- 
utes, orders, and ordinances, instructions, iuipositions, and directions, as shall 
be so made by the Governor, deputy Governor, Assistants, and freemen, or 
such number of them as aforesaid, and pul)lished in writing, under their 
common seal, shall be carefully and duly observed, kept, performed, and put 
in execution, according to tlie true intent and meaning of the same. And. 
these our letters patent, or the duplicate or exemplification thereof, shall be 
to all and every such officer, superior or inferior, from time to time, for the 
putting of the same orders, laws, statutes, ordinances, instructions, and di- 
rections, in due execution, against us, our heirs and successors, a sufficient 
warrant and discharge. And fuither, our will and pleasure is, and we da 
hereby, for us, our heirs_ and successors, establish and ordain, that yearly, 
once in the year, forever, hereafter, namely, the aforesaid Wednesday in 
May, and at the town of Newport, or elsewhere, if urgent occasion do re- 
quire, the Governor, Deputy Governor, and Assistants of the said company, 
and other officers of the said company, or such of them as the General As- 
sembly shall think fit, shall be, in the said General Court or Assembly to be 
held from that day or time, newly chosen for the year ensuing,, by such 
greater part of the said Company, for the time being, as shall be then and 
there present; and if it shall happen that the present Governor, Deputy 
Governor, and Assistants, by these presents appointed, or any such as shall 
hereafter be newly chosen into their rooms, or any of them, or any other 
4he officers of the said Company, shall die or be removed from his or their 
several offices or places, before the said general day of election, (whom we 



1630 Rep. No. 546. 

do hereby declare, for any misdemeanor or default, to be removable by the 
Governo/, Assistants, and Company, or such greater part of them, in any of 
the said 'public courts, to be assembled as aforesaid,) that then, and in every 
such case, it shall, and may be lawful to and for the said Governor, Deputy 
Governor, Assistants, and Company aforesaid, or such greater part of them, 
so to be assembled as is aforesaid, in any their asserabhes, to proceed to a 
new election of one or more of their Company, in the room or place, rooms 
or places, of such officer or officers, so dyino; removed, according to their 
discretions ; and immediately upon and after such election or elections made 
of such Governor, Deputy Governor, Assistant, or Assistants, or any other 
officer of the said Company, in nuuiner and form aforesaid, the authority, 
office and power, before given to the former Governor, Deputy Governor, 
and other officer and officers, so removed, in whose stead and place new 
shall be chosen, shall, as to him and them, and every of them, respectively, 
cease and determine : Provided alivays, and our will and pleasure is, that 
as well such as are by these presents appointed to be the present Governor, 
Deputy Governor, and Assistants, of the said Company, as those that shall 
succeed them, and all other officers to be appointed and chosen as aforesaid^ 
shall, before tfie undertaking the execution of the said offices and places 
respectively, give their solemn engagement, by oath, or otherwise, for the 
due and faithful performance of their duties in their several offices and 
places, before such person or persons as are by these presents hereafter ap- 
pointed to take and receive the same, that is to say : the said Benedict Ar- 
nold, who is hereinbefore nominated and appointed the present Governor of 
the said Company, shall give the aforesaid engagement before William 
Brenton, or any two of the said Assistants of the said Company; unto whom 
we do by these presents give full power and authority to require and receive 
the same; and the said William Brenton, who is hereby before nominated 
{uid appointed the present Deputy Governor of the said Company, shall 
give the aforesaid erjgagenient before the said Benedict Arnold, or any two 
of the Assistants of the said Company ; unto whom we do by these presents 
^ive full power and authority to require and receive the same; and the said 
William Boulston, John Porter, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, John^ 
Smith, John Greene, John Coggeshall, James Barker. William Field, and 
Joseph Clarke, who are hereinbefore nominated and appointed the present 
Assistants of the said Company, shall give the said engagement to their 
offices and places respectively belonging, before the said Benedict Arnold and 
William Brenton, or one of them ; to whom respectively we do hereby give 
full power and authority to require, administer, or receive the same: and 
further, our will and pleasure is, that all and every other future Governor 
or Deputy Governor, to be elected and chosen by virtue of these presents, 
shall give the said engagement before two or more of the said Assistants of 
the said Company for the time being; unto whom we do by these presents 
give hill power and authority to require, administer, or receive the same \ 
and the said Assistants, and every of them, and all and every other officer 
or officers to be hereafter elected and chosen by virtue of these presents, 
from linie to time, shall give the like engngemenls, to their offices and places 
Tespectively belonging, befi)re the Governor or Deputy Governor for the time 
bemg; unto which said Governor, or Deputy Governor, we do by these 
presents give full power and authority to require, administer, or receive the 
same accordingly. And we do likewise, for us, our heirs, and successors^ 
^ive and grant unto the said Governor and Company, and their successors^ 



Rep. No. 546. 631 

by those presents, that, for the rnore peaceable and orderly government of 
the said Plantations, it shall and may be lawful for the Governor, Deputy 
Governor, Assistants, and all other officers and ministers of the sai<i Com- 
pany, in the administration of justice, and exercise of government, in the 
said Plantations, to use, exercise, and put in execution, such methods, rules, 
orders, and directions, not being contrary or repugnant to the laws and stat- 
utes ol this our realm, as have been heretofore given, used and accustomed, 
in such cases, respectively, to be put in practice, imtil at the next, or some 
other General Assembly, special provision shall be made and ordained in 
the cases aforesaid. And we do further, for us, our heirs, and successors, 
give and grant unto the said Governor and Company, and their successors,, 
by these presents, that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Gov- 
ernor, or in his absence, the Deputy Governor, and major part of the said 
Assistants for the time being, at any time when the said General Assembly 
is not sitting, to nominate, appoint, and constitute such and so many com- 
manders, governors, and military officers as to them shall seem requisite 
for the leading, conducting, and training up the inhabitants of the said 
Plantations in martial affairs, and for the defence and safeguard of the said 
Plantations ; and that it shall and may be lawful to and for all and every 
such commander, governor, and military officer, that shall be so as afore- 
said, or by the Governor, or, in his absence, the Deputy Governor, and six 
ol the said Assistants, and major part of the freemen of the said Company 
present at any General Assemblies, nominated, appointed, and constituted 
according to the tenor of his and their respective commissions and direc- 
tions, to assemble, exercise in arms, martial array, and put in warlike pos- 
ture, tlie inhabitants of the said colony, for their special defence and safely; 
and to lead and conduct the said inhabitants, and to encounter, expulse, 
expel, and resist, by force of arms, as well by sea as by land, and also 
to kill, slay, and destroy, by all titting ways, enterprises, and means what- 
soever, all and every such person or persons as shall, at any time here- 
after, attempt or enterprise the destruction, invasion, detriment, or annoy- 
ance of the said inhabitants or Plantations ; and to use and exercise the 
law martial in such cases only as occasion shall necessarily require ; and 
to take or surprise, by all ways and means whatsoever, all and every such 
person and persons, with their ship or ships, armor, ammunition, or other 
goods of such persons as shall, in hostile manner, invade or attempt the 
defeating of the said plantation, or the hurt of the said company and in- 
habitants ; and, upon just causes, to invade and destroy the native In- 
dians, or other enemies of the said colony. Nevertheless, our will and 
pleasure is, and we do hereby declare to the rest of our colonies in New- 
England, that it shall not be lawful for this our said colony of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, in America, in New England, to invade the 
natives inhabiting within the bounds and limits of their said colonies, with- 
out the knowledge and consent of the said other colonies. And it is here- 
by decl.ired, that it shall not be lawful to or for the rest of the colonies to 
invade or molest the native Indians, or any other inhabitants, inhabiting 
within the bounds and limits hereafter mentioned, (they having subjected 
themselves unto us. and being by us taken into our special protection,) 
without the knowledge and consent of the Governor and Company of our 
colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Also our will and 
pleasure is, and we do hereby declare unto all christian kings, princes, and 
states, that if any person, v/hich shall hereafter be of the said Company or 



832 Rep. No. 546. 

Plantation, or any other, by appointment of the said Governor and Company 
for the time being, shall at any lime or times hereafter, rob or spoil, by sea 
or land, or do any hurt or unlawful hostility to any of the subjects of us, 
our heirs or successors, or any of the subjects of any prince or state, being 
ihen in league with us, our heirs or successors, upon complaint of such 
injury done to any such prince or state, or Iheir subjects, we, our heirs and 
successors, will make open proclamation within any parts of our realm of 
England, tit for tliat purpose, that the person or persons committing any 
such robbery or spoil shall, within the time limited by such proclamation, 
make full restitution or satisfaction of all such injuries done or committed, 
so as the said prince, or others so complaining, may be fully satisfied and 
contented ; and if the said person or persons who shall commit any such 
robbery or spoil, shall not make satisfaction, accordingly, within such time, 
so to be limited, that then we, our heirs and successors, will put such j)er- 
son or persons out of our allegiance and protection ; and that then it shall 
and may be lawful and free for all princes or others to prosecute, with hos- 
tility, such otrendel-s, and every of them, tin ir and every of their procurers, 
aiders, abettors, and counsellors, in that behalf: Provided, also, and our 
express will and pleasure is, and we do, by these presents,^ for us, our heirs 
and successors, ordain and appoint, tliat these presents shall not, in any 
manner, hinder any of our loving subjects, wliatsoever, from using and ex- 
ercising the trade of fishing upon the coast of New Kngland, in America; 
but that they, and every or any of them, shall have full and free power and 
liberty to continue and use the trade of hshing upon the said coast, in any 
of the seas thereunto adjoining, or any arms of the seas, or salt water, rivers 
and creeks, where they have been accustomed to fish ; and to build and set 
upon the waste land belonging to the said colony and plantations, such 
wharves, stages and work-houses, as shall be necessary for the salting, dry- 
ing and keeping of their fish, to be taken or gotten upon that coast. And 
further, for the encouragement of the inhabitants of our said colony of Prov- 
idence Plantations to set upon the business of taking whales, it shall be law- 
ful for them, or any of them, having struck whale, dubertus, or other great 
fish, it or them to pursue unto any part of that coast, and into any bay, river, 
cove, creek, or shore, belonging thereto, and it or them, upon the said coast, 
or in the said bay, river, cove, creek or shore, belonging thereto, to kill and 
order for the best advantage, without molestation, they making no wilful 
waste or spoil ; anything in these presents contained, or any other matter 
or thmg, to the contrary notwithstandinor. And further also, we are gra- 
ciously pleased, and do hereby declare, that if any of the inhabitants of our 
said colony do set upon the planting of vineyards, (ihe soil and climate 
both seeming naturally lo concur to the production of wines,) or be indus- 
trious in the discovery of fishing banks, in or about the said colony, we 
will, from time to time, give and allow all due and fitting encouragement 
therein, as to others in cases of like nature. And further, of our more am- 
ple grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, we have given and granted, 
and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do give and grant 
unto the said Governor and Company of the English colony of Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations, in tlie Narragansett Bay, in New Eng- 
land, in America, and to every inhabitant there, and to every person and per- 
sons trading thither, and to every such person or persons as are or shall be 
free of the said colony, full power and authority, from time to time, and at 
all times hereafter, to take, ship, transport, and carry away, out of any of 



Rep. No. 546. 633 

our realms and dominions, for and towards the plantation atid defence of 
the said colony, such and so many of our loving suh.iects and strangers as 
shall or v\m11 vvilhngly accompany them in and to their said colony and 
plantation ; except such person or persons as are or shall be therein re- 
strained by us, our heirs and successors, or any law or statute of this realm; 
and also to ship and transport all and all ujanner of goods, chattels, mer- 
chandises, and other things whatsoever, that are or shall be useful or neces- 
vsary for the said plantations, and defence thereof, and usually transported, 
and not prohibited by any law or statute of this our realm; yielding and 
paying unto us, our heirs and successors, such the duties, customs and sub- 
sidies, as are or ought to be paid or payable lor the same. And further, our 
will and pleasure is. and we do, for us^ our heirs and successors, ordain, de- 
clare, and grant, unto the said Governor and ("ompany, and their succes- 
sors, thai all and every the subjects of us. our heirs and successors, which 
are already planted and settled within our said colony of Providence Plan- 
tations, or which shall hereafter go to inhabit within the said colony, and 
all and every of their children, vvhich have been born there, or which shall 
happen hereafter to be born there, or on the sea. going thither, or returning 
from thence, shall have and enjoy all liberties and immunities of free and 
natural subjects within any the dominions of us, our heirs or successors, to 
all intents, constructions and purposes, whatsoever, as if they, and every of 
them, were born within the realm of FJuirland. And further, know ye, that 
we, of our more abundant grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, have 
given, granted and confirmed, and, by these presents, for us, our heirs and 
successors, do give, grant and confirm, unto the said Governor and Com- 
pany, and their successors, all that part of our dominions in New England, 
in America, containing the Nahantick and Nanliyganset, alias Narragansett 
Bay, and countries and parts adjacent, bounded on the west, or westerly, to 
the middle or channel ot a river there, commonly called and known by the 
name of Pavvcatuck, alias Pawcawtuck river, and so along the said river, 
as the greater or middle stream thereof reacheth or lies up into the north 
country, northward, unto the head thereof, and from thence, by a straight 
line drawn due north, until it meets with the south line of the Massachu-setts 
colony; and on the north, or northerly, by the aforesaid south or southerly 
line of the Massachusetts colony or plantation, and extending towards the 
east, or eastwardly, three English miles to the east and northeast of the most 
eastern and northeastern parts of the aforesaid Nariagansett Bay, as the said 
bay lieth or extendeth itself from the ocean on the south, or southwardly, 
unto the mouth of the river which runneth toward the town ol Providence, 
and from thence along the eastwardly side or bank of the said river (higher 
called by the name of Seacunck river) up to the falls called Patuckett falls, 
being the most westwardly line of Plymouth colony, and so from the said 
falls, in a straight line, due north, until it meet with the aforesaid line of 
the Massachusetts colony, and bounded on the south by the ocean ; and, 
in particular, the lands belonging to the towns of Providence, Pawtuxet, 
Warwick, Miscjuammacock, alias Pawcatuck, and the rest upon the main 
land in the tract aforesaid, together with Rhode Island, Block Island, and 
all the rest of the islands and banks in the Narragansett bay, and border- 
ing upon the coast of the tract aforesaid. (Fisher's Island only excepted,) 
together with all firm lands, soils, grounds, havens, ports, rivers, waters, fish- 
ings, mines royal, and all other mines, minerals, precious stones, quarries, 
woods, wood grounds, rocks, slates, and all and singular other commodities, 



634 Rep. No. 546. 

jurisdictions, royalties, privileges, franchises, pre-eminences, and heredita- 
ments whatsoever, withm the said tract, bounds, lands, and islands aforesaid 
or to them or any of them belonging, or in any wise appertaining : To have 
and to hold the same unto the said Governor and Company and their suc- 
cessors forever, upon trust, for the use and benefit of themselves and their 
associates, freemen of the said colony, their heirs and assigns, to be holden 
of us, our heirs and successors, as of the manor of East Greenwich, in our 
county of Kent, in free and common soccage, and not in capite^ nor by 
knight service; yielding and paying therefor to us, our heirs and success- 
ors, only the fifth part of all the ore of gold and silver which, from time to 
time, and at all times hereafter, shall be there gotten, had, or obtained, in 
lieu and satisfaction of all services, duties, fines, forfeitures, made or to be 
made, chiims and demands whatsoever, to be to us, our heirs or successors, 
therefor or thereout rendered, made, or paid ; any grant, or clause in a late 
grant, to the Governor and Company of Connecticut Colony, in America, 
to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. The aforesaid Paw- 
catuck river having been yielded, after much debate, for the fixed and cer- 
tain bounds between these our said colonies, by the agents thereof, who 
have also agreed that the said Pawcatuck rivershall be also called alias Nor- 
rogansett or Narrogansett river ; and, to prevent future disputes, that other- 
wise misfht arise thereby, forever hereafter shall be construed, deemed, and 
taken to be the Narrogansett river in our late grant to Connecticut colony 
mentioned as the easterly bounds of that colony. And further, our will 
and pleasure is, that, in all matters of public controversy, which may fall 
out between our colony of Providence Plantations and the rest of our col- 
onies in New England, it shall and may be lawfiil to and for the Governor 
and Company of the said colony of Providence Plantations, to make their 
appeals therein to us, our heirs and successors, for redress in such cases, 
within this our realm of England ; and that it shall be lawful to and for 
the inhabitants of the said colony of Providence Plantations, without let or 
molestation, to piiss and repass, with freedom, into and through the rest of 
the Entrlish colonies, upon their lawful and civil occasions, and to converse 
and hold commerce and trade with such of the inhabitants of our other 
English colonies as shall be willing to admit them thereunto, they behaving 
themselve peaceably among them ; any act, clause, or sentence, in any of 
the said colonies provided, or that shall be provided, to the contrary in any 
wise notwithstanding. And lastly, we do for us, our heirs, and successors, 
ordain and grant unto the said Governor and Company, and their succes- 
sors, by these presents, that these our letters patent shall be firm, good, ef- 
fectual, and available in all things in the law, to all intents, constructions, 
and purposes whatsoever, according to our true intent and meaning here- 
inbefore declared ; and shall be construed, reputed, and adjudged in all 
cases most favorably on the behalf, and for the best benefit and behoof, of 
the said Governor and Company, and their successors ; although express 
mention of the true yearly value or certainty of the premises, or any of 
them, or of any other gifts or grants by us, or by any of our progenitors or 
predecessors, heretofore made to the said Governor and Company of the 
English colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in the Narra- 
gansett Bay, New England, in America, in these presents is not made, or 
any statute, act, ordinance, provision, proclamation, or restriction, hereto- 
fore had, made, enacted, ordained, or provided, or any other matter, cause, 
or thing whatsoever, to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding, 



Rep. No. 546. 635 

In witness whereof, we have caused these our letters to be made patent. 
Witness ourseH at Westnjinster, the eighth day of July, in the fifteenth 
year of our reign. 

By the King : 

HOWARD, 



No. 140. 
Declaration by the General Asse^nhly^ relating to suffrage, in the year 1664. 

At a meeting of the General Assembly, at Newport, May 4, 1664, the 
General Assembly, among other thmgs, declared Hberty of conscience 
agreeably to the charter, and provided a form of engagement to be taken. 
by nil persons acting in any public office, and then follows this declaration : 

'•Jt is also the pleasure and appointment ot this General Assembly, that 
none presume to vote in the matt(3rs aforesaid, hut such whom this General 
Assembly expressly, by their ivriting, shall admit as freemen.''^ 



No. 141. 



Declaration in relation to the qualijicatioji of voters by the General AS' 

sembly, in 1665. 

At a meeting of the General Assembly, at Newport, May 3, 1665, the 
King's commissioners proposed certain things to the Assembly under five 
heads, the second of which was as follows : 

"2. That all men of Competent estates and of Civil Conversation who 
acknowledge « » * * ^^e obedient to the Civil Magistrate, though of 
differing judgments, may be admitt * * * be Freemen, and have liberty 
to choose and to be chosen officers both Civil and * * ." 

[The ancient record is now in part illegible, as appears from the blanks 
in the above.] 

In reply to this, the General Assembly, at the same session, declared as 
follows : 

And further, this Assembly in a due sense of his Majesty's gracious favor 
nnto this Colony, in the second of those five above written proposals — Do 
order, enact, and declare, that so many of them that take the aforesaid En- 
gagement, and are of Competent Estates, Civil conversation, and Obedient 
to the Civil Magistrate, shall be admitted freemen of this colony, upon their 
express desire therein declared to the General Assembly, either by them- 
selves, with sufficient testimony of their filness and qualijicatio7is as shall 
by the Assembly be deemed satisfactory, or if by the Chief Officer of the 
Towne or Townes where they live they be proposed and declared as afore- 
said ; and that none shall have admissio7i to vote for public officers or depu- 
ties, or enjoy any privilege of freemen till admitted by the Assembly as 
aforesaid, and their names recorded in the General Records of this Colony.'''^ 



636 Rep. No. 546. 

Thus did the people of Rhode Island early guard that most sacred privi- 
lege in a free State, the rigfii of admitting strangers to the exercise of poUti- 
cal power ; and tfius did they claim the exercije of this right under the 
charter, as helonging- to themselves, through their representatives, acting in 
the General Assembly. 

But now we are told that all men have a right to thrust themselves into 
the body politic, however alien by birth, and to seize for themselves the 
right of suffrage by the right of revolution ! 



No. 142. 



Order of the General Assembly respectitig persons voting who are not 

freemen, in 1567. 

At the General Assembly held at Newport, the 1st of May, 1667, it was 
ordered and voted as follows: 

"It is ordered by the present Assembly, that whosoever shall attempt to 
vote for the election of Governor, Deputy Governor, or any other magis- 
trate, or other officers that is to be chosen upon the day of election, not be- 
ing a freeman of this Colony, he shall forfeit five pounds, or otherwise 
fined or punished as the General Assembly shall see meet." 

" Voted, that no person shall be admitted into the freedom of this corpora- 
tion upon the day of election." 



No. 143. 



Act of General Assembly regulating elecdotis, and prescribing the proxy 
mode of voting in 1663. 

The first printed Digest of the j^aws of Rhode Island and Providefice 
Plantations was in 1730, and contains the laws from 1663 to 1730, which 
were then in force, with the dates of their several enactments. 

Tlie following is taken from the first and second pages of this Digest : 

'' Laivs 'made and passed by the General Assembly of his Majesty's colony 
of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, begun and held at New- 
port, the first day of March, 1663."* 

" AN ACT regulating the election of general officers." 

" i5e it enacted by the General Assembly of this Colony, and by the 
authority of the same it is hereby enacted, That all persons whatsoever, 
that are inhabitants within this colony, and admitted freemen of the same, 
shall and may have liberty to vote for the Electing of all the General offi- 
cers in this colony, either in person or by proxy, upon the first Wednesday 
of May annually, as is expressed in the Charter of the Colony. 

* This was old style ; it was in the year 1664, new style. This was the first session of the 
General Assembly under the charter of 1663. 



Rep. No. 546. 637 

'• And be itfvrther enacted by the Authnri'y aforesaid^ That on the first 
Wednesday of May annually, there shall hi chosen and elected, one Gene- 
ral Recorder, who shall be Secretary of the Colony, one Sheriff, who shall 
Jiave the care and custody of his Majesty's Gaol, in Newport, one General 
Attorney, and one General Treasurer, lor the better regulating and man- 
aging the affairs of the Government ; and shall be chosen in" manner as- 
aforesaid." 

" And that each and every person that shall vote by proxy, shall on the 
Town Meeting day next preceding the General Electioti, openly in said 
meeting, deliver m his votes to the Town Clerk of the Town wherein he 
dwells, with his name written at length on the backside or the bottom 
thereof; which votes so taken shall be immediately sealed up by the town 
Clerk, and by him delivered either to an Assistant, Justice, Warden, or De- 
puty of said town, who shall be by the said Town Meeting appointed for 
the same; by him to be delivered to the Governor or Deputy Governor in 
open Court, before the Election proceed." 

^- And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid^ That all General 
officers shall take the following engagement, before they act in their re- 
spective offices." 

"You A B are by the free Vote of the Freemen of this Colony of Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations, Elected to the place of in 

this said Colony, and do solemnly Engage true Allegiance unto his Majesty, 
his Heirs and successors to bear, and in your said office equal justice to do, 
unto all persons. Poor and Rich within this jurisdiction, to the utmost of 
yonr skill and ability, v/ithout V^nx^Wi^j , according to the Laws established 
or that shall be established according to the Charter of this Colony^ as well 
in matters Military as Civil, And this engagement you make and give 
upon the peril of the Penalty of Perjury." 

'• The reciprocal engagement.''^ 

" I do, in the name and behalf of this colony, re-engage to stand by yon, 
and to support you by all due assistance and encouragement in the per- 
formance and execution of your aforesaid office, according to yonr en- 
gagement." 

'■'■And be it further enacted by the anUiorily aforesaid, That no person 
shall be elected to the place of a deputy to sit in the General Assembly of 
this colony, but those that hxq freeholders therein, and freemen of the same; 
and that each respective town in this colony shall choose and elect their 
number of deputies as stated in the charier, at their respective town meet- 
ings next preceding such court of assembly for the which they shall be 
elected. i\nd that The town clerk of each respective town shall grant forth 
his warrant to the town sergeant or constable of said town, to warn such 
deputies as shall from time to time be chosen in each respective town, to 
attend the assemblies for which they are chosen ; and also the town clerk 
shall make return of such deputy chosen as aforesaid to the general re- 
corder for the time being, on the first opening of the Assembly, who is 
hereby appointed clerk of the same." 

The three next sections relate to the calling the General Assembly by 
the governor or deputy governor on ^^ emergent occasions" the pay of the 
deputies, and fines for their neglect to attend the Assembly ; and this act 
closes with the following : 



688 Rep. No. 546. 

" Ami he it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every per- 
son that shall be elected to the place of a deputy, shall take the following 
engngjement before he shall act therein : 

" You, A. B., being chosen to the place of deputy to sit in the General 

Assembly, do solemnly engage true allegiance to his Majesty , his 

heirs and successors to bear, as ^\so fidelity to this his Majesty^ s colony of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and the authority therein es- 
tablished according to our charter; and you do further engage equal right 
and justice to do to all persons as shall appeal unto you for your judgment 
in their respective cases. And this engagement you make and give upon 
the peril of the penalty of perjury." 

By " general officers," in this act, are intended the governor, deputy- 
governor and assistants, (afterwards called senators) mentioned in the 
charter, and the general recorder or secretary, sheriff, attorney general, 
and general treasurer created by this act. These general officers were 
voted for by the freemen of the colony in person, at an assembly of the 
freemen at Newport on the day fixed by the charter for the general election, 
viz: the first Wednesday of May annually. As it might be inconvenient 
for all the freemen to assemble at that time and place, this act provides a 
mode by which they might vote by proxy. Afterwards, all votes were 
given in this way, and sealed up in town meeting, and sent to the General 
Assembly, by them to be counted on the said election day; and this con- 
tinued until the adoption of the constitution in 1842, and still continues in 
relation to the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary, attorney general, 
and general treasurer. From this practice of voting, as it was called, by 
proxy, instead of in person, on the election day at Newport, the ticket con- 
taining the names of the general officers has been called " the prox " of 
general oflicers, which word "prox" has puzzled some lexicographers out 
of Rhode Island. 



No. 144. 
An aci o/"1666, regulating the admission of freemen. 

At the session of the General Assembly of Rhode Island, (fcc, in May, 
1666, was passed an act, entitled 

"AN ACT establishing the election of town officers in each respective town in the colony." 

The third section of this act thus provides: 

" And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the freemen 
of each respective town, on their respective town meeting days, as shall be 
by them appointed, shall, and they hereby have full power granted them 
to admit so many persons, inhabitants of their respective towns, freemen of 
their towns as shall be by them adjudged deserving thereof; and that the 
town clerk of each town shall once every year send a roll or list of all free- 
men so admitted in their respective towns to the General Assembly, to be 
held for this colony at Newport, the day before the general election ; and 
also such persons that shall be so returned and admitted freemen of the 
colony, shall be enrolled in the colony's book by the general recorder.'— 
Digest 1730, page 16. 



Rep. No. 546. 639 

No. 145. 

An act fixing the freehold quallficatioji of voters, passed in 1723. 

At a session of the General Assembly held at Newport the tliird Tuesday 
of February, 1723, was passed the following act: 

" AN ACT for directing the admittiDg iVeemen in the several towns of this colony." 

" Be it enacted by the General Assembly of this colony, and by the an- 
thority of the same it is enacted, That from and after the publication of 
this act, no person whatsoever shall be admitted a freeman of any town in 
this colony, unless the person admitted be a freeholder of lands, tenements, 
or hereditaments in such town where he shall be admitted free, of the 
value of one hundred pounds, or to the value of forty shillings per annum, 
or the eldest son of such a freeholder ; any act, custom, or usage to the 
contrary hereof, notwithstanding." — Digest of 1730, page 131. 



No. 146. 

An act relating to tlie same subject, passed in 1729. 

At a session of the General Assembly held at Newport the last Tuesday 
of February, 1729, was passed the following act : 

" AN ACT directing the admitting of freemen in the several towns in this colony." 

" Be it enacted by the General Assembly of this colo?iy, and by the au- 
thority of the same it is enacted. That no person whatsoever shall be ad- 
mitted a freeman of any town in this colony, unless the p'l^rson admitted 
be a freeholder of lands, tenements, or hereditaments in such town where 
he shall be admitted free, to the value of two hundred pounds, or ten pounds 
per annum, or the eldest son of such a freeholder. And if it be made ap- 
pear that any such freedom has been obtained through any fraudulent 
means or contrivance, such freedom shall and is hereby made void : any 
law, custom, or usage, to the contrary hereof, in any wise notwithstand- 
ing."— Digest of 1730, page 209. 



No. 147. 

An act relating to the same subject, passed in 1742. 

At a session of the General Assembly held at East Greenwich on the 22d 
day of November, A. D. 1742, was passed the following act : 

"^AN ACT for the better regulation of the freemen voting either at the general election or 
any town meeting in this colony." 

"Whereas by the royal charter granted to this colony by his late gracious 
Majesty King Charles the Second, the governor and company are directed 
and empowered to admit all persons free of the said company as shall de- 
sire the same and are of suitable conversations, and have competent es- 
tates : in pursuance whereof, there hath heretofore a law been made in this 
colony, whereby it is enacted that no person shall be admitted a freeman 
therein, except he be a freeholder of lands and tenements lying in said 



640 Rep. No. 546. 

colony, of the value of two hundred pounds, or ten poinds per annum : 
Yel, notwithstanding said law, it evidently appears that many persons have, 
by frauds and other indirect rneatjs, procured themselves to be made free 
of this colony, who are really not possessed of such estate as by the above 
said act is required ; and also many persons who have been heretofore pos- 
sessed of such estates as qualified them to bs freemen according to the 
above said law, have afterwards disposed of such their estates, and yet con- 
tinue to act as freemen in this colony ; from which many very ill conse- 
quences have already arisen to the colony, and many more will ensue if 
not timely prevented : 

" F%r remedy whereof, 

" Be it enacted by the General Assembly, and by the authority thereof 
it is hereby enacted, .That from and after the publication of this act, no 
person whatever in this colony shall be admitted to vote or act as a free- 
man in any town meeting in this colony, or at the general election, but 
such only who at the time of such their voting or acting as freemen, are 
really and truly possessed of lands, tenements, or hereduaments lying in 
this colony, of the full value of two hundred pounds, or ten pounds per 
annum, being their own freehold estate, or the eldest son of such a free- 
holder." 

This act contains two more sections — one requiring a person offering to 
vote, who is suspected of not being qualified as required in the first section, 
to "declare on oath or engagement that he is really and bona fide qualified 
for a voter,-' as required in said act, before his vote shall be received ; the 
other section making it penal for the moderator to receive the vote of a 
person challenged, without his taking such oath or engagement. — Digest 
of 1744-'45, page 252. 

In the preamble to the last-mentioned act, it will be seen, by comparing it 
with the charter, that a wrong impression may be conveyed. The charter 
says nothing about "suitable conversations or competent estates," but this, 
or similar, is the language of the General Assembly in one of the resolu- 
tions inl665, in answer to (he King's commissioners. The charier author- 
izes the General Assembly, witlfout any qualification, " to choose, nomi- 
nate, and appoint, such and so many other persons as they shall think 
jit, and shall be willins: to accept the same, to be free of the said company 
and body politic, and them into the same to admit." 



No. 148. 

An act relating to the same subject, passed in 1 746. 

At the session of the General Assembly at Newport on the third Tuesday 
in August, A. D. 1746, was passed the following act : 

*' AN ACT directing the manner of admitting freemen, and for preveniing bribery and cor- 
ruption in the election of public officers in this colony." 

" Whereas the manner of admitting freemen in this colony is so lax, and 
their qualifications as to their estates so very loW; that many persons are 



Rep. No. 546. (HI 

admitted who are possessed with little or no property ; and it being greatly 
to be feared that bribery and corruption hath (by the encouragement of 
evil-minded persons, and by reason of such necessitous persons being ad- 
mitted freemen) spread itself in this government, to the great scandal 
thereof, so that the election of public officers hath been greatly influenced 
thereby ; and as the law already made hath been found altogether in- 
effectual to prevent the same : 

"5e it therefore enacted by tlte General Assembly^ and by the author- 
ity of the same, That from and after the publication of this act, no person 
whatsoever shall be admitted to vote or act as a freeman in any town meet- 
ing in this colony, or at the general election, but such only who, at the 
time of such their voting or acting as freemen, are really and truly pos- 
sessed of lands, tenements, or hereditaments, within this colony, to the full 
value of four hundred pounds, or which shall rent for twenty pounds per 
annum, being their own free estate, or the eldest son of such a freeholder. 
And that no person whatsoever shall hereafter be admitted free of any town 
in this colony without being possessed of a freehold to the value above 
said, or the eldest son of such a freeholder. And before they are admitted, 
they shall be proposed to the to\vn meeting of such town at least three 
months before such their admission. And in case any dispute shall arise, 
in respect to the value of such freehold, the same shall be determined by 
two persons, to be annually chosen by the town meetings of such respective 
town, and to be under oath for that purpose." — Digest of 1752, page 12. 

The residue of this act, consisting of several sections, contains various 
provisions for preventing frauds and bribery and corruption in elections. 

In the Digest of 1707, page 78, is an act entitled " An act regulating the 
manner of admitting freemen, and directing the method of electing officers 
in this colony." 

This act has, in its margin, the dates of 1760, 1761, 1762, and contains 
similar provisions, as to the admission of freemen, as the laws already 
quoted ; but the value of the freehold required for such admission and for 
voting, instead of four hundred pounds, or the yearly value of twenty 
pounds, as by the act of 1746, is by this act changed " to the full value of 
forty pounds, or which shall rent for forty shillings per annum." 



Legislation in relation to suffras^e ; and acts o/'1798 and 1822^ relating 

to same. 

We have shown, by the acts of the General Assembly, what have been 
the fundamental laws of Rhode Island in relation to the right of suffrage, 
enacted by the representatives of the people, with a perfect freedom, under 
the charter, to legislate upon this subject as they pleased, from 1663 to 
1767 ; always requiring the person to be admitted a freeman and a voter, to 
possess "a competent estate," of which the General Assembly were the 
judges, as they admitted the freemen by their own vote, originally, to the 
freedom of the colony. After a short time, the General Assembly gave 
power to the towns to admit persons to the freedom of the town, but still 
41 



642 Kep. No. 546. 

reserved to themselves the right of admitting persons to the freedom of the 
colony. 

In 1723-24 we have seen a freehold of £IG0 value was required, and 
that various laws were enacted from this (ime to 1707, which changed the 
nominal value of the freehold from £400 to £40 — owing (as has been sup- 
posed, and most probably is the fact) to the difference between the real and 
the nominal value of the currency from time to time. 

The law of 1767 remained substantially the law of Rhode Island on this 
subject until 1798. In 1798, the General Assembly reviewed all their laws, 
(as they have been in the habit of domg every twenty or thirty years,) and 
published the Digest of 1798. In this Digest is "^4?^ act regulating the 
manner of admitting freemen, and directing the method of electing oj^icers 
in this Stated''' 

The two first sections of this act are as follows : 

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, and by the au- 
thority thereof it is enacted, That the freemen of each respective town, in 
this State, at any of their town meetings, shall, and they hereby have, full 
power granted them to admit so many persons, inhabitants of their re- 
spective towns, freemen of their towns, as shall be qualified according to 
this act. 

'^Sec. 2. And be itfvrther enacted, That no person whosoever shall be 
permitted to vote or act as a freeman in any town meeting in this State, 
but such only who are inhabitants therein, and who, at the time of such 
their voting and acting, are really and truly possessed, in their own proper 
right, of a real estate within this State, to the full value of one hundred 
and thirty four dollars, or which shall rent for seven dollars per annum — 
being an estate in fee simple, fee-tail, or an estate in reversion which quali- 
fies no other person to be a freeman, or at least an estate for a person's own 
life, or the eldest son of such a freeholder ; and that no estate of a less qual- 
ity shall entitle any person to the freedom of this State." 

At their January session, A. D, 1822, the General Assembly again re- 
vised their laws ; and in that year was published the Digest of 1822. This 
Digest contains "An act regulating the manner of admitting freemen, and 
directing the method of electing officers in this State." (Pages 89 to 98.) 

The 1st and 2d sections of this act are substantially the same as the above- 
quoted sections from the act of 1798 ; and such have been the requirements 
of the laws of Rhode Island to entitle a person to the right of suftVage. until 
the constitution which was regularly adopted by the people in 1842. 



No. 150. 

Act of 1824, calling a convention to fram,e a written constitution. 

AN ACT to authorize the holding a convention for the purpose of forming a written consti- 
tution of government for this Stale. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, and by the author- 
ity thereof it is enacted, That the freemen of the several towns within this 
State, qualified to vote for general officers therein, be, and they hereby are 
requested, at the annual town meetings in April next, to choose so many 
-delegates (and of like qualifications) as they are now respectively entitled to 



Rep. No. 546. 64^ 

xhoose representatives in the General Assembly, to attend a convention for 
the purpose of framing a written constitution of government for this State. 

Sec. 2. Affd be it further enacted, That the delegates thus chosen 
shall meet in convention at Newport, on the twenty-first dav of June next, 
for the purpose aforesaid ; that a majority of the whole number of delegates 
which all the towns are entitled to choose shall constitute a quorum, who 
may elect a president and secretary, judge of the qualifications of the mem- 
bers returned, and establish such rules and regulations for their govern- 
ment as they may think necessary: provided, however, that any town 
which may neglect to elect its legal number of delegates at the said town 
meetings in April, may elect such delegates at any time previous to the meet- 
ing of said convention : provided, also, thai said convention shall have 
power to adjourn from day to day, until a quorum may be formed, and 
until they shall have completed the object of their appointment. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enarjed, That after said convention shall have 
framed such a constitution of government as they may think proper, the 
same shall be submitted to the freemen for their ratification in town meet- 
ing to be called or holden at such time as shall be directed by said conven- 
tion ; that the secretary of said convention shall, immediately after the dis- 
solution thereof, return to the Secretary of this State a- true and attested 
copy of such constitution, signed by the president and secretary of said con- 
vention ; that the Secretary of this State shall thereupon forthwith prepare 
and distribute to the several town clerks, in due proportion, five hundred 
printed copies thereof, and also eight thousand ballots, on the face of which 
shall be printed as follows, viz: "Do you ratify the constitution framed by 
the delegates met in convention at Newport, on the twenty-first day of 
June, A.^D. 1824?" and on the back thereof—" Yes" or " No." 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That at the town meetings to be 
called or holden as aforesaid, every freeman voting therein shall write his 
name on the back of such ballot, which ballots shall be by the several town 
clerks sealed up in open town meeting, and, together with a copy of the list 
of the names of the persons who voted, shall be returned to the General 
Assembly at its session next after the freemen have so voted thereon. 
And the said General Assembly shall examine and count the same, as votes 
for general officers are received and counted; and if, upon such examina- 
tion, it shall appear that tliree fifths of the ballots thus returned are in favor 
■of the ratification of such constitution, the same shall thereby be ratified and 
•established accordingly, and the said constitution shall go into operation 
and effect at such time and in such manner as said convention shall pre- 
scribe. 



No. 151. 
Act o/"lS34, calling a co)ivention to frame a constitution. 

AN ACT to provide for ho'ding a convenlion for the purposes therein mentioned. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, and by the author^ 
ity thereof it is enacted, That on the first Monday of September next, 
a convention shall be holden at Providence, for the purpose of amending;- 
' Jhe present, or proposing a new constitution for this Stale. 



644 Rep. No. 546. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the freemen of the several towns 
-within this State, and of the city of Providence, qualified to vote for gen- 
eral officers, be, and they are hereby, requested to choose, at the semianHual 
town or ward meetings in August next, so many delegates, and of like qual- 
ifications as they are now respectively entitled to choose representatives to 
the General Assembly, to attend said convention. 

Sec. 3. And be if further enacted, That a majority of the whole number 
of delegates which all the towns are entitled to choose, shall constitute a 
quorum, who may elect a president and secretary, judge of the qualifica- 
tions of the members, and establish such rules of proceeding as they may 
think necessary ; and any town or city which may omit to elect its dele- 
gates at the said meetings in August, may elect them at any time previous 
to the meeting of the said convention. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the constitution or amendments 
agreed upon by said convention shall be submitted to the freemen in open 
town or ward meetings, to be holden at such time as may be named by 
said convention. The said constitution or amendments shall be certified 
by the president and secretary, and returned to the Secretary of State, who 
shall forthwith distribute to the several town or city clerks, in due propor- 
tion, one thousand printed copies thereof, and also fifteen thousand ballots, 
on one side of which shall be printed "Amendments (or constitution) adopted 
by the convention held at Providence on the first Monday of September 
last ;" and on the other side, the word approve on one half of said ballots, 
and the word reject on the other half 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That at the town or ward meetings 
to be holden as aforesaid, every freeman voting shall have his name writ- 
ten on the back of his ballot, and the ballots shall be sealed up in open town 
or ward meeting by the clerks, and, with lists of the names of the voters^ 
shall be returned to the General Assembly at its next succeeding session. 
And said General Assembly shall cause said ballots to be examined and. 
counted. And said amendments or constitution, being approved of by a 
majority of the freemen voting, shall go into operation and efiect at such 
time as may be appointed by said convention. 

Sec. 6. And be it farther enacted, That a sum not exceeding three hun- 
dred dollars be appropriated lor defraying the expenses of said convention^ 
to be paid according to the order of said convention, certified by its presi- 
dent; and that the members thereof shall have no claim on the treasury of 
the State for pay for their attendance thereon. 



No. 152. 
Resolution of January, 1841, for same purpose. 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

In General Asstmbltj, Januarxj session, A. D. 1841. 
Resolved by the General Assembly, (the Senate concurring with the 
House of Representatives therein,) That the freemen of the several towns- 
in this State, and of the city of Providence, qualified to vote for general 
officers, be, and they are hereby, requested to choose, at their semi-annual 
town or ward meetings in August next, so many delegates, and of like 



Rep. No. 546. 645 

qualifications, as they are now respectively entitled to choose representa- 
tives to the General Assembly, to attend a convention to be liolden at Prov- 
idence on the first Monday of November, 1841, to frame a new constitu- 
tion for this State, either in whole or in part, with full powers for this pur- 
pose ; and if only for a constitution in part, that said convention have under 
their especial consideration the expediency of equalizing the representa- 
tion of the towns in the House of Representatives. 

Resolved, That a majority of the whole number of delegates which all 
the towns are entitled to choose shall constitute a quorum, who may elect 
a president and secretary, judge of the qualifications of the members, and 
establish such rules and proceedings as they may think necessary; and 
any town or city which may omit to elect its delegates at the said meetings 
in August, may elect them at any time previous to the meeting of said 
convention. 

Resolved, That the constitution or amendments agreed upon by such 
convention shall be submitted to the freemen in open town or ward meet- 
ings, to be holden at such time as may be named by said convention. The 
said constitution or amendments shall be certified by the president and sec- 
retary, and returned to the Secretary of State, who shall forthwith distrib- 
ute to thg several town and city clerks, in due proportion, one thousand 
printed cojiies thereof, and also fifteen thousand ballots, on one side of which 
shall be printed "Amendments (or constitution) adopted by the conven- 
ftion holden at Providence on the first Monday of November last ;" and on 
the other side, tbe word approve on one half of the said ballots, and the 
word reject on the other half. 

Resolved, That, at the town or ward meetings to be holden as ajbresaid, 
every freeman voting shall have his name written on the back of his ballot; 
and the ballots shall be sealed up in open town or ward meeting by the 
€lerks, and, with lists of the names of the voters, shall be returned to the 
^Gieneral Assembly at its next succeeding session ; and said General Assem- 
bly shall cause said ballots to be exarauied and counted ; and said amend- 
ments, or constitution, being approved of by a majority of the freemen vo- 
ting, shall go into operation and effect at such time as may be appointed by- 
said convention. 

Resolved, That a sum not exceeding three hundred dollars be appropri- 
ated for defraying the expenses of said convention, to be paid according to 
the order of said convention, certified by its president. 
True copy : — Witness, 

HENRY BOW EN, Secretary. 



No. 153. 



Resolution of Jane, \'Si\,ixlating to same subject. 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

la General Assembly, May session, A. D. 1841. 
Resolved by this General Assembly, (the Senate concurring with the 
House of Representatives therein,) That the delegates from the several 
towns to the State convention, to be holden in November next, for the pur- 
pose of framing a State constitution, be elected on the basis of population, 



646 Rep. No. 546. 

in the following manner, to wit : every town of not more than 850 inhab*- 
itaiits may elect one delegate ; of more than 850 and not more than 3,000^ 
inhabitants, two delegates; of more than 3,000 and not more than 6,000' 
inhabitants, three delegates; of more than 6,000 and not more than 10,000 
inhabitants, four delegates ; of more than 10,000 and not more than 15,000' 
inhabitants, five delegates; of more than 15,000 inhabitants, six delegates. 

Resolvedly That the delegates attending said convention be entitled to re- 
ceive from the general treasury the same pay as members of the General 
Assembly. 

Resolved^ That so much of the resolutions to which these are in amend- 
ment, as is inconsistent herewith, be repealed. 
True copy : — Witness, 

HENRY BOW EN, Secretary. 



No. 154. 

Resolution of January, 1842, relating to same subject. 

State of Rhode Island and Phovidence Plantatioi?s-, 

la General Assembly ^ January sessioti, A. U. 1842. 

Resolved by this General Assembly^ (the Senate concurring with the 
House of Representatives therein,) That the freemen of the towns in this- 
State, in whose delegation to the convention called to frame a constitution 
vacancies have occurred since the meeting of that convention, or may here- 
after occur, be requested to elect delegates to fill those vacancies at town 
and ward meetings to be holden before or during the session of said con- 
vention ; notice of such meetings to be given at least one day previous to- 
the liolding thereof. 

True copy : — Witness, 

HENRY BO WEN, Secretary. 



No. 155. 
Act i7i amendment of the act regulating the admission of freemem 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

In General Assembly, January session, A. D. 1842. 

AN ACT in amendment of an act entitled "An act revising the act entitled ' An act regula- 
ting the manner ot admitling freemen, and directing the method of electing officers in this 
Stale." 

Whereas the good people of this State having elected delegates to a con- 
vention to form a constitution, which constitution, if ratified by the people, 
will be the supreme law of the State : therefore, 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly, as follows: 
All persons now qualified to vote, and those who may be qualified to vote 
under the existing laws previous to the time of such their voting, and all 
persons who shall be qualified to vote under the provisions of such consti- 
tution, shall be qualified to vote upon the question of the adoption of said 
constitution. 

True copy : — Witness, 

HENRY BO WEN, Secretary. 



Rep. No. 546. 64T 

No. 156. 

Resolutions of the General Assemhly relating to the people's constitution,. 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

In General Assembly, January sfssion, A. D. 1842. 

Whereas a portion of ihe people of this State, without the forms of law, 
have undertaken to form and establish a constitution of government for the 
people of this State, and have declared such constitution to be the supreme 
law, and have communicated such constitution unto this General Assem- 
bly: and whereas many of the good people of this Stale are in danger of 
being misled by these informal proceedings : therefore, 

It is liertby resolved by this General Assembly, That all acts done by the 
persons aforesaid, for the purpose of imposing upon this State a constitu- 
tion, are an assumption of the powers of government, in violation of the 
rights of the existing government, and of the rights of the people at large. 

Resolved, That the convention called and organized, in pursuance of an 
act of this General Assembly, for the purpose of formmg a constitution to 
be submitted to the people of this State, is the only body which we can 
recognise as authorized to form such a constitution ; and to this constitu- 
tion the whole people have a right to look, and we are assured they will 
not look in vain, for such a form of government as will promote their 
peace, security, and happiness. 

Resolved, That this General Assembly will maintain its own proper au- 
thority, and protect and defend the legal and constitutional rights of the 
people. 

True copy : — Witness, 

HENRY BOWEN, Secretary. 



No. 157. 



Act of June, 1842, calling a convention to frame a constitution, (published 
in the case of Martin Luther — see Appendix No. 94.) 



No. 158. 
Resolution of ihe convention, asking for a declaratory act. 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

In Convention at Newport, September 29, 1842. 

Whereas, from the manifest impracticability of ascertaining the precise 
number of persons that might have a right to vote on the adoption of any 
constitution to be submitted for adoption under the provisions of the act 
calling this convention, it is inferrible that it is the true intent of said act 
that none but those actually voting should be counted : and whereas there 
is an ambiguity in said act in this particular : Therefore. 

Resolved, That the General Assembly be requested to pass such declar- - 
atory law as may be deemed necessary for the plainer expression of the in- ' 
tent and meaning of the act aforesaid. 

Read and adopted. 

THOMAS A. JENCKES, Secretary. 



648 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 159. 

Aci of October^ 1842, declaratory of tfie act of June, 1842, and providing 
that a majority of those voting shall adopt the constitution. 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

In General Assembly, October session, A. D. 1842. 

AN ACT to amend " An acl to provide fur calling: a convention of the people of this State for 
the jiurpose of forming a new constiiuiion or ilirm of government for the people thereof," 
parsed at the June .session, A. D. 1842. 

Whereas the convention which assembled at Newport on the second 
Monday of September last, in pursuance of the provisions of the act afore- 
said, have requested (his General Assembly to declare the true intent and 
construction of a portion of the fourth section of said act: Therefore, 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows : 
If the constitution or articles that may be framed and submitted to the 
people under the provisions of said act, be adopted by a majority of the per- 
sons havino^ a right to vote, and actually voting, upon the question of adopt- 
ing the same, the said constitution or articles shall become the supreme law 
of the State ; and shall go into operation at such time or times, and in such 
manner, as shall be appointed by said convention. 
True copy : — Witness, 

HENRY BO WEN, Secretary. 



No. 160. 

Organization under the constitution of 1842. 

The following account of the organization of the government under the 
cofislitution. of 1842, and the dissolution of the government under the 
charier, is taken from the appendix to the address delivered by William G. 
Goddard, esq., in presence of the General Assembly, May 3, 1843, in com- 
memoration thereof: 

" The General Assembly, under the charter, convened at the State-house 
in Newport on Monday, May 1, 1843. agreeably to a vote of adjournment 
passed at the session in January. A quorum of both houses being present, 
the session was opened at 3 o'clock, p. m., by prayer by the Rev. Francis 
Vinton, rector of Trinity church, Newport. The two houses, in grand 
committee, then adopted the following resolution : 

" Resolved, That Messrs. Lawton, Fenner, Potter, Harris, and Bosworth, 
of the Senate, and Messrs. Cranston, Branch, Updike, Remington, and 
Hall, of the House, be a committee to be present at and witness the organ- 
ization of the gfovernment under the constitution adopted by the people of 
this State in November last ; and that said committee make report to this 
General Assembly as soon as said organization shall be completed, in con- 
formity to the provisions of said constitution, in order that this General 
Assembly may know when its functions shall have constitutionally passed 
into the hands of those who have been legally chosen by tlie people to re- 
ceive and exercise the same." 



Rep. No. 546. 649 

The grand committee then adjourned till 5 o'clock the next day, Tues- 
day, May 2, 1843. 

The General Assembly, under the constitution adopted by the people in 
November, A. L). 1842, convened at the State-house in Newport on the first 
Tuesday of May, 1843. agreeably to the provisions of that instrument, at 
11 o'clock, a. m. 

The members of the new Senate and House assembled in separate cham- 
bers, for the purpose of organizing the government. His excellency Sam- 
uel Ward King, the last Governor under the charter of 1663, presided in 
the organization of the new Senate ; and the senior member from the town 
of Newport, (the Hon. Henry Y. Cranston,) and the clerks of tlie old 
House, acted as officers of the new House until it was organized. 

In the Senate, thirty-one Senators (the whole number) were found to be 
present. After receiving their certificates of ejection, the Secretary of State 
(the Hon. Henry Bowen) administered the oath prescribed by the constitu- 
tion. 

In the House, after the observance of the customary formalities, the Sec- 
retary of State administered the oath to the members, a large majority of 
whom were found to be present. Hon. Alfred Bos worth was then elected 
Speaker for the year ensuing, and Thomas A. Jenckes and Joseph S. Pit- 
man clerks for the year ensuing. 

His excellency the Governor and the honorable Senate then joined the 
House in grand committee, for the purpose of receiving the votes for gen- 
eral officers, and of appointing a committee to count the same. 

The session of the General Assembly was then opened by prayer by the 
Rev. Francis Vinton. 

After receiving the ballots from the Secretary of State, the grand com- 
mittee appointed a committee to count them, consisting of one Senator and 
three Representatives from each county. To this committee were then 
added the Secretary of State and the clerks of the House. 

The grand committee then adjourned till 5 o'clock in the afternoon of 
the same day. 

The grand committee met at 5 o'clock : his excellency Governor King in 
the chair. 

The committee appointed to count the votes for general officers, made 
report as follows : 

Whole number of votes for Governor . . - . 16,520 

For James Fenner .... 9,107 
Thomas F. Carpenter - - - 7,392 

Scattering - - - - 21 

Majority for Fenner - - 1,694 

Whole number of votes for Lieutenant Governor - - 16,612 

For Byron Diman - - - - 9,212 

Benjamin B. Thurston - - - 7)398 

Scattering - - - - 2 

Majority for Diman - - 1,812 

Whole number of votes for Secretary of State - - - 16,594 

For Henry Bowen - , . - 9,212 

Dexter Randall - - - - 7,378 

Scattering .... 4 

Majority for Bowen - - 1,830 



650 Rep. No. 546, 

"Whole number of votes for Attorney General - - - 16j591 

For Joseph M. Blake .... 9,217 

Samuel Y. Atwell - - - 7,372 

Scattering .... 2 

Majority for Blake - - 1,843 

Whole number of votes for General Treasurer - - - 16,598 

For Stephen Cahoone - - - 9,215 

Josiah S. IVlunro - - - - 7,383 

Majority for Cahoone - - 1 ,832 

" The foregoing report being read and accepted, it was thereupon Re- 
solved^ That the said James Fenner be declared elected Governor ; Byron 
Diman, Lieutenant Governor ; Henry Bowen, Secretary of State ; Joseph 
M. Blake, Attorney General ; and Stephen Cahoone, General Treasurer; 
who were severally engaged according to the provisions of the constitu- 
tion." Governor King, who, during the ceremony, was seated in the iden- 
tical oaken chair in which, one hundred and eighty years ago, Governor 
Arnold received the charter, immediately resigned his seat to his successor ; 
while the speaker of the House called out as usual, "Sheriff, clear the 
way ; sergeant, make proclamation that his excellency James Fenner is 
elected Governor, Captain General, and Commander-in chief of the State of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations for the year ensuing." The 
crowd gave way, and the town sergeant of the town of Newport made the 
customary proclamation of the election of governor to the people, from the 
balcony of the State house. After proclaiming the other general officers, 
in a similar manner, the sergeant added, according to the pious formality 
observed by our ancestors: "God save the State of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations." The roar of artillery and the shouts of the peo- 
ple followed the proclamation made by the sergeant. 

The two houses then separated. 

The following joint resolution passed both houses on the same day : 

*' Resolved by this General Assembly^ That Messrs. Cranston and Chase, 
of Newport ; Ames and Branch, of Providence ; Hazard and Barber, of 
Washington ; Whipple and Brayton, of Kent; Hall and Cole, of Bristol; 
with the Senators from Providence, Little Compton, Westerly, Warwick, 
and Warren, — be a committee to wait upon the General Assembly under 
the charter here legally convened, and announce to said General Assembly, 
in grand committee assembled, that the government under the charter is 
duly organized." 

The House then adjourned till 10 o'clock, a. m., the next day : and the 
Senate till 3 o'clock, p. m,, the next day. 



After the adjournment (on Tuesday) of the General Assembly under the 
constitution, the General Assembly under the charter convened in grand 
committee: Governor King in the chair. 

The committee appointed by the General Assembly under the constitu- 
tion, appeared, and made report through their chairman, the senator from 
Providence, that the government under the new constitution was legally 
organized. 



Rep. No. 546. 651 

The committee appointed by the grand committee on Monday, to witness 
the organization of the new government, made the following report : 

To the honorable Gejieral Assembly of the State of Rhode Island, <^'c., now 
assembled at Newport, under the charter of this State. 

The vsubscribers, appointed by this honorable body a committee to be 
present at the organization of the new General Assembly under the consti- 
tution recently adopted by the people of this State, respectfully report :. 
That they have attended to the duly assigned to them ; that the Senate and 
House of Representatives, under the constitution, have been duly organized, 
according to the provisions of said constitution, and the act passed at the 
last January session of the General Assembly, regulating their organiza- 
tion ; and that, therefore, according to the provisions of said constitution,, 
the power of the government, as organized under the charter, has ceased. 

EDWARD W. LAWTON, 
ELISHA HARRIS, 
ELISHA R. POTTER, 
HEZEKIAH BOS WORTH, 
HENRY Y. CRANSTON, 
WILKINS UPDIKE, 
BENJAMIN HALL, 
BENJAMIN F. REMINGTON. 
STEPHEN BRANCH. 
Newport, Tuesday, May 2, 1843. 



Whereupon, the following resolution was adopted : 

In General Assembly, 

Tuesday, May 2d, 1843. 

Resolved, That the foregoing report be accepted, and that this General 
Assembly be, and the same is hereby, declared to be dissolved. 

With the passage of this resolution, the last General Assembly under the 
eld charter ceased to exist. 



No. 160 a. 

Report of the committee appointed to count the votes given on tJie adoption 
of the existing constitution of Rhode Island. 

hi grand committee : The report of the committee for counting the votes 
on the constitution was read and accepted, as follows :* 

The committee appointed to count the votes on the adoption of the con- 
stitution proposed by the convention holden in Newport on the second 
Aionday of September, 1842, respectfully report: 

That the whole number of electors voting is (7,091) seven thousand and 
ninety-one ; of whom (6,777) six thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven 
voted to adopt, (171) one hundred and seventy one voted lo approve, and 
(59) fifty nine voted to reject. They further report, that said constitution is 
adopted by a majority of (7,032) seven thousand and thirty-two votes. 



652 Rep. No. 546. 

The committee further report, that the whole number of electors voting on 
the question following, submitted to them by said convention, viz : " In case 
the constitution framed by the convention assembled at Newfjort, in Sep- 
tember, 1842, be adopted, shall the blank in the first line of section second 
of article second, of said constitution, be filled by the word 'Ww7e,'" is 
(5,829) five thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine; of whom (l,79S) sev- 
enteen hundred and ninety eight voted in the affirmative, and (4,031) four 
thousand and thirty-one voted m the negative. They therefore report, that 
the majority against filling said blank with the word " white" is (2,233) two 
thousand two hundred and thirty-three. 

In the aggregate number of votes, those of 82 colored persons are m- 
cluded who voted to adopts and of two colored persons who voted to ap' 
prove. 

HENRY Y. CRANSTON,/or the Committee. 

Grand Committee then rose. 



No. 1(51. 



Message from the President of the United iStates, in answer to a reso- 
lution of the House of Re'presentatives relative to the employment of 
United States troops in Rhode Island, and transmitting documents in 
relation to the recent difficidties in that State. 

To the House of Representatives : 

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives, of the 
23d of March last, requesting the President to lay before the House "the 
"authority and the true copies of all requests and applications upon which 
" he deemed it his duty to interfere with the naval and military forces of the 
« United States, on the occasion of the recent attempt of the people of Rhode 
" Island to establish a free constitution in the place of the old charter gov- 
" ernment of that State ; also, copies of the instructions to, and statements 
"of, the charter commissioners sent to him by the then existing authorities 
"of the State of Rhode Island ; also, copies of the correspondence between 
" the Executive of the United States and the charter government of the 
"State of Rhode Island, and all the papers and documents connected with 
" the same ; alsOj copies of the correspondence, if aiiy, between the heads of 
" departments and said charter government, or any person or persons con- 
" nected with the said government, and of any accompanying papers and 
"documents; also, copies of all orders issued by the Executive of the 
" United States, or any of the departments, to military officers, for the 
" movement or employment of troops to or in Rhode Island ; also, copies 
" of all orders to naval officers to prepare steam or other vessels of the 
" United States for service in the waters of Rhode Island ; also, copies of 
" all orders to the officers of revenue cutters for the same service ; also, 
" copies of any instructions borne by the Secretary of War to Rhode 
" Island, on his visit in 1842, to review the troops of the charter govern- 
" ment ; also, copies of any order or orders to any officer or officers of the 
"army or navy to report themselves to the charter government ; and that 
" he be requested to lay before this House copies of any other papers or 
" documents in the possession of the Executive connected with this subject, 



Rep. No. 546. 053 

" not above specifically enumerated,"— I have to inform the House that the 
Executive did not deem it his ''duty to interfere with the naval and military 
forces of the United States," in the late disturbances in Rhode Island ; that no 
orders were issued by the Executive, or any of the departments, to mihtary 
officers, for the movement or employment of troops to or in Rhode Island, 
other than those which accompany this message, and wliich contemplated 
the strengthening of the garrison at Fort Adaais, which, considering the 
extent of the agitation in Rhode Island, was esteemed necessary and judi- 
cious ; that no orders were issued to naval officers to prepare steam or 
other vessels of the United States for service in the waters of Rhode Island; 
that i]o orders were issued "to the officers of the revenue-cutters for said 
service;" that no instructions were borne by "the Secretary of War to 
Rhode Island, on his visit in 1842 to revieio the troops of ttit charter gov- 
ernment ;" that no orders were given to any officer or officers of the army 
or navy to report themselves to the charter government. That " requests 
and applications" were made to the Executive to fuffil the guarantees of the 
constitution, which impose on the Federal Government the obhgation to 
protect and defend each State of the Union against "domestic violence and 
foreign invasion;" but the Executive was at no time convinced that the 
casus foederis had arisen which required the interposition of the military or 
naval power in the controversy which unhappily existed between the peo- 
ple of Rhode Island. I was in no manner prevented from so interfering 
by the inquiry whether Rhode Island existed as an independent State of the 
Union under a charter granted at an early period by the Crown of Great 
Britain or not. It was enough for the Executive to know that she was 
recognised as a sovereign State by Great Britain, by the treaty of 1783 ; 
that, at a later day, she had, in common with her sister States, poured out 
her blood and freely expended her treasure in the war of the Revolution ; 
that she was a party to the articles of confederation ; that, at an after period, 
she adopted the constitution of the United States as a free, independent, 
and republican State, and that in this character she has always possessed 
her full quota of representation in the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives ; and thit, up to a recent day, she has conducted all her domestic 
afiairs, and fulfilled all her obligations as a tnember of the Union, in peace 
and war, under her charter government^ as it is denominated by the 
resolution of the House of the 23d of iVlarch. I must be permitted to dis- 
claim, entirely and unqualifiedly, the right on the part of the Executive to 
make any real or supposed defects existing in any State constitution, or 
form of ffovernment. the pretext for a failure to enforce the laws or the o^uar- 
anteesof the constitution of the United States in reference to any such State. 
I utterly repudiate the idea, in terms as emphatic as I can employ, that 
those laws are not to be enforced, or those guarantees complied with, be- 
cause the President may believe that the right of suffrage, or any other 
great popular right, is either too restricted or too broadly enlarged. I also, 
with equal strength, resist the idea that it falls within the Executive com- 
petency to decide, in controversies of the nature of that which existed in 
Rhode Island, on which side is the majority of the people, or as to the extent 
of the rights of a mere numerical majority. For the Executive to assume 
«uch a power, would be to assume a power of the most dangerous charac- 
ter. Under such assumptions, the States of this Union would have no se- 
curity for peace or tranquility, but might be converted into the mere instru- 
nienls of Execmive will. Actuated by selfish purposes, he might become 



654 Rep. No. 546. 

the great agitator, fomenting assaults upon the State constitutions, and de- 
daring the majority of to day to be the minority of to morrow ; and the 
minority, in its turn, the majority, before whose decrees tfie established or- 
der of things in the State should be subverted. Kevohition; civil commo- 
tion, and bloodshed would be the inevitable consequences. The provision 
in (he constitution, intended for the security of the States, would thus be 
turned into the instrument of their destruction : the President would be- 
come m fact the great constitution-maker for the States, and all power 
would be vested in his hands. 

When, therefore, the Governor of Rhode Island, by his letter of the Ith 
of April, 1842, made a requisition upon the Executive for aid to put down 
the late disturbances, I had no hesitation in recognising the obligations of 
the Executive to furnish such aid, upon the occurrence of the contingency 
provided for by the constitution and laws. My letter of the llth of April, 
in reply to the Governor's letter of the 4ih, is herewith communicated, to- 
gether with all correspondence which passed at a subsequent day, and the 
letters and documents mentioned in the schedule hereunto annexed. From 
the correspondence between the Executive of the United States and that of 
Rhode Island, it will not escape observation, that, while I regarded it as my 
duty to announce the principles by which I should govern myself in the 
contingency of an armed interposition on the part of this Government being 
necessary to uphold the rights of the State of Rhode Island, and to preserve 
its domestic peace, yet that the strong hope was indulged, and expressed, 
that all the difficulties would disappear before an enlightened policy of con- 
ciliation and compromise. In that spirit, I addressed to Governor King the 
letter of the 9th of May, 1842, marked '= private and confidential," and re- 
ceived his reply of the 12Ui of May of the same year. The desire of the 
Executive was, from the beginning, to bring the dispute to a termination, 
without the interposition of the military power of the United States ; and it 
will continue to be a subject of self congratulation that this leading object 
of policy was finally accomplished. The Executive resisted all entreaties, 
however urgent, to depart from this line of conduct. Information from pri- 
vate sources had led the Executive to conclude that little else was designed 
by Mr. Dorr and his adherents than mere menace, with a view to intimi- 
dation ; nor was this opinion in any degree shaken until the 22d of June, 
1842, when it was strongly represented from reliable sources, as will be 
seen by reference to the documents herewith communicated, that prepara- 
tions were making by Mr. Dorr, with a large force in arms, to invade the 
State ; which force had been recruited in the neighboring States, and had . 
been already preceded by the collection of military stores, in considerable 
quantities, at one cr two points. This was a state of things to which the - 
Executive could not be indifferent. Mr. Dorr speedily afterwards took up 
his headquarters at Chepachet, and assumed the command of what was 
reported to be a large force, drawn chiefly from voluntary enlistments made 
in neighboring States. The Executive could with difficulty bring itself to 
realize the fact, that the citizens of other States should have forgotten their 
duty to themselves, and the constitution of the United States, and have en- 
tered into the highly reprehensible and indefensible course of interfering so 
far in the concerns of a sister State as to have entered into plans of invasion, 
conquest, and revolution. But the Executive felt it to be its duty to look 
minutely into the matter ; and, therefore, the Secretary of War was de- 
spatched to Rhode Island, with instructions, a copy of which is herewith, 
transmitted; and was authorized, should a requisition be made upon the 



Rep. No. 546. 655 

Executive by the Government of Rhode Island in pursuance of law, and 
the invaders should not abandon their purposes, to call upon the Governors 
of Massachusetts and Connecticut for a sufficient number of militia at once 
to arrest the invasion, and to interpose such of the regular troops as could 
be spared from Fort Adams for the defence of the city of Providence, in the 
event of its being attacked, as was strongly represented to be in contempla- 
tion. Happily, there was no necessity for either issuing the proclamation 
or the requisition, or for removing the troops from Fort Adams, where they 
had been properly stationed. Chepachet was evacuated, and Mr. Dorr's 
troops dispersed, without the necessity of the interposition of any military 
force by this Government ; thus confirming me in my early impressions, 
that nothing more liad been designed, from the first, by those associated 
with Mr. Dorr, than to excite fear and apprehension, and thereby to obtain 
concessions from the constituted authorities, which might be claimed as a 
triumph over the existing government. 

With the dispersion of Mr. Dorr's troops ended all difficulties. A con- 
vention was shortly afterwards called, by due course of law, to amend the 
fundamental law ; and a new constitution, based on more liberal principles 
than that abrogated, was proposed and adopted by the people. Thus the 
great American experiment of a change in government, under the influ- 
ence of opinion, and not of force, has been again crowned with success ; 
and the State and people of Rhode Island repose in safely under institutions 
of their own adoption, unterrified by any future prospect of necessary 
change, and secure against domestic violence and invasion from abroad. 
I congratulate the country upon so happy a termination of a condition of 
thitjgs which seemed, at one time, seriously to threaten the public peace. 
It may justly be regarded as worthy of the age and of the country in which 
we live. 

JOHN TYLER. 

Washington, D. C, April 9, 1844. 



No. 162. 



Affidavit of Samuel Cuney as to proceedings and arming of svffrage- 

me7i, February 5, 1842. 

I, Samuel Currey, of the city of Providence, in the State of Rhode 
Island, (fcc, attorney at law, on oath do testify and say: That I have just 
had a conversation with Franklin Cooley, of this city, concerning our po- 
litical difficulties which threaten the peace of this State and the lives of its 
citizens, in which conversation the said Cooley informed me most distinctly 
that a messenger or individual had this day gone to Boston, Massachusetts, 
to procure two thousand stand of arms; that this supply of arms was for 
the use of those who were about to enforce the people's constitution against 
the authority, civil and military, of the existing state of government. The 
said Mr. Cooley is well known to me as a prominent character among those 
who have formed and who adhere to the so-called people's constitution ; 
and there is no doubt in my mind but he spoke from good authority when 
he gave me the aforesaid information. Another gentleman of the same party 
with Mr. Cooley mentioned the same fact to me within five minutes after I 
received it from Mr. Cooley. 1 have no reason to doubt the correctness of 
the said statements, but rather to confide in the truth of them. Mr. Cooley, 
in the same conversation, stated it to me, as his undoubted belief, that the 



656 ' Rep. No. 546. 

party which he had been actins: with would immediately desist from all 
violent proceedings, if required so to do by proclamation of the President 
of the United States; and referring to the deputation about to set out from 
and on behalf of this State, to lay the present difiicnlties before the General 
Government, expressed a hope that the President would decide, for one 
party or the other, speedily, in order that we might all know our duty, and 
thus avoid bloodshed, which we believed would certainly occur unless the 
General Government should interpose its authority between the contending 
parties. I do not in this affidavit undertake to give the precise language 
used by Mr, Cooley in the aforementioned conversation, but only its main 
effect and substance. I felt it my duty immediately to communicate the 
same to one of the gentlemen composing the deputation to Washington, and, 
by request, have given this affidavit thereof. 

SAMUEL CURREY. 

United States of America, ) 
Rhode Island district, \ 
In Providence, on this 5th day of February, A. D. 1842, personally ap- 
peared the above-named Samuel Currey, a gentleman of veracity to me well 
known, and made oath to the truth of the statement by him above under- 
scribed before me. I do certify that I heard the above named Franklin 
Cooley state also the fact, that the above arms had been sent for as above 
stated, and 1 have every reason to believe it to be true. 

JOHN PITMAN, 
District Judge of the United iStntes 

for Rhode Island district. 



No. 163. 
Ttco letters of Governor King to the President. 

Providence, April 4, 1842. 

Sir : The State of Rhode Island is threatened with domestic violence. 
Apprehending that the legislature cannot be convened in sufficient season 
to apply to the Government of the United States for effectual protection in 
this case, I hereby apply to you, as the Executive of the State of Rhode 
Island, for the protection which is required by the constitution of the 
United States. To communicate more fully with you on this subject, I 
have appointed John Whipple, John Brown Francis, and Elisha R. Potter, 
esquires, three of our most distinguished citizens, to proceed to Washing- 
ton, and to make known to you, in behalf of this State, the circumstances 
which call for the interposition of the Government of the United Stales 
for our protection. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

SAMUEL W. KING, 

Governor of Rhode Island, 

The President of the United States. 



Providence, April 4, 1842. 
Sir : For nearly a year last past, the State of Rhode Island has been 
agitated by revolutionary movements, and is now threatened with domestic 
violence. 



Rep. No. 546. 657 

The report of a joint commiltce of both branches of tlie legislature of 
this State, with au act and resolutions accompanying the same, herewith 
communicated, were passed unanimously by ttie Senate, and by a vote of 
sixty to six in the Mouse of Representatives. The legislature adjourned 
to the first Tuesda:y of May next. 

It has become my duty, by one of these resolutions, to adopt such 
measures as, in my opinion, may be necessary, in the recess of the legisla- 
ture, to execute the laws, and preserve the State from domestic violence. 
The provisions of the said act " in relation to offences against the sovereign 
power of this State," have created much excitement among that portion of 
the people who have unequivocally declared their intention to set up 
another government in this State, and to put down the existing govern- 
ment; and they threaten, individually and collectively, to resist the execu- 
tion of this act. The numbers of this party are sufficiently formidable to 
threaten seriously our peace ; and in some portions of the State, and in this 
city particularly, may constitute a majority of the physical force, though 
they are a minority of the people of the State. 

Under the dangers which now threaten us, I have appointed .John Whip- 
ple. John Brown Francis, and Elisha R. Potter, esquires, three of our most 
distinguished citizens, to proceed to Washington, and consult with you in 
behalf of this State, with the view that such precautionary measures may 
be taken by the Government of the United States as may afford us that 
protection which the constitution of the United States requires. There is 
but little doubt bat that a proclamation from the President of the United 
States, and the presence here of a military ofilcer to act under the author- 
ity of the United States, would destroy the delusion which is now so prev- 
alent, and convince the deluded that, in a contest with the government of 
this State, they would be involved in a contest with the Government of the 
United Stdtes, which could pnly eventuate in their destruction. 

As no State can keep troops in time of peace, without the consent of 
Congress, there is the more necessity that we should be protected by those 
who have the means of jirotection. We shall do all we can far ourselves. 
The Government of the United States has the power lo prevenl,'siS well as 
to defend us from, violence. The protection provided by the constitution 
of the United States vvrill not be effectual, unless such precautionary meas- 
ures may be taken as are necessary to prevent lawless njen from breaking 
out into violence, as well as to protect llie State from further violence after 
]t lias broken out. Preventive measures are the most prudent and safe, and 
also the most merciful. Tlie protective power would be lamentably defi- 
cient, if the "beginning of strife,"' which "is like the letting out of waters," 
cannot be prevented, and no protection can be afforded tlie State until, to 
many, it would be too late. 

The above-named gentlemen are fully authorized to act in behalf of the 
Stale of Rhode Island in this emergency, and carry with them such docu- 
ments and proof as will, no doubt, satisfy you that the interposition of the 
authority of the Government of the United States will be salutary and ef- 
fectual. 

1 am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

SAMUEL W.KING, 
Governor of Rhode Island. 

Tlie President of the United States. 
42 



658 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 164. 
Letter from the President^ in reply to the foregoing letters of Gov. Khig. 

Washington, April 11, 1842. 

Sir: Your letter, dated the 4th instant, v/as handed me on Friday by- 
Mr. Whipple, who, in company wiih Mr. Francis and Mr. Potter, called 
upon me on Satnrday, and placed me, both verbally and in writins:, in pos- 
session of the prominent facts which hove led to the present unhappy con- 
dition of things in Rhode Island — a state of things which every lover of 
peace and good order mnst deplore. I shall not adventure the expression of 
an opinion upon those questions of domestic policy which seem to have 
given rise to the unfortunate controversies between a portion of the citizens 
and the existing government of the State. They are questions of muni- 
cipal regulation, the adjustment of which belongs exclusively to the people 
of Rhode Island, and with which this Government can have nothing to do. 
For the regulation of my conduct in any interposition which I may be 
cal!f:d upon to make between the government of a State and any portion of 
its citizens who may assail it with domestic violence, or may be in actual 
insurrection against it, I can only look to the constitution and laws of the 
United States, which plainly declare the obligations of the executive depart- 
ment, and leave it no alternative as to the course it shall pursue. 

By the fourth section of the fourth article of the constitution of the 
United States, it is provided that "the United States shall guaranty to 
every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall pro- 
tect each of them against invasion ; and, on application of the legislature, 
or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) ugainst do- 
mestic violence.'''' And by the act of Congress, approved on the 28th of 
February, 1795, it is declared "that, in case of an insurrection in any State 
against the government thereof, it shall be lawful for tlie President of the 
United States, upon application of the legislature of such State, or by the 
executive (when the legislature cannot be convened.) to call forth such 
numbers of the militia of any other State or States as may be applied for, 
as he may judge suffi<"ient to suppress such insurrection." By the 3d sec- 
tion of the same act, it is provided " that wlienever it may be necessary, 
in the judgment of the President, to use the military force hereby directed 
to be called forth, the President shall forthwith, by proclamation, cnmmand. 
such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respt cti\e abodes 
within a reasonable time." By the act of March 3, 1807, it is provided 
"that, in all cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws, either of the 
United States or of any mdividual Stale or Territory, where it is lawful for 
the President of the United States to call forth the militia for the purpose of 
suppressing such insurrection, or of causing the laws to be duly executed, 
it shall be lawful for him to employ, for the same purposes, such part of the 
land or naval force of the United States as shall be judged necessary, hav- 
ing first observed all the prerequisites of the law in that respect." 

This is the first occasion, so far as the government of a State and its 
people are concerned, on which it has become necessary to consider of the 
propriety of exercising those high and most important of constitutional and 
legal functions. 

By a careful consideration of the above-recited acts of Congress, your 
excellency will not fail to see that no pov/er is vested in the Executive of 



Pep. No. 546. C59 

the United States to anticipate insiirreciionary movements against the aov- 
ernment of Rhode Island, so as to sanction the interposition of t!ie miUlary 
authority; but that there must be an actual insurrection, manifested by law- 
less assemblages of the people, or otherwise, to whom a proclamation may 
be addressed, and who n)ay be required to betake themselves to their re- 
spective abodes. I have, however, to assure your excellency, that, should 
the time arrive (and my fervent prayer is that it may never come) when an 
insurrection shall exist against the govermnenl of Rhode Island^ and a 
requisition shall be made upon the [Executive of tbe United States to 
furnish that protection which is guarantied to each State by the constitution 
and laws, I shall not be found to shrink from the performance of a duty, 
which, while it would be the most painful, is, at the same time, the most 
imperative. I have also to say, that, in such a contingency, the Executive 
could not look into real or supposed defects of the existing government, in 
order to ascertain whether some other plan of government proposed for 
adoption was better suited to the wants, and more in accordance with the 
wishes, of any portion of her citizens. To throw the executive power of 
this Govern met; t into any such controversy, would be to make the Presi- 
dent the armed arbitrator between the people of the different States and 
their constituted authorities, and might lead to a usurped power, dangerous 
alike to the stability of the State governments and the liberties of the peo- 
ple. It will be my duty, on the contrary, to respect the requisitions of that 
government which has been recognised as the existing government of t!ie 
State through all tiir.e past, until 1 shall be advised, in regular manner, that 
it has been altered and abolished, and another substituted in its place, by legal 
and peaceable proceedings, adopted and pursued by the authorities and people 
of the State. Nor can I readily bring mysell to believe that any such contin- 
gency will arise as shall render the interference of this Government at all ne- 
cessary. The people of the State of Rhode Island liave been too long distin- 
guished for their love of order and of regular governnjent, to rush into revo- 
lution in order to obtain a redr^^ss of grievances, real or supposed, which a 
government under which their fatheis lived in peace would not in due 
season redress. No portion of her people will be willing to drench lier fair 
fields with the blood of their own brethren, in order to obtain a redress of 
grievances, which their constituted authorites cannot for any length of time 
resist, if properly appealed to by tlie popular voice. None of them will 
be willing to set an example, in the bosom of this Union, of such frightful 
disorder, such needless convulsions of society, such danger to life, liberty, 
and property, and likely to bring so miUch discredit on the character of pop- 
ular governments. My reliance on the virtue, intelligence, and patriotism 
of her citizens, is great and abiding; and I will not doubt but that a spirit 
of conciliation will prevail over rash counsels; that all actual grievances 
will be prompdy redressed by the existing government; and that another 
bright example will be added to the many already prevailing among the 
North American republics, of change without revolution, and a redress of 
grievances without force or violence. 

I tender to your excellency assurances of my high respect and considera-' 
tion. 

JOHN TYLER. 

To his' Excellency the Governor of Rhode Island. 



€60 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 1(55. 

JLetlcT of Hmry Bowen^ Secretory of State of Rhode Island, to the Presi- 
dent, April 7, 1842, uith affidavits of Martin Stoddard, Hamilton Hop- 
jjin, Samuel Carrey, Jacob Friese, Christopher Robinson, and Edward 
S. Wilkinson. 

Secretary's Office, Rhode Island, April 7, 1842. 

Sir : At the request of the Governor, I have the honor to enclose to you 
the witliin document?. 

With great respect, your obedient servant, 

HENRY BOWEN. 
The President of the United States. 



1, Martin Stoddard, of the city and county of Providence, State of Rhode 
Island, &c., on oath declare : That I was president of [present at] a mass 
convention holden at Newport, in this State, on the 5th day of May 
last, the object of which convention, as 1 understood and believed at the 
time, was to concert measures to procure an extension of the elective 
irancliise in this State. At that convention, I should judge there were two 
thousand people present. Whether they were jill citizens of this State or 
not, I am not able to say ; or whether they were all favorable to the objects 
of the meeting, I cannot state. At said convention sundry resolutions v/ere 
passed, the tenor of w!)ich I have forgotten, but which were published 
shortly after in the "New Age," the reputed organ of the suffrage party ; 
and a "State committee," so called, was elected at said convention, viva voce, 
to whom were delegated the powers of concerting measures to effect an ex- 
tension of sufTrage, and to adopt measures, if necessary, to obtain a written 
constitution for this Slate. Some time after the 5ih day of July, 1841, 
said committee sent out a call to the people of this State, requesting ihetn 
to elect delegates to a State convention, to be holden at Providence early in 
the month of October, A. V). 1841, for the purpose of framing a constitu- 
tion for this State. That call, according to the best of my recollection, 
requested the viale ci.'izens of this State, of 21 years of age and upwards, 
to assemble in open meetitigs in their different towns, and elect delegates 
to said convention. Said delegates were elected by votes, upon the back 
of which each voter wrote his name, according to the best of iny informa- 
tion, and vi^ere elected upon a ratio of population suggested by said State 
-comiiiittee. At these meetings no negative votes were given, and no one, 
that 1 know or heard of, not friendly to this informal proceeding, taking any 
;part therein. AI)DUt 7,200 votes were cast in the whole Suite for these 
•delegates, as i was informed, and verily believe. The delegates thus 
elected assembled in Providence on the 4th or 5th day of October, A. D. 
1841, sat in convention for about one week, and adjourned till some time 
in November, A. D. 1841, They then reassembled, and framed a constitu- 
tion, and ordered the same to be voted for on the 27ih, 28th, and 29th days 
ol December, A. D. 1841, in open meetings ; and provided that during the 
three successive days, all those persons qualified to vote for said constitu- 
tion, who had been prevented by siclaiess, or other causes, from attending 
said open meetings, might bring in, or send in, their votes by other persons, 
and depofite the same with the individual who presided at the open meet- 



Rep. No. 546. 661 

ing-s. All male citizens of the State, of 21 years and upwards, were aii- 
Ihorized to vote upon the adoption of said constitution ; and the persons 
presidini{ at said meeting were neither by the terms of the constiiutioa 
voted for, nor by any law of the State, quahfied to administer oaths or 
affirmations ; and, of course, no mode was presented in the manner of 
voting to prevent fraudulent voting, nor legal responsibihty incurred on 
the part of the persons presiding for receiving fraudulent votes. NopersotJr 
witli the exception of about eighty or one hundred individuals opposed to 
said constitution, took any part in voting: upon said constitution — a large 
portion of the people of the State considermg the movement illegal and 
revolutionary, especially as the constituted authorities of the State had, as 
early as January or February, A. D. 184 1, called a convention of delegates, 
to be elected by the qualified electors of the State, to assemble in the month 
of November, k. D. 1S41, for the purpose of framing a constitution, or 
part of a constitution, as to said convention rni^^ht seem proper, for the 
government of the State. The votes thus received for the constitution thus 
informally elected, to be sent to an adjourned session of said convention, 
holdeti at Providence in January last, to be counted. At that adjinirned 
session, said votes given as above were, as this affiant believes, counted ; 
and, accordinof to liie best of this affiant's recollection, the published account 
slated there were 13,944 votes given in for said constitution, and some 80 
or 100 votes against it; and it was then proclaimed by said convention to 
have been adopted, and that the same should go into effect at the time 
mentioned in said constitution. 

The convention called by the General Assembly of the State, at its 
January session A. D. lS4i, to be holden in the month of November, 
A. D. 1S41, met: and, after being in session two weeks, adjourned till 
some time in February last ; when they again assembled, and, having fin- 
ished the business assigned to them, presented to the people of the State, 
for their adoption or rejection, a constitution, by the provisions of which, 
the right of suffrage was very liberally extended, and was to be voted for 
on the 21st, 22d, and 23d days of March last, in o])en town meetings or- 
ganized according to law, and where all necessary oaths could be ad- 
ministered to prevent illegal votina:. Said constitution was rejected, and 
its most hostile opponents were found among those who, one year ago, 
were petitioners to the General Assembly of this State for an extension of 
the right of suffrage ; a large, very large majority of those qualified to vote 
nnder the existing statute laws of this State, who voted upon that question, 
voted, as this affiant verily believes, for the adoption of said constitution. 

Since the rejection of said constitution, and especially within the last two 
or tliree days, a spirit of determined opposition to the existing government 
of tliis State has manifested itself among many of our citizens. This 
feeling is seen and manifested among those who, during the last year, 
have exhibited so much anxiety for an extension of the right of suffrage. 
These persons contend that the constitution made and adopted in manner 
herein first mentioned— that said constitution is the supreme law of this 
State, and, as such, they will defend it at all and every hazard. And 
this affiant believes, from what he has seen and heard, that large masses of 
men in this State are arming themselves to resist, by arms, any effort that 
may be made on the part of the constituted authorities of this State to en- 
force such laws as are necessary to prevent a subversion of the existing 
government. This affiant states that a large portien of the last mentioned 



662 Rep. No. 546. 

people truly believe that in this effort they will be sustained by the General 
Government, and that the jjovernment which they may set up under their 
pretended constitution will be recognised by the Government of these 
IJniied States as the legal government of this State. This affiant therefore 
verily believes that, without some interference on the part of the Executive 
of these United States, the peace and quiet of this Slate cannot be pre- 
served, and that all the horrors of civil war will, and must, be suffered 
bv our people. 

MARTIN STODDARD. 

United States of America, } 
Rhode Island disti ict, \ 

On this 6th day of April, A. D. 1842, personally appeared the above- 
named Martin Stoddard, well known to me, and, 1 believe, a gentleman of 
veracity, and made oath to the truth of the statement above by him sub- 
scribed before me, 

JOHN PITMAN, 
District Judge V. >S.,for Rhode Island district. 



I, Hamilton Hoppin, of Providence, in the Slate of Rhode Island, on 
oath do testify and say: That, in a conversaiion which I and two other per- 
sons had with David M. Hamilton of this city, on the 5th instant, (Tues- 
day,) the said David slated that, in case of an outbreak and violence in this 
State, the Boston Montgomery Guards were ready to assist those who sup- 
port the people's constitution ; that this had been arranged and agreed on ; 
that one of the sergeants of the said guards was then in this city, and 
that about 12.5 or 150 of the muskets of said guards were deposited in his 
house, and he offered to show them if we would step over with him. His 
Jiouse IS within 20 or 25 rods of my father's ; and the said David is well 
known to me as a naturahzed irishman of property and influence among 
his class of citizens. This is the substance and effect of the said conversa- 
tion. 

HAMILTON HOPPIN. 



I, Samuel Currey, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, on oath 
do testify and say : That I was last evening informed by one Douglas Sea- 
mans, of this city, that he had good reasons to know that the party who 
threaten to carry the (so called) people's consliiution into effect, had pro- 
vided themselves with from four to five thousand stand of arms ; that they 
■were ready at a moment's warning to take the field ; that they were deter- 
mined to resist force by force, and put down the existing government at all 
hazards. The said Seamans boards at the hotel with me, is an adherent of 
the party opposed to law and order, and it is my firm belief that he said the 
foregoing upon good and sufficient authority. I have other reasons for be- 
lieving the same facts ; and have no doubt, from these and other statements 
which have been made to me. that the peace of the State, the lives and 
property of our citizens, are in imminent danger. The said Seamans meant 
to convey the impression that the aforementioned arms were distributed 



Rep. No. 546. 663^ 

among the people of this city, and that his party were of that strength here, 
independently of their forces in other parts of the State. 

SAMUEL CURREY. 



ss. 



United States of America, 
Rhode Island district. 

On this sixtli day of April, A. D. 1842, personally appeared the above- 
mentioned Hamilton Hoppin and Samuel Cnrrey, and made oath to the 
truth of th ' facts contained in the statements by them above respectively 
subscribed before me. And I certify that they are persons entitled to 
credit. 

JOHN PITMAN, 
District Judge of the United States 

for Rhode Island district. 



The following statement of facts relative to the proceedings of the party 
from which has emanated the people's constitution, (so called,) is made partly 
from recollection, and partly from the official publications of the above- 
named party : 

On Saturday, April 17, 1841, the Rhode Island SufTrage Association, lo- 
cated in the city of Providence, together with the auxiliary associations in 
vario\is other towns and villages in the State, assembled at Providence by 
previous appointment,. and held what was termed a mass meeting. The 
assemblage was very large — containing, probably, from six to eight thou- 
sand ; and in the procession were many banners, with inscriptions — some 
of the latter calculated to produce the impression that the party had intend- 
ed and determined to effect a change in the form and principles of govern- 
ment ill the State, at all hazards. Among these were " I die for libertv," 
'• Peaceably IF we can, forcibly if we must." &.c. Nothing very 
material occurred at the above convention or meeting; but in a few days 
subsequent to it, another was appointed, with the mutual understanding 
of the various associations, and also individuals, to be held at Newport 
on Wednesday, May 5lh, the day of the general electioti at that place for the 
State of Rhode Island. This convention, or rather mass meeting, (for it 
was a peri'ectly voluntary assemblage,) consisted, as near as could be con- 
veniently ascertnined, of about five thousand people, as computed by its 
friends, and published in the official organ of the party at the time. At that 
meeting a resolution, anong others, was passed to appoint a State commit- 
tee, with powers to call a convention of the people to form a constitution 
for the State. In conformity with this resolution, a committee was ap- 
pointed, consisting of eleven members. The proceedings were strictly of an 
ex-parte character, as none were permitted to act at the meeting but those 
who wore the badge of the suflrage party, or were otherwise recognised as 
its friends and supporters. (See New Age. June 18, 1841.) 

Subsequent to the meeting at Newport, no other movements occurred of 
an extraordinary character, or of much importance, exct^pt a passage of 
resolutions occasionally at the meetings of the associations, the celebration 
of the anniversary of Americafi Independence at Providence, and more par- 
ticularly the meeting of the State committee at Providence, and the meas- 
ures taken by that committee to call a convention to form a State constitu- 



664 Rep. No. 546. 

tion. (See New Age, June IS, 1841.) The meetings for the choice of 
delegates from the several wards and towns to attend thut convention, were 
direc'ccd to be held on Saturday, August 28, 1841. Previous to the issue of 
the call for this convetition, tlie General Assembly had issued a call for a 
convention of the freemen of the State to form a constitution ; and the 
meetings for the choice of delegates to this convention had, at the same 
lime, been ordered to take place on Tuesday. August 31, 1841. Thus the 
State committee intentionally took precedence of the General Assembly in 
point of time, and maintained that precedence throughout, as did also the 
(so called) people's converition over th.at one summoned and acting under 
the legislative authority. And, as far as I knew, or was able to learn, that 
course was pursued by the leaders, or a portion of the leaders of that parly, 
that, by premature action and ultra measures, they might counteract the 
efforts of the legal convention, render its labors abortive, and secure them- 
selves the support of a large popular majority in the State — to revolutionize 
the government, peaceably or forcibly, as the case might be. 

The meetings for the choice of delegates, and those for the adoption of 
the people's constitution, were of course, dt?stitute of sworn officers, and 
without legal responsibility. The number of votes for delegates in the en- 
tire State was about 7,00U. (See New Age, September 3, 1841.) For the 
adoption of the constitution, the number was said to be 13,944, and was 
so returned. As near as 1 have been able to jiid2:e, about 9,5U0 of these 
were received on the first three days ; and the remainder, by proxy, on the 
last three days. Of the manner in which these meetings and the voting 
were conducted, (except at the 3d ward polls in tlie city of Providence, 
where I attended myself.) I can say nothing; though it was then, and 
has been since, supposed that uniformity prevailed, m a great measure, in 
most parts of the State. In the above named ward, no evidence was re- 
quired, on either occasion alluded to, of the qualification to vote of any 
one who offered, except his own yea or nay ; and even of foreigners, 
strangers, or otherwise, no naturalization papers, or other evidence of citi- 
zenship, was required. During the last three days, or days of proxy voting, 
1 was Informed by the warden or moderator, and clerk, that a larg?. number 
of votes were deposited in the ballot-box, which had been received from 
seamen and others, then absent, previous to their departure; and I have 
reason to suppose that, from persons wlio did not attend the polls at all 
in that ward, some two or three hundred votes were cast, or said to be cast. 
Similar proceedings, it was understood, were had throughout ihe State. 

I know that some, at least, of the most prominent men in that party, 
(and I think many, if not all of them,) were extremely anxious that the 
legal convention should not form a constitution that would be acceptable to 
the people ; that they declared they would not vote for one, word for word 
like their own, or even better than their own ; and that, let what would 
come, they would carry their constiluiion into effect, and organize aiid es- 
tablish a government on it, by force if necessary. And such, 1 have reason 
to believe, has been, frou] the first, and still continues to be, the spirit and 
feeling of the members of that party in general. Much of that spirit I have 
seen manifested, and many threats of violence in case of resistance to their 
measures; nor have I any reason to suppose that they were lightly or idly 
uttered or intended. I have long been conversant with the party of which 
I have spoken, and I think 1 understand their feelings ; and, from the treat- 
ment 1 have invariably received when opposing even all intimations of vio- 



Rep. No. 546. 665 

letice, am fiiliy persuaded that a firm resolve pervades their ranks never to 
give back from their purpose, if they can perceive a probabihty of its exe- 
cution by any means in their power. As farther evidence of this, refer to 
resohitions of the State convention, passed at Providence, Wednesday, Jan- 
uary 12, IS42, and the motto on their flag, which was, and still is, " The 
constitution is adopted^ and shaU be maintainedJ^ 

JACOB FRIEZE. 
Providenxe, April 6, 1842. 

United States op America, } 
Rhode Iskmd district, ^ 

On this 6th day of April, A. D. 1842, personally appeared the before- 
named Jacob Frieze, subscribed to the foregoing statement, and solpmnly 
atiirmed that the facts therein stated were true, before me ; and I certify that 
the said Jacob Frieze is a man of respectability and entitled to credit. 

JOHN PITMAN, 
District Judge of the United States 

for Rhode Island distrh't. 



I, Christopher Robinson, of Cumberland, in the county of Providence and 
State of Rhode Island, on oath declare: That I am a native of Rhode 
Island, and, for the last eighteen months have been a member of the State 
Legislature. This affiant further states, that, in the spring of 1841, accord- 
ing to the best of this affiant's recollection, meetings of individuals, in many- 
towns in this State, were organized under the name of "snfl'rage associa- 
tions;" the objects of which associations were ostensibly to procure an ex- 
tension of the elective franchise in this State. In the month of May last, 
a mass meeting of the people of this State, friendly to the purpose of said 
associations, was called by the suffrage association in the city of Providence, 
to be holden in Newport, m this State, on the 5th day of said month, for 
the purpose of concerting measures to etfect the object of said associations. 
Said mass meeting was holden at said Newport at the time aforesaid, at 
which a State committee was elected, vested with authority by said mass 
meeting to call, if necessary, a State convention. Another mass meeting 
of the people, friendly to the objects of said '• suffrage associations," was 
holden in the city of Providence on tbe 5th day of July, 1841, at which 
this affiant believes it was resolved to call a convention of the people of the 
State for the purpose of framing a constitution for the government thereof. 
In the month of July, 1841, according to the best of this affiant's recollec- 
tion, papers were circulated in the town of Cumberland, and this affiant 
presumes in other towns, for the purpose of procuring the signatures of the 
citizens to an expression of their wishes either for or against having a con- 
stitution for the State. How many signatures were obtained to said papers, 
this affiant does not know. Early in the month of August last, a call was 
made by the State committee who were elected at the mass convention at 
Newport, directed to the people of this State, and requesting the male citi- 
zens thereof, who were of the age of 21 years and upwards, to assemble in 
their different towns in open meetings, and elect delegates to a convention 
to be holden at Providence on the 5th day of October, A. D. 1841, according 
to the best of this affiant's recollection, for the purpose of framing a consti- 



666 Rep. No. 546. 

tution of this State. Said meetino^s were holden in the different towns in 
this State, as this affiant understood and verily believes; at which said meet- 
ings no negative votes were given, as this affiant has heard and verily be- 
heves ; and which meetings were not recognised by any law of this State,, 
and the officers of which said meetings did not act under any legal obliga- 
tion, nor did they return a record of their doings to any legal body in this 
State. The delegates elected as aforesaid assembled in the city of Provi- 
dence at the time appointed, and, after being in session one week, adjourned 
to meet in the city of Providence on the 15th day of November following, 
at which time said convention reassembled and completed the formation of 
a constitution ; which said constitution was ordered by said convention to 
be voted for on the 27th, 2Sth, and 29th days of December, 1841, in open 
meetings; and the three successive days were allowed by said convention 
lor those persons who were prevented by sickness, or other causes, from at- 
tending the open meetings, to bring or send in their votes to the persons 
■who presided at the open meetings. All persons over the age of 21 years, 
resident in the State, were allowed, as this affiant recollects, to vote upon 
the question of its adoption, and the voter was requested to express upon 
the back of his vote that he was qualified to vote by the existing laws of 
this State or not, and also to declare that he was an American citizen of the 
age of 21 years, and had his permanent residence or home in this State. 
On this vote the name of the voter was written. The convention ordered 
said votes, after the expiration of the said six days, to be sealed up and sent 
to said convention, at an adjourned session of said convention in said Prov- 
idence, holden on the — day of January, A. D. 1842, for the purpose of 
being counted. Said convention met on said — day of January, A. D. 
1842, counted said votes, declared that a majority of the people of this 
State over the age of 21 years had voted for said constitution, and pro- 
claimed that the same was the supreme and paramount law of the State. 
On the 19th day of February, A. D. 1842, a convention, called hj the Gen- 
eral Assembly of this Slate at their January session, A. D. 1841, sent out 
to the people of this State a constitution for their adoption or rejection, and 
ordered the same to be voted for on the 21st, 22d, and 23d days of March 
last, by the people of this State who were qualified to vote under its provis- 
ions — said voting to be had in open town meetings, and the presiding offi- 
cer of the same du!y authorized to administer all necessary oaths, to prevent 
illegal and fraudulent voting. 

Before the rising of said last convention called by the General Assem- 
bly, and elected by the qualified electors of the State, meetings were^ield in 
various parts of the State by the friends of the " people's constitution," (as 
the constitution emanating from the first convention herein described was 
called,) in which said meeting the constitution proposed by the convention 
called by the General Assembly was denounced as a usurpation of the 
power of the people, and in which it was determined to stand by and defend 
the first constitution at<ill hazards. 

On the 26th day of February, A. D. 1842, a meeting of persons friendly 
to the first-named constitution was holden in the village of Woonsocket, 
in the town of Cumberland, in which said village this affiant resides, [at 
which meeting] the two following resolutions were passed : 



Rep. No. 546. 667 

Resolutions 'passed at Woonsocket, February 26. 
^^ Resolved, That the people^ s constitution ice will maintain at all and 

EVERY HAZARD. 

^'■Resolved, I'hat we, as one man, will, by every means in our 
POWER, oppose the adoption of this spurious constitution, nor abate our 
efforts until it shall be one of the things that were." 

And, on the 1st day of March, A. D. 1842, another meeting of the friends 
of the first constitution was hoiden in the town of Cumberland, at which 
said meeting the following resolutions were passed : 

Resolutions passed at Cooke's Hotels Cumberland^ March 1. 

^'Resolved, That we will peaceably submit to the authorities of this 
State until a certain day named in the people's constitution, when we will 
not be governed by any power but such as is provided by the constitution, 
unless forced by the strong arm, of power. 

^^ Resolved, That the time may come when further forbearance will cease 
to be a virtue, and we shall consider that lime as arrived whenever there is 
any hindrance to the peaceable action of the people's constitution. 

'■^Resolved, That we stand ready at a moment's warning, with our lives 
and honor, to carry into full effect the people's constitution, according to 
the conditions of the same, unless otherwise ordered by the General Gov- 
ernment of this nation." 

This affiant states that he was not present at any of the above meetings, 
and knows of the passage of the said resolutions only by reading them in 
the newspapers, and liearing those who set up the people's constitution (so 
called) as the supreme law of the State acknowledging that such resolu- 
tions were passed, and avowing in their conversation the same sentiments 
and same determination ; and this affiant further states, that he has heard 
many individuals threaten to enforce said constitution by arms, if nscessary; 
and this affiant farther states that he verily believes that there are now in 
this State large bodies of men who have pledged themselves, by a resort to 
arms, if necessary, to resist any attempt on tlie part of the government to 
enforce the act entitled "An act in relation to offences against the sovereign 
power of the State;" and this belief is founded on the declarations, openly 
and boldly made, by those of our people who have been made to believe 
that the first-named constitution, informally made and infonnally voted for, 
is the supreme law of the State. 

This affiant resides in a large manufacturing village — a large portion of 
the male population of which over the age of 21 years believe that said 
constitution, made without law, is the supreme law of the State, and will 
be so recognised by the constituted authorities of the United States. To 
those authorities they appear alone willing to yield ; and this affiant verily 
believes that any intimation from the Executive of the United States as to 
the validity of said constitution will settle the whole difficulties, which have 
now assumed the character of open and determined opposition to the pres- 
ent government of this State. 

CHRISTOPHER ROBINSON. 



668 Rep. No. 546. 



ss: 



United States of America, 
Rhode Island district, 

On this 6th day of April, A. D. 1842, personally appeared the above- 
named Christopher Robinson, to aie well known to be a gentleman of ve- 
racity, and a member of the Rhode Island bar, and a member o( the General 
Assembly of this State, and made oath to the truth of the statement by him 
above subscribed, before me, 

JOHN PITiVlAN, 
District Judge of the United States 

for Rhode Island district. 



I, Edward S. Wilkinson, of the village of Pawtncket, in the town of j 
North Providence, and State of Rhode Island, on oath depose : That, on 
the 5th day of April, A. U. 1842, notices were pasted np in various places 
in said village, calling upon the friends of suffrage to meet at the Pawtncket 
Hotel on the evening of the said 5th day of April, for the purpose of forming 
a " militia company." One of the handbills calling said meeting is here- 
unto annexed. And this affiant further says, that the written portion of 
said handbill is in the handwriting of John S. Dispean. a constable of said 
town of North Providence, who is known to this affiant to be a leading and 
active member of the party who supports the " people's constitution," so 
called. And this affiant further says, that a meeting was held in said village 
in pursuance of said call ; but of the doings of said meeting this affiant is 
not apprized. And this affiant further says, that he is well acquainted with 
Isaac T. Jenks, and that he is a duly commissioned deputy sheriff in said 
Pawtucket, and that his statements are entitled to the fidlest credit. 

EDW. S. WILKINSON. 

I, Isaac T. Jenks, of said Pawtucket, certify that the facts in relation to 
the handbill contained in the affidavit of Edw. S. Wilkinson are true, and 
that the annexed is one of the original handbills ; and furthermore, that 
the written part of said handbill is in the handwriting of John S. Dispean, 
and said handbills were posted up by said Dispean, to my own knowledge. 

ISAAC T. JENKS. 

United States of America, ) 
Rhode Island district, ^ " 

On this 6th day of April, A. D. 1842, personally appeared the above- 
named Edward S. Wilkinson and Isaac T. Jenks, subscribers to the fore- 
going affidavits, and made oath to the truth of the same as by them sub- 
scribed before me; and I further certify that the said Edward S. Wilkinson 
is well known to me as a gentleman of veracity and character, and that he 
is a Representative in the General Assembly of this State. 

JOHN PITMAN, 
District Judge of the United States 

for the Rhode Island district. 



Rep. No. 546, 669 

No. 160. 

Letter of JoJin Whipple, craving audience tcith the President^ in behalf of 
the Rhode Island coram ittec. 

April 9, 1S42. 

My DEAR Sir : Will you do me the favor to see the committee from 
Rhode fshiiid, as soon atier the meeting of the cabinet as may suit your 
convenience ? 

I regret to learn from Mr. Francis that the leaning of your mind was de- 
cidedly against any expression of opinion upon the subject, upon the ground 
XhiXi free svfj'rage must prevail. Undoubtedly it will. That is not the 
question. The freeholders of Rhode Island have yielded that point; and 
the only question is, between their constitution, providing for an exten- 
jsion of suffrage, and ours, containing substantially the same provision. 
Whether their constitution shall be carried out hy force of arms ^ without a 
majority; or the present government be supported utitil a constitution can 
be agreed upon that will command a majority. Neither their coiistitutioii 
nor ours has, as yet, received a majority of the free white males over twenty- 
one years of age. There is no doubt upon, that subject ; and I very much 
regret that your mind should iiave been influenced (if it has) by the paper 
called the Express. Nearly all the leaders, who are professional men, have 
abandoned them, on the ground that a majority is not in favor of their 
constitution. I knmo this to be true. I do hope that you will reconsider 
this vital question, and tiive us a full hearing betbre you decide. 
With great respect, very truly and sincerely, yours, 

JOHN WHIPPLE. 



No. 167. 



Suitcinent of facts snbmi'.ted to the President by John Whipple, John Brown 
Francis, and EUsha R. Potter, committee appointed by Governor King 
to confer ivith the President. 

I Washixgtox, April 10, 1842. 

I The undersigned having been deputed by Samuel W. King, the Gov- 
ernor of the State of Rhode Island, to lay before you the present alarming 
condition in which the people of that State are placed, and to request from 

I'you the adoption of such prudential measures as, in your opinion, may 
tend to prevent domestic violence, beg leave most respectfully to state the 
following, among the leading facts to which your attention is more partic- 
ularly invited. 

That the people of Rhode Island have no fundamental law, except the 
charter of King Ciiarles ttie S''Cond, granted in 1663, and the usage of the 
Jegislature under it. Legislative usage under their cliarters has been de- 
cided by the Supreme Court of the United States to be the fundamental 
]aw, both in •Connecticut and Rhode Island. 

That, from the dale of the Rhode Island charter down to the year 1841, 
a period of nearly two hundred years, no person has been allowed to vo!e 
for town or State officers, unless possessed of competent estates, and adnait- 
tecl free in the several towns in which they resided, 



670 Rep. No. 546. 

That, since (he statute of 1728, no person could be admitted a freeman 
of any town unless he owned a freehold estate of the vahie fixed by law^ 
(now, one hundred and thirty-four dollars.) or was the eldest son of such a 
freeholder. 

That, until the past year, no attempt has been made, to our knowledge, 
to establish any other fundamental law, by force, than tlie one under which 
the people have lived for so lono^ a period. 

That, at the January session of the legislature in 1841, a petition 
signed by five or six hundred male inhabitants, praying for such an exten- 
sion of suffrage as the legislature might in their wisdom deem expedient 
to propose, was presented. '■ 

That, influenced by that petition, as well as by other considerations, the 
legislature at that session requested the qualified voters (or freemen, as 
they are called with us) to choose delegates at their regular town meetings 
to be holden in August, 1841, for a convention to be holden in November, 

1841, to frame a written constitution. 

That the result of the last meeting of this legal convention in February, 

1842, was the constitution accompanying this statement, marked , 

which, in case of its adoption by the people, would have been the supreme 
law of the State. as^ss 

Mbst of the above facts are contained in the printed report of a numer- 
ous committee of the legislature at their session m March, 1842, which 
report was adopted by the legislature. 

That, in May, 1841, after said legal convention had been provided for by 
the legislature, and before the time appointed for the choice of delegates 
by the qualified voters, (August, 1841,) a mass meeting was held by the 
friends of an extension of sutfrage at Newport, at which meeting a com- 
mittee v/as appointed, called the State conmiittee, who were authorized by 
said mass meeting to take measures for calling a convention to frame a con- 
stitution. 

That this commiittee thus authorized, issued a request for a meeting of 
the male citizens in the several towns, to appoint delegates to the proposed 
convention. 

That meetings (of unqualified voters, principally, as we believe) were ac- 
cordingly holden in the several towns, unauthorized by law, and contrary 
to the invariable custom and usage of the State from 1663 down to that 
period ; that the aggregate votes appointing the delegates to that conven- 
tion were, according to their own estimate, about 7,200 ; whereas the whole 
number of male citizens over 21 years of age, after making a deduction 
for foreigners, paupers. &.C., was, according to their own estimate, over 
22,000. 

That this convention, thus constituted, convened in Providence, in Oc- 
tober. 1841 ; and the constitution, called the "people's constitution," was the 
result of their deliberations. 

That, at subsequent meetings of portions of the people, in December, 
1841, by the authority of this convention alone, (elected, as its delegates 
had been, by about one-third of the voters, according to their own stand- 
ard of qualification,) all males over 21 years of age were admitted to vote 
for the adoption of the people's constitution. That these meetings were 
not under any presiding officer whose legal right or duty it was to inter- 
pose any check or restraint as to age, residence, property, or color. 



Rep. No. 546. 671 

By the 14th article of this cotistitiition, it was provided that "this con- 
stitution shall be submitted to the people for their adoption or rejectioa 
on Monday, the 27th of December next, and on the two succeeding days ; 
and every person entitled to vote as aforesaid, who, from sickness or other 
cavses^ may be unable to attend and vote in the town or ward meetings 
assembled for voting upon said constitution, on the days aforesaid, is request- 
ed to write his name on a ticket, and to obtain the signature, upon the back 
of the same, of a person who has given in his vole, as a witness thereto; 
and the moderator or clerk of any town or ward meeting convened for the 
purpose aforesaid shall receive such vote on either of ihe three days next 
succeeding the three days before named for voting for said constitution."' 

During the first three days, about 9,U0O votes were received from the 
hands of the voters in the open meetings. By the privilege granted to any 
and all friends of the constitution, of bringing in to their meetings the 
names of voters during the three f()llowinii- days, 5,0(^0 votes more were 
obtained — making an nggregate of about 14,000 votes. 

This constitution, thus originating and thus formed, was subsequently 
declared by this convention to be the supreme law of the land. ^\ its pro- 
visions, a governnjent is to be organized under it, by the choice of a Gov- 
ernor, Lieutenant Governor, Senators and Representatives, on the Monday 
preceding the third Wednesday in April, 184'^. 

^\^ the provisions of the "landholders' constitution," (as the le2:al consti- 
tution is called,) every white native citizen, possessing the freehold qualifi- 
cation, and over 21 years of age, may vote upon a residence of one year; 
and without any freehold, may vote upon a residence o{ two years; except in 
the case of votes for town taxes, in which case tiie voter must possess the 
freehold qaalitication, or be taxed for other property of the value of ;jil50. 

By the "people's constitution," "every while male citizen of the United 
States, of the age of 21 years, who has resided in this State for oy/.e year, and 
in the town where he votes for six months," shall be permitted to vote, with 
the same exception as to voting for town taxes as is contained in the other 
constitution. 

The provision, therefore, in relation to the great subject in dispute — the 
elective franchise — is substantially the same in the two constitutions. 

On the 21st, 22d, and 23d March last, the legal constitution, by an act of 
the legislature, was submitted to all persons who, by its provisions, would 
be entitled to vote under it, after its adoption, for their ratification. It was 
rejected by. a majority of 676 votes, (he number of votes polled being over 
16,000. It is believed that many freeholders voted against it, because they 
were attached to the old form of government, and were against any new 
constitution whatever. Both parties used uncommon exertions to bring all 
. their voters to the polls ; and the result of the vote was, under the scrutiny 
of opposing interests in legal town meetings, that the friends of the people's 
constitution brought to the polls probably not over 7,000 to 7,500 votes. 
The whole vote against the legal constitution was about 8,600. If we allow 
1,000 as t!ie number of freeholders who voted against the legal constitution 
because they are opposed to any constitution, it would leave the number of 
the friends of the people's constitution 7,600, or about one-third of the voters 
of the Stale, under the new qualification proposed by either constitution. 

It seems incredible that there can be 14,000 friends of ihe people's consti- 
tution in the State, animated, as they are, by a most extraordinary and en- 



672 Rep. No. 546. 

thusiaslic feelinor; and yet, upon this trial, in the usual open and fair way 
of voting, they should have obtained not over 7,600 votes. 

The unanimity of the subsequent action of the legislature, comprehend- 
ing, as it did, both the great pohlical parties— the House of Representatives 
givmg a vote of GO in favor of maintaining the existing government of the 
State, and only 6 on the other side, with a unanimous vote in the Senate — 
the unanimous and decided opinion of the supreme court declaring this 
extraordinary movement to be illegal in all its stages, (see No. 212,) a major- 
ity of that court being of the democratic party — with other facts of a simi- 
lar character, have freed this question of a mere party character, and ena- 
bled us to present it as a great constitutional question. 

Without presuming to discuss the elementary and fundamental princi- 
ples of government, we deem it our duty to remind you of the fact that the 
existing government of Rhode Island is the governntient that adopted the 
constitution of the United States, became a member of this confederacy, 
and has ever since been represented in the Senate and House of Represent- 
atives, It is, at this moment, the existing government of Rhode Island,, 
both de facto and de jure; and is the only government in that State enti- 
tled to the protection of the constitution of the United Stated. 

It is that government which now calls upon the General Government for 
its interference ; and even if the legal efiect of there being an ascertained 
majority of unqualified voters against the existing government were as is 
contended for by the opposing party, yet, upon their own principle, Qught 
not that majority in point of fact to be clearly ascertained, not by assertion, 
but by proof, in order to justify the General Government in withdrawing 
its legal and moral influence to prevent domestic violence ? 

That a domestic war of the most furious character will speedily ensue,. 
unless prevented by a prompt expression of opinion here, cannot be doubt- 
ed. Ill relation to this, we refer to the numerous resolutions passed at 
meetings of the friends of the people's constitution, and more especially to 
the Cumberland resolutions, herewith presented, and the affidavits marked 
Nos 162 and 165, and to repeated expressions of similar reliance upon the 
judgment of the Chief Magistrate of the nation. 

All of which is respectfully submitted by 

JOHN WHIPPLE, 

JOHN BROWN FRANCIS, 

ELISHA R. POTTER. 

His Excellency John Tyler, 

President of the United ^^tates. 



No. 168. 



Letter of Governor King to the President^ transmitting resolidions of the 
General Assembly, declaring the State of Rhode Island in a state of 
insurrection, and calling for the niilitary interference of the United 
States. 

Newport, R. 1., May 4, 1842. 
Sir: I transmit, herewith, certain resolutions passed by the General As- 
sembly of this State, at their session holden at Newport on the first Wed- 
nesday of May instant. 



Rep. No. 546. 673 

You are already acquainted with some of the circumstances which have 
rendered necessary the passage of these resolutions. Any further informa- 
tion that may be desired will be communicated by the bearers, the honora- 
ble Richard K. Randolph, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and 
Elisha R. Potter, esq., a member of the Senate of this State. 

I cannot allow myself to doubt but that the assistance to which this State 
is entitled under the constitution of the United States, to protect itself against 
domestic violence, will be promptly rendered by the General Government 
of the Union. 

With great respect, I am your excellency's humble servant, 

SAM. W. KING, 
Governor of Rhode Island. 
To his Excellency John Tvler, 

President of the United States. 



State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation?, 
In General Asseinbly, May sessioji, 1842. 

Whereas a portion of the people of this State, for the purpose of sub- 
verting the laws and existing government thereof, have framed a pretended 
constitution, and for the same unlawful purposes have met in lawless as- 
seihblnges, and elected officers for the future government of this State : and 
whereas the persons so elected, in violation of law, but in conformity to the 
said pretended constitution, have, on the third day of May instant, organ- 
ized themselves into executive and legislative departments of government, 
and, under oath, assumed the duties and exercise of said powers: and 
whereas, isi order to prevent the due execution of the laws, a strong mili- 
tary force was called out, and did array themselves to protect th(? said un- 
lawful organization of government, and to set at defiance the due enforce- 
ment of taw : Therefore, 

Resolved by the General Assembly., That there now exists in this State 
an insurrection against the laws and constituted authorities thereof; and 
that, in pursuance of the constitution and laws of the United States, a re- 
quisition be, and hereby is, made by this legislature upon the President of 
the United States, forthwith to interpose the authority and power of the 
United States to suppress such insurrectionary and lawless assemblages, to 
support the existing government and laws, and protect the State from do- 
mestic violence. 

Resolved^ That his excellency the Governor be requested immediately ta 
transmit a copy of these resolutions to the President of the United S'ates. 

True copy — 

Witness: HENRY BOWEN, 

Secretary of State. 



State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 
Secretary's OJice, May 4, 1842. 
4, Henry Bowen, Secretary of said State, and keeper of the records and 
the seal iliereof, do certify that the ioregoing is a true copy of the resolu- 
43 



674 l^ep. No. 546. 

tion passed by the General Assembly of said State, this fourth day of May 
instant — duly compared. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and affixed the seal 
\l. p 1 of said State, at Newport, the day and year above written. 
^ HENRY BO WEN. 



No. 169. 



77te PresidenVs letter to Governor Kin a-, in reply to his letter of May 4, 

,,4 1842.^ 

Washington, May 7, 1842. 

Sir: Your letter of the 4th instant, transmitting resolutions of the le- 
gislature of Rhode Island, informing me that there existed in that State 
"certain lawless assembhiges of a portion of the people," "for the purpose 
of subverting the laws and overthrowing the existing government," and 
calling upontlre Executive "forthwith to njterpose the authority and power 
of the United States to suppress suoh insurrectionary and lawless assem- 
blages, and to support the existing government and laws, and protect the 
State from domestic violence," was handed me yesterday by Messrs. Ran- 
dolph and Potter. 

1 have to inform your excellency, in reply, that my opinions as to the 
duties of this Government to protect the State of Rhode Island against do- 
mestic violence remain unchanged. Yet, from information received by the 
Executive since your despatches came to hand, I am led to believe that the 
lawless assemblages, to which reference is made, have already dispersed, 
and that the danger of domestic violence is hourly diminishing, if it has 
not wholly disappeared. 1 have with difficulty brought myself at any time 
to believe that violence would be resorted to, or an exigency arise, which 
the unaided power of the State could not meet— especially as 1 have, from 
the first, felt persuaded that your excellency, and others associated with 
yourself in the administration of the government, would exhibit a temper 
of conciliation as well as of energy and decision. To the insurgents them- 
selves, it ought to be obvious, when the excitement of the moment shall 
have passed away, that changes achieved by regular, and, if necessary, re- 
peated appeals to the constituted authorities, in a country so much under 
the influence of public opinion, and by recourse to argument and remon- 
strance, are more likely to ensure lasting blessings than those accomplished 
by violence and bloodshed on one day, and liable to overthrow, by similar 
agents, on another. 

I freely confess that I should experience great reluctance in employing 
the military power of this Government against any portion of the people ; 
but, however painful the duty, I have to assure your excellency that, if 
Tesisiance be made to the execution of the laws of Rhode Island by such 
force as the civil posse shall be unable to overcome, it will be the duty of 
this Government to enforce the constitutional guarantee — a guarantee givea 
anfl adopted mutually by all the original States, of which number Rhode 
Island was one, and which, in the same way, has been given and adopted 
by each of the States since admitted into the Union ; and if an exigency of 
lawless violence shall actually arise, the Executive Governmeut of lh> 



Rep. No. 546. 675 

United States, on the application of your excellency, under the autliority of 
the resolutions of the le2:islaturo already transmitted, will stand ready to 
succor the authorities of the State in their efforts to maintain a due respect 
for the laws. 1 sincerely hope, however, that no such exigency may occur, 
and that every citizen of Rhode Island will manifest his love of peace and 
good order, by submitting to the laws, and seeking a redress of grievances 
by other means than intestine commotions, 

1 tender to your excellency assurances of my distinguished consideration. 

^ JOHN TYLER. 

To the Governor of the State of Rhode Island. 



i\o. 170. 



Letter of Governor Dorr to the President of the United Slates, endoxinor 
resolutions of the General Assembly under the people's constitution that 
the government was organized. 

Sir : As requested by the General Assembly, 1 have the honor of trans- 
milting to you, under the seal of the State, the accompanying resolutions; 
And 1 am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

THOMAS W. DORR, 
Governor of the Slate of Rhode Island 

and Providence Plantations, 
To John Tyler, 

President of the United States. 



STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. 

General As.sembly — May Session, 

Jn the city of Providence, A. D. 1 842. 
Resolved, That the Governor be requested to inform the President of the 
United States that the government of this State has been duly elected 
and organized under the constitution of the same ; and that the General 
Assembly are now in session, and proceeding to discharge their duties ac- 
cording to the provisions of said constitution. 

Resolved, That the Governor he requested to make the same communi- 
cation to the President of the Senate, and to the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, to be laid before the two houses of the Congress of the 
United States. 

Resolved, That the Governor be requested to make the same communi- 
cation to the Governors of the several States, to be laid before the respective 
legislatures. 

A true copy :— -Witness, 

WM. H. SMITH, 

Secretary of iStatpt 



676 Rep. No. 546. 



No. 171. 

[Prii-aie and confidential.] 
Conjideyitial letter of the President to Goveriior King. 

May 9, 1842. 

Sir: Messrs. Randolph and Potter will hand you an official letter; but [ 
think it important that you should be informed of my views and opinions 
as to the best mode of settling all difficulties. I deprecate the use of force, 
except in the last resort : and I am persuaded that measures of conciliation 
will at once operate to produce quiet. 1 am well advised, if the General 
Assembly would authorize you to announce a general amnesty and pardon 
for the past, without making any exception, upon the condition of a return 
to allegiance, and follow it up by a call for a new convention upon some- 
what hbf ral principles, that all difficulty would at once cease. And why 
should not this be done / A government never loses anything by mildness 
and forbearance to its own citizens ; more especially when the consequences 
of an opposite course may be the shedding of blood. In your case, the one- 
half of your people are involved in the consequences of recent proceedings. 
Why urge matters to an extremity? If you succeed by the bayonet, you 
succeed against your own fellow-citizens, and by the shedding of kindred 
blood ; whereas, by taking the opposite course, you will have shown a pa- 
ternal care for the lives of your people. My own opinion is, that the adop- 
tion of the above measures will give you peace, and insure you harmony. A 
resort to force, on the contrary, will engender, for years to come, feelings of 
animosity. 

I have said that I speak advisedly. Try the experiment; and if it fail, 
then your justification in using force become? complete. 

Excuse the freedom I take, and be assured of my respect. 

JOHN TYLER. 

Oovcrnor King, of Rhode Island. 



No. 172. 



heltcT of Governor King to the President, achiowledging the receipt of 
the President'' s letttr of May 9. 

Providence, (R. I.,) May 12, 1842. 
My dear Sir: 1 have had the honor to receive your communication of 
the 9th instant, by l\ir. Randolph, and assure you it has given me much 
satisfaction to know that your views and opinions as to the course proper 
to be pursued by the government of this State, in the present unhappy con- 
dition of our political afiairs, is so much in conformity with my own. 

Our legislature will undoubtedly, at their session ii] .hme !iext, adopt 
^uch measures as will be necessarv to organize a convetition for die lotnui- 



Rep. No. 546. G7t 

tion of a new constitution of government, by which all the evils now com- 
plained of may be removed. 

It has already been announced, as the opinion of the executive, that such 
of our citizens as are or have been engaged in treasonable and revolution- 
ary designs against the State will be ]);irdoned for the past, on the condi- 
tion only that they withdraw themselves from such enterprise, and signify 
their return to their allegiance to the government. 

With high consideration and respect, your obedient and very humble 
servant, 

SAML. W. KING. 

His E.xcellency the Pre.sidsnt of the United States. 



No. 173. 

Letter of Elisha R. Potter to the President. 

KiNc^sTON, (R. I.,) May 15, 1842. 

Dear Sir: We arrived at Newport on Wednesday morning, in time to 
attend the meeting of our legislature. 

The subject of calling a convention immediately, and upon a liberal basis 
as to the right of voting for the delegates, was seriously agitated amongst 
us. The only objection made was, that they did not wish to concede while 
\hQ people's party continued their threals. All allowed that the concession 
must be made, and the only difference of opinion was as to time. 

For my own part, I fear we shall never see the time when concession 
could have been made with better grace, or with better effect, than now. 
If two or three noisy folks among the suffrage party conld only have their 
mouths stopped for a week or two. a reconciliation conld be brought about 
at any time. Or, if Mr. Dorr- would allow himself to be arrested peaceably, 
and give bail, no one could then object. But the supporters of the gov- 
ernment say it is wrong to give up so long as Mr. Dorr threatens actual 
resistance to the laws in case he is arrested. If this could be done, they 
would then consider that they had sufficiently shown their determination 
to support the laws; and the two measures whicli you proposed to us in 
conversation at Washington — a convention, and then a ^e/«era/ amnesty — 
would succeed beyond a doubt. 

Allow me to suggest that if Mr. Wlckliffe, or some one whom you might 
think would have most influence, would address a letter to Governor Fen- 
ner on tlie subject of conciliation, it might he of great service. Governor 
F. is the father-in law of General Mallett, and a member of our Senate, 

Our Assembly adjourned to the third Monday of .Tune; but it is in the 
power of the Governor to call it sooner, which can be done in a day at any 
time. Unless, however, there is a little more prudence in the leaders on 
both sides, we shall then be farther from reconciliation than now. The 
great mass of both parties I believe to be sincerely anxious (or a settlement. 

I do not know whether a letter addressed to the President upon a subject 
of this nature would of course be considered as public, and liable to inspec- 
tion. Few would write freely, if that were the case. If private, I will 



678 Rep. No. 546. 

cheerfully communicate from time to time any information that may be in 
my power, and which might be of any service. 

1 am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

l^JJSHA R. POTTER. 
His Excellency John Tyler, 

President of the United Slates. 

Mr. Dorr returned to Providence this (Monday) morning with an armed 
escort. 

(Wriuen in >:nc:', in same handwriting.) 



No. 174. 
Private letter of the President to Mr. Potter. 

[Private.] 

Washington, May 20, 1842. 

J^EAR Sir : You have my thanks for your favor of the 15th lust., and I 
have to request that you will write to me, without reserve, whenever any- 
thing of importance shall arise. My chief motives for desiring the adoption 
of the measures suggested to you — viz : a general amnesty, and a call of a 
convention— were, 1st. Because I i'elt convinced that peace and harmony 
would follow in their train ; and, 2dly. If in this I was disappointed, the 
insurgents would have had no longer a pretence for an appeal to the public 
sympathies in their behalf. 1 saw nothing to degrade or lo give rise to in- 
jurious reflections against the government of the State, for resorting to eve- 
ry proper expedient in order to quiet the disaflection of any portion of her 
own people. Family quarrels are always the most ditlicult to appease ; but 
everybody will admit that those of the family who do most to reconcile 
them are entitled to the greatest favor. Mr. Dorr's recent proceedings have 
been of so extravagant a character as almost to extinguish the last hope of 
a peaceable result; and yet I cannot but believe that much is meant for 
elFect, and for purposes of intimidation merely. 1 certainly hope that such 
may be the case, though the recent proceedings in New York may have 
excited new feelings and new desires. This mustering of the clans may 
place Governor King in a different situation from that which he occupied 
when 1 had the pleasure of seeing you. Then^ he might have yielded with 
grace ; whether he can do so now, is certainly a question of much difficulty, 
and one on which I cannot venture to express an opinion at this distance 
from the scene of action. 

1 shall be always most happy to hear from you, and your letters will never 
be used to your prejudice. 

Accept assurances of my high respect. 

JOHN TYLER. 

Elisha R, Potter. Esq. 



Rep. No. 540. 679 

No. 175. 

iL.etier of Thomas A. Jenekes^ jirlvnte secretary to Governor King, enclosing 
the proclamation of T. W. Dorr to the ])eople of Rhode hland. 

PuoviDENCE, May 16, 1842. 
Sir: At the fistjiiest of Governor King, I enclose to you an extra of the 
Providence Daily Express o( this morning, containing the proclamation of 
Tliomas VV. Dorr to the people of this State. 

It states definitely the position assumed by him and his faction against 
die government of this State and of the United States. 

His excellency tenders to you the highest respect and consideration. 
Respectfully, yours, 

THOMAS A. JENCKES, 

Private Secretary. 
To the President of the United States. 



STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLAN'TATiONS. 
A PROCLAMATION 

By Thomas \V. Dorr., Governor and commander -in- chif of the same. 

Fellow-citizens : Shortly afier the adjournment of the GeHeral Assem- 
bly, and the completion of indispensable executive business, I was in- 
duced, by the request of the most active friends of our cause, to undertake 
the duty (which had been previously suggested) of representing in person 
the interests of the people of Uhode Island in other States, and at the seat 
of the General Government. By virtue of a resolution of tlie General As- 
sembly, I appomted Messrs. Pearce and Anthony commissioners for the 
same purpose. 

Of tlie proposed action of the Executive in the affairs of our State, you 
have been already apprized. In case of the failure of the civil posse (which 
expression was intended by the President, as I have been informed, to 
embrace the military power) to execute any of the laws of the charter As- 
sembly, including their law of pains and penalties, and of treason, as it has 
been for the first time defined, tlie President intimates an intention of re- 
sorting to the firces of the United States to check the movements of the 
people of this State in support of tlieir republican constitution recently 
adopted. 

From a decision which coutlicts with the right of sovereignty inherent 
in the people of this State, and with the principles which lie at the foun- 
dation of a democratic republic, an appeal has been taken to the people of 
our country. They understand our cause; they sympathize in the inju- 
ries wiiich have been inflicted upon us ; they disapprove the course which 
the national Executive has adopted towards this State ; and they assure us 
of their disposition and intention to interpose a barrier between the sup- 
porters of the people's constitution and the hired soldiery of the United 
States. The democracy of the country are slow to move in any matter 
which involves an issue so momentous as that which is presented by the 



680 Rep. No. 546. 

controversy in Rhode Island ; but when they have once put themselves in 
■niolion, they are not to be easily diverted from their purposes. They be- 
lieve that tlie people of Rhode Island are in the right ; that they are con^ 
tending for equal justice in their political system ; that they have properly 
adopted a constitution of government for themselves, as they were entitled 
to do ; and they cannot, and will not, remain indifferent to any act, from 
whatever motive it may proceed, which ihey deem to be an invasion of 
the sacred riglu of self-government, of which the p^ple of the respective 
States cannot be divested. ,* 

As your representative, I have been everywhere received with th 
most kindness and cordiality. To the people of the city of New Y 
who have extended to us the hand of a generous fraternity, it is impossi- 
ble to overrate our obligation at this most important crisis. 

r has become my duty to say, that, so soon as a soldier of the United 
Stat^i shall be set in motion, by whatever direction, to act against the 
people of this State, in aid of the charter government, I shall call for that 
aid to oppose all such force, which, I am fully authorized to say, will be 
immediately and most cheerfully tendered to the service of the people of 
Rhode Island from the city of New York and from other places. The 
contest will then become national, and our State the battle-ground of Ameri- 
can freedom. 

As a Rhode Island man, I regret that the constitutional question in this 
State cannot be adjusted among our own citizens; but, as the minority 
have asked that the sword of the national Executive may be thrown into 
the scale against the people, it is imperative upon them to make the same 
appeal to their brethren of the States — an appeal v/hich, they are well as- 
sured, will not be made in vain. They who have been the first to ask 
assistance from abroad, can have no reason to complain of any conse- 
quences which may ensue. 

No further arrests under the law of pains and penalties, which was re- 
pealed by the General Assembly of the people at their May session, will be 
permitted. I hereby direct the military, under their respective officers, 
promptly to prevent the same, and to release all who may be arrested under 
sail law. 

As requested by the General Assembly, I enjoin upon the militia forth- 
with to elect their company officers; and I call upon volunteers to organ- 
ize themselves without delay. The military are directed to hold them- 
selves in readiness for immediate service. 

J- , Given under mv hand, and the seal of the State, at the city of Provi- 
1^^- ■'^•-1 dence, this 0th day of May, A. D. 1842. 

THOMAS W. DORR, 
Governor and commander-in-chief of the 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

By the Governor's command : 

William H. Smith, Secretaiy of State. 



Rep. No. 546. 681 

No. 176. 

Letter from Governor King to the Pre.ndent, stating that Mr. Dorr is 
organizing troops'i7i other States, and colling for military aid. 

Providence, R. L, May 25, 1842. 

Sir : Since my last communication, the surface of things in this city and 
State has been more quiet. Tlie complete dispersing of the insurgents, and 
the flight of their leader, on Wednesday last, the ISth instant, seemed to 
have broken their strength, and prevented them from making head openly 
in any quarter. 

But another crisis now appears to be approaching. By the private ad- 
vices received by myself and the Council, from our messengers in the neigh- 
boring States, we learn that Dorr and his agents are enlisting men, and col- 
lecting- arms, for the purpose of again attempting to subvert, by open war, 
the government of this State. Those who iiave assisted him at liome, m 
his extreme measures, are again holding secret councils, and making prepa- 
rations to rally on his return. Companies of men, pledged to support him, 
have met and drilled in the north part of this State during the present 
week. 

From the forces which he can collect among our own citizens, we have 
nothing to fear. Our own military strength has once scattered them, and 
could as easily do so a second time. But if the bands which are now or- 
ganizing in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, should make the 
incursion which they threaten, with Dorr at their bead, we have reason to 
apprehend a civil war of the most destructive and vindictive character. 
Our own f)rces might be sufficient to repel them; but having little disci- 
pline, and no officer of military experience to lead them, they could not do 
It without the loss of many valuable lives. 

For the evidence that such forces are organizing in other States, 1 refer 
your excellency to a letter from Governor Seward, of New York, and to a 
statement made by one of our messengers m the Council, which will be 
handed you. Other messengers confirm, to the fullest exteiu, the same in- 
telligence. 

In this posture of affairs, I deem it my duty to call upon your excel- 
lency for the support guarantied by the constitution and laws of the United 
States to this government. 1 would submit to your excellency whether a 
movement of a sufficient body of troops to this quarter, to be stationed at 
Fort Adams, and to be subject to the requisitions of the executive of this 
State, whenever, in his opinion, the exigency should arise to require their 
assistance, would not be the best measure to insure peace and respect for 
the laws, and to deter invasions. 

You will see by the statement of the secret agent of the government that 
the time set for this incursion is very near. The mustering of the insur- 
gents, and their movement upon the city, will probably be with the greatest 
expedition, when once commenced — in a time too short for a messenger x<y 
reach Washington and return with aid. I therefore make this application 
before any movement of magnitude on their part, in order that we may be 
prepared, at the briefest notice, to quell domestic insurrection and repel in- 
vasion. 

SAM. W. KING, 
Governor of Rhode IsUmd. 

To the President of the United States. 



682 Rep. No. 546. 

- No. 177. 
The President's reply to the foregoing, promising the aid required. 

Wasbington Citv, May 28, 1842. 

Sir: I have received your excellency's communication of the 25th in- 
stant, informing me of efforts making by Mr. Dorr and others to embody a 
force in the contiguous States for the invasion of the Slate of Rliode Island, 
and calling upon the Executive of the United States for military aid. 

In answer, I have to inform your excellency that means have been taken 
to ascertiiin the extent of the dangers of any armed invasion, by the citizens 
of other States, of the State of Rhode Island, either to put down her gov- 
ernment or to disturb her peace. The apparent improbability of a viola- 
tion so flagrant and unprecedented of all our laws and institutions, makes 
me, I confess, slow to believe that any serious attempts will be made to ex- 
ecute the designs which some evil-minded persons may have formed. 

But, should the necessity of the case require the interposition of the au- 
tliority of the United States, it will be rendered in the manner prescribed 
by the laws. 

In the mean time, 1 indulge the confident expectation, founded upon the 
recent manifestations of public opinion in your State in favor of law and 
order, thai your own resources and means will be abundantly adequate to 
preserve the public peace, and that tha difficulties which have arisen will 
be soon amicably and permanently adjusted, by the exercise of a spirit of 
liberality and forbearance, 

JOHN TYLbiR. 

Ilis Kxcellency Governor King. 



No. 178. 
Letter of the Secretary of War to Colortel Bankhead. 

War DepartxMent, May 28, 1842. 

Sir: The Governor of Rhode Island has represented to the President 
that preparations are making by Mr. Dorr, and some of his adherents, to re- 
cruit men in the neighboring States, for the purpose of supporting his usurp- 
ation of the powers of government, and thfU he has provided arms and camp 
equipage for a large number of men. It is very important that we should 
liave accurate information on this subject, and particularly in relation to 
the movements made in other States. I have therefore to desire you to em- 
ploy proper persons to go to the places where it may be supposed such 
preparations are making, to possess themselves fully of all that isdoinff and 
in contemplation, and report frequently to you. It is said that Mr. Dorr's 
principal headquarters are at the town of Thompson, in the State of Con- 
necticut. It may be well for you to communicate personally with Gover- 
nor King, and ascertain from him the points and places at which any prep- 
arations for embodying men are supposed to be making, and to direct 
your inquiries accordingly. 

It is important that you should select persons on whose integrity and 
accuracy the fullest reliance can be placed. They should not be partisans 



Rep. No. 546. 683 

on either side ; although, to eiTect the object, it will of course be necessary 
ihat some of them should obtain (if they do not already possess) the confi- 
dence of the friends of Mr. Dorr. You will please communicate directly 
to me all the information you obtain, and your own views of it. 

It is scarcely necessary to say that this communication is of the most 
private and confidential character, and is not to be made known to anyone. 
Respecthilly, your obedient servant. 

J. C. SPENCER. 
Col. Bankhead. Neil-port^ R. 1. 



No. 179. 
Letter of J. C. Speiiccr to Gen. Eustis. 

War Department, May 29, 1842. 

Sir : The Governor of Rhode Island has represented to the President 
that preparations are making in other States (particularly in Massachusetts) 
for an armed mvasion of that State, to support the usurpations of Mr. Dorr 
and his friends, and foment domestic insurrection. It is very important 
that we should have accurate information on this subject ; and 1 have to 
desire you to take all necessary means to acquire it, and communicate di- 
rectly to me, as speedily and frequently as possible. It is said that 1,000 
stand of arms have been procured in Boston, some pieces of artillery, and 
a large quantity of camp equipage, fjr the use of the insurgents. Your 
attention to this is particularly desired to ascertain its truth or falsehood. 
It is also said that there are 200 men enrolled and embodied in a town upon 
the borders of Rhode Island, the name of which has escaped me. Please 
inquire into this. If it becomes necessary to employ confidential persons 
to discover what is doing, you will do so — being careful to select tliose only 
that are entirely trustworthy; and it will be desirable to avoid heated par- 
tisans on either side. Their inquiries should be conducted quietly and pri- 
vately. 

I desire you to communicate fully and freely what you may learn, and 
your views concerning it, for the mformation of the President and the de- 
partment. 

It is scarcely necessary to say that this communication is strictly private 
and confidential. 

Kespectfullv, your obedient servant. 

J. C. SPENCER. 

Brig. Gen. Eustis, Boston. 



No. 180. 

Instructions of the President to the Secretary of War. 

The Secretary of War will issue a private order to Colonel Bankhead, 
commanding at Newport, to employ, if necessary, a private and confidential 
person or persons to go into all such places, and among all such persons, as 



684 Rep. No. 546. 

he may have reason to believe to be likely to give any information touching 
Khode Island aftairs, and to report with the greatest despatch, if necessary, 
to the President. He will also address a letter to General Wool, conveying 
to him the fears entertained of a hostile invasion contemplated to place 
Dorr in the chair of State of Rhode Island, by persons in the States of (Con- 
necticut and New York ; and also to General Eastis, at Boston, of a sim- 
ilar character; with instructions to adopt such inquiries (to be secretly made) 
as they may deem necessary, and to report with the greatest despatch all 
information which from time to time they may acquire. 

(Endorsed "President's instructions, May 28, 1842.") 



No. 181. 
Letter of the Preside fd to the Secretari/ of War. 

Washington, Jime 29, 1842. 

Sir : From the official communication of Colonel Bankhead to you, this 
day laid before me, it is evident that the difficulties in Rhode Island have 
arrived at a crisis which may require a prompt interposition of the Execu- 
tive of the United States to prevent the effusion of blood. From the corres- 
pondence already had with the Governor of Rhode Island, 1 have reason to 
expect that a requisition will be immediately made by the government of 
that State for the assistance guarantied by the constitution to prolect its citi- 
zens from domestic violence. With a view to ascertain the true condition 
of things, and to render the assistance of this Government (if any shall be 
required) as prompt as may be, you are instructed to proceed to Rhode 
Island; and, in the event of a requisition being made upon the President, 
in conformity with the laws of the United States, you will cause the proc- 
lamation herewith delivered to be published. And should circumstances, 
in your opmion, render it necessary, you will also call upon the Governors 
of Massachusetts and Connecticut, or either of them, for such number and 
description of the militia of their respective States as may be sufficient to 
terminate at once the insurrection in Rhode Island ; and, in the mean time, 
the troops in the vicinity of Providence may with propriety be placed in such 
positions as will enable them to defend that city from assault. 

JOHN TYLER. 

The Secretary of War. 



No. 182. 



Piodamation by the President of the United States to the people of Rhode 

Islajid. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas the legislature of the State of Rhode Island has applied to the 
President of the United States, setting forth the existence of a dangerous 



Rep. No. 546. 685 

insurrection in that State, coiiiposed partly of deluded citizens of the Stale, 
but chiefly of intruders of dangerous and abandoned character comiqo^ 
from other States, and requiring the immediate interposition of the consti- 
tutional power vested in him to be exercised in such cases, I do issue this 
my proclamation, according to law, hereby commanding all insurgents, and 
all persons connected with said insurrection, to disperse and retire peace- 
ably to their respective abodes within twenty-four hours from the time 
Avhen this proclamation shall be made public in Rhode Island. 

In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the United States to be 
hereunto affixed, and signed the same vvith my hand. 

Done at the city of Washington, this day of , in the year 

r -| of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two. and of the 
''■ ■ ■-' independence of the United States the sixtv-sixth. 

JOHN TYLKR. 

Hy the President : 

Daniel Webster, 

Secretary of State. 



No. 183. 



Letter of Daniel Webster^ Secretary of Slatt, to the President^ enclosing 
an anonymous letter of the same date. 

New York, June 3, 1842. 
My dear Sir: I came to this city yesterday, having taken a severe cold 
on the Sound, and am now just out of my bed. I transmit, herewith, a 

letter from . a friend appointed by me, as you requested, to look into 

the Rhode Island business. Mr. has had access to authentic sources 

in Governor Dorr's party, and I have no doubt his account of the whole 
matter is perfectly just. I supposed I should receive the foreign mail here : 
but I shall not wait for it. if I should feel well enough to travel to-morrow! 

Y^ours, truly, 



'Vo the President. 



DANIRL WEBSTER. 



[Private.] 

New York, June ?, 1842. 
i^earSir: In pursuance of the arrangement made when you were in 
Boston, I have visited the State of Rhode Island, and, so far as could be 
xlone, possessed myself of a knowledge of the existing state of things there. 
1 had a full and free interview with Governor King and his council, as 
well as with several other gentlemen upon each side of the matter in con- 
troversy. All agree that, so fir as the people of Rhode Island are con- 
cerned, there is no danger of any further armed resistance to the legitimate 
authorities of the State. It was never intended, probably, by the majority 
of those called the suffrage party, to proceed, in any event, to violence ; 
and when they found themsdves pushed to such an extremity by their 



686 Rep. No. 546. 

leaders, they deserted their leaders, and are now every day enrolling them- 
selves in the volunteer companies, which are being organized in every part 
of the State lor the suppression of any further insurrectionary movements 
that may be made. A large nicijority of those elected or appointed to office 
under the people's constitution, (so called.) have resigned their places, and 
renounced all allegiance to that constitution and the party which supports 
?t; so that the msurgents are now without any such organization as would 
enable them to carry out their original purposes, if they otherwise iiad the 
power. 

Governor King and his council alone, of all the intelligent persons with 
whom I have consulted, fear an irruption upon them of an armed force to 
be collected in other States; and this is the only difficulty of which they 
now have any apprehension. This fear is excited by the boasts, frequently 
made by the few who still avow their determination to adhere to the con- 
stitution, that they have at their control large bodies of armed men, as well 
as camp equipage, provisions, money, and munitions of war, which have 
been provided for them in JVIassachusetts, Connecticut, and Kew York. 
The supposition that Rhode Island is to be invaded by a foreign force, 
when that force would neither be led nor followed by any considerable 
number of the people of the State, does not seem (to say the least) to be a 
very reasonable one. 1( those who think they are suffering injustice are 
not disposed to make an effort to redress their supposed wrongs, they would 
hardly expect the work to be done by others. 

The ostensible object of the insurgents now, is not the real one. They 
meditate no further forcible proceedings. They bluster and threaten for 
several reasons : 

1st. Because they suppose they shall thus break their fall a little, and 
render their retreat a little less inglorious than it would be if they should 
beat it at once. 

2d. They believe that if they keep up a show of opposition to the exist- 
ino- government, they shall be more likely to revolutionize it by peaceable 
measures ; and 

3d. They think they can make their influence so far felt, as to operate 
favorably upon those who are now under arrest for treason, or who may be 
hereafter arrested for the same offence. 

That these are the viev/s and purposes of the insurgents, I am confiden- 
tially assured by the notorious individual from whon), I told you, I could 
learn their plans and designs ; and no one has better means of knowing 
than he, having been himself one of Mr. Dorr's confidential advisers from 
the beginning. 

The meeting at Woonsocket, on the 1st, did not amount to much, being 
but thinly attended. The projected fortifications at that place have been 
abandoned. It is said they will be thrown up in some other spot, to be 
designated hereafter ; but this is not believed. 

Mr. Dorr is now understood to be lurking in this city. Warrants have 
been issued for his arrest, both by the Governor of this State and the Gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts; but fie moves so privately, and shifts his where- 
abouts so often, that he eludes hia pursuers. 

Under all the circumstances, I tfiink you will come to the opinion enter- 
tained by seven eighths of all the people of Providence, (the scene of his 
operations thus far,) that, deserted by his followers at home, and disgraced 



Rep. No. .546. 687 

in the estimation of those who s^^mpathized with him abroad, Mr. Dorr has 
it not in his power to do any furtlier serious mischief. 
Yours, very truly, 



Hon. Daniel Webster, 

Secretary of State. 



No. 184. 
'Letter of Colonel Bankhead to the Secretary of War. 

Providence, R. I., June 22, 1842. 

Sir: When I hist had the honor to write to you, I felt confident that 
there would be no further disturbance of the peace in this State. Gov^ernor 
King was of the same opinion. But I now fear, from strong indications, 
that Mr. Dorr and his party are determined to enter the State in force ; and 
that, in a few days, serious difficulties will arise. 

On my arrival here this morning from Newport, on my way to New 
York, I learned from undoubted authority that several large boxes of mus- 
kets, supposed to contain about eiijhty, were received the evening before 
last, at Woonsocket, from New York ; that several mounted cannon had 
also been received there, and forwarded on to Chepachet; that a nuihber 
of men, not citizens of the State, with arms, were in and about Woonsocket 
and Chepachet; that forty-eight kegs of powder were stolen on t'unday 
night last from a powder-house in this neighborhood ; and that Dorr, with 
about twenty men, landed last evening at Norwich. 

An unsuccessful attempt was made, two nights ago, to steal the guns of 
the artillery company at Warren, and at several other places wliere guns 
liad been deposited by the State, by some of Dorr's men — one of whom has 
been identified and arrested. 

It has been observed, for several days past, that many of the suflYage 
party, and residents of this city, have been sending off their /amilies and 
effects. The inhabitants of the city are seriously alarmed, and in a state of 
much excitement. An express to convey the above intelligence to Gov- 
ernor King, at Newport, will be immediately sent down by the mayor of the 
city. 

I shall be in New York early to morrow morning, ready to receive any 
instructions you may think proper to honor me with. 

I liave been compelled to write this in haste. 

I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, 

JAS. BANKHEAD, 
Colonel 2d Regiment of Artillery. 

Hon. J. C. Spencer, 

' Secretary of War. 



ijSS Rep. No. 546. 

No. 1S5. 
Litter of E. J. Mallett to the Postmaster General 

June 26, 1S42. 

Dear Sir : The rumor of this morninfr I have ascertained to be a fact — 

that 48 kegs o{ gunpowder were stolen from a private magazine last niglit. 

In haste, respectfully, 



E. J. MALLETT. 



Hon. C. A. WiCKLIFFE. 



No. 186. 



Letter of Thomas M. Burgess, mayor of Providence, to the President. 

City of Providence, 
Mayor's Office, June 23, 1842. 

Sir: Governor King having gone to Newport this afternoon, has re- 
quested me to forward his letter to your excellency, with such depositions 
as I could procure concerning the state of affairs in the north part of the 
State. These documents will be taken on by the Hon. William Sprague,. 
cur Senator, who intends leaving to-night for Washington. Should any 
accident prevent Mr. Sprague from going, I shall forward them lo be put in 
the mail. I enclose the depositions of Messrs. Samuel W. Peckham and 
Charles J. Harris. Messrs. Keep and Shelley, whom I sent out, have just 
returned. If I can get their depositions in time, I shall also forward them. 

About 1 1 a. m., this day, a body marched from Woonsocket to Chepachet, 
amounting to 90 men, and other small bodies are marching in that direc- 
tion; so that 1 suppose that about 400 will be concentrated at Chepachet 
this evening. 

In this city there is much excitement, but no symptoms, as yet, of meti 
gathering with arms. There are many who, I fear, will be ready to join in 
any mischief, should Dorr's forces approach us. Up to 8 o'clock this 
morning Mr. Dorr was in Connecticut, but a gentleman from Chepachet 
informs me his friends expect him this day. 

I remain, with great respect, your obedient servant, 

TMOMAS M. BURGESS, Mayor. 

To the President OF the United States. 



No. 187. 
Letter of Governor King to the President. 

ExF.cuTivK Department, 
Providence^ .June 2o, 1842, 

Sir: After my last communication, the excitement and military opera- 
lions of the insufgeuta against ihe goveinment oi this State appeared to 



Rep. No. 546. 689 

subside, and I indulged hopes that no open violence would be attempted, 
but that they were disposed to await the action of the General Assembly, 
now in session at Newport. I regret that I am obliged to inform your ex- 
cellency ihat, withm a few days past, appearances have become more alarm- 
ing. Several iron cannon have been stolen from citizens of Providence ; and 
during the night of the 19th, a powder-house, owned by a merchant of 
Providence, was broken open, and about twelve hundred pounds of powder 
stolen therefrou). Yesterday the military operations of the insurgents be- 
came more decided in their character. At Woonsocket and Chepachet 
there were gatherings of men in military array, pretending to act under the 
authority of Thomas VV. Dorr. They established a kind of martial law m 
those villages; stopped peaceable citizens in the highways; and at Chepa- 
chet four citizens of Providence vvere seized by an armed force, pinioned, 
and compelled to march about ten mile? under a guard of about forty men, 
to Woonsocket, where they were cruelly treated, under pretence of being 
spies. The insurgents are provided with cannon, tents, ammunition, and 
stores. 

It is ascertained that Thomas W. Dorr has returned from the city of New 
York to the State of Connecticut, and I have reason to believe he will be at 
Chepachet this day, wliere he will concentrate what forces he has already 
under arms, with such others as he can collect. Those already assembled 
are composed of citizens of other States, as well as of our own, and are va- 
riously estimated at 50(J to 1,00U men. 

I have this morning had an interview with Colonel Bankhead, who will 
comnmnicate to the War Department such facts as have come to his knowl- 
edge. 

1 would further state to your e.Kcellency, that in those villages, and their 
vicinity, the civil aiuhority is disregarded and paralyzed. 

Under these circumstances, I respectfully submit to your excellency that 
the crisis has arrived when the aid demanded by the Legislature of the 
State from the Federal Government is imperatively required, to furnish that 
protection to our citizens from domestic violence, which is guarantied by 
the constitution and laws of the United States. 

I confidently trnst that your excellency will adopt such measures as will 
afford us prompt and efficient relief. 

1 remain, with great consideration, your obedient servant, 

SAMUEL W. KING. 

His Excellency John Tyleii, 

President of the United States. 



No. 188. 

Letter of the President in reply. 

Washington, June 25, 1842. 
Sir : Your letter of the 23d instant was this day received by the hands of 
Gov. Sprague, together with the documents accompanying the same. You^ 
excellency has unintentionally overlooked the fact that the legislature oi 
ilhode Island is now in session. The act of Congress gives, to the Execut 
tive of the United States no power to isummon to the aid of the State the 



690 Rep. No. 546. 

military force of the United State?, unless an application shall be made by 
the legislature, if in session; and that the State executive cannot make 
such application, except when the legislature cannot be convened. (See 
act of Congress, February 28, 1795.) 

I presume that your excellency has been led into the error of making 
this application, (the legislature of the Slate being in session at the date of 
your despatch,) from a misapprehension of the true import of my letter of 7th 
May last. 1 lose no time in correcting such misapprehension, if it exist. 

Should the legislature of Rhode Island deem it proper to make a similar 
application to that addressed to me by your excellency, their communica- 
tion shall receive all the attention which will be justly due to the high 
source from which such application shall emanate. 

1 renew to your excellency assurances of high consideration. 

J. TYLER. 

Governor King. 



No. 189. 



Depositions of Samuel W. Peckham, Charles F. Harris^ Charles J. Sheh 

ley, and John C Keep. 

I, Samuel W. Peckham, of Providence, in the county of Providence, State 
of Rhode Island, on oath, depose and say : On the eveninjr of 22d of June, 
at the request of Edward Carrington, one of the executive council, I went, 
in company with Charles F. Harris, to the village of Chepachet, to see what 
movements, if any, were making by the insurgents, and to re|)ort the same 
to the Governor and Council. We arrived at the edge of the village just 
before 2 o'clock on the morning of the 23d instant. As we came to the cor- 
ner turning down into the village, we observed a man on horseback ap- 
proaching us, who wheeled round, and went in an opposite direction. We 
had not proceeded far, when some one hailed : "Who comes there?" Har- 
ris answered, " a friend." The man who hailed, or his companion, approach- 
ed us, and said, " two damned landholders," and said something about spies. 
This man appeared to be one of an armed company of about 30 men, apart 
<3f whom were directly in front of us. We were ordered to get out of the 
carriao-e, and asked if we had any arms, and were compelled to give up a 
pair of small pocket pistols. We were then ordered to place ouim Ives be- 
tween the files of the company of armed men, and were marched up into 
the village to a barn, where we found other men engaged in binding the 
armsof two others, (Messrs. Keep and Shelley,) who were bound to Killingly, 
Conn. These gentlemen belong in Providence, and are members of the 
National Cadet company. They told us that they were seized as they were 
hitching their horse under a shed. After Shelley and Keep were pinioned, 
the men ordered that we should be served likewise ; the cord being passed 
across each arm, and drawn tight just above the elbow. When the man 
was tying Harris, he kicked him severely several times, and swore at him. 
Having secured the four in this manner, we were placed in the midst of the 
armed body of men, followed by a large cannon drawn by two horses, with 
the muzzle pointed in the rear, and marched to Woonsocket Falls, a dis- 
tange of twelve miles. During the first half of the march, the men seemed 



Rep. No. 546. • 691 

to be in great haste, expecfins;, as they said, 800 men would overtake them 
from Providence. Mr. Shelley, being a fleshy man, and subject to attacks 
of pleurisy, could not walk so fast as the party, and they repeatedly pricked 
him with a bayonet. When about liaif the distance between Chepachet 
and Woonsocket, the cords about our arms were loosened, being so very 
tight that Mr. Keep's hands were black and blue. We arrived in Woon- 
socket before 6 o'clock this morning, and were carried to a hill on the west- 
ern side of the village, near the spot where appeared to be the headquar- 
ters of the insurgents. We drew up in line, and the cannon was discharged 
two or three times ; and tliere seemed to be between two and three hundred 
of the insurgents who had exclusive possession of this part of the village. 
Previous to our entry, the cannon, before referred to, had been discharged 
of its contents. Afier remaining on this hill about half an hour in the wet 
grass, Major Allen (as he was called) invited us down into a barn into the 
village, which seemed to be used by the insurgents as an arsenal. I should 
have mentioned that Mr. Shelley having become so much exhausted during 
the march, they were compelled to put him into their wagon containing 
their ammuniiion. In this barn men were employed making cartridges for 
guns ; and also observed ihere musket cartridges and kegs, which contained 
powder. Seeing some hay in the lo(t, we climbed up there and lay down. 
Several of the men came up and conversed with us. 

B. G. West, one of the company who escortpd us from Chepachet, came 
and said that we would probably be released, as the sutfrage party were dis- 
satisfied somewhat with the movement. About half-past 8 o'clock this 
morning we were released, they having previously given us some coffee 
and pie. The officers appeared to be anxious to get us out of the way of 
their men, and asked if we did not wish a guard to get through the village, 
intimating that we might be recaptured. During the conversation with- 
West, he told us that there would be 2,000 men in Woonsocket and Che- 
pachet before sunset; some of them were on their way. He also said that^ 
five cannon were expected from New York, and ihat the insurgents had select- 
ed a site for a fortification. When on the hill in Woonsocket, we were in- 
sulted by the men and boys, W^est said that nothing short of putting out 
the " people's constitution" (so called) would satisfy Dorr and his party, and 
also tlie repeal of the Algerine law, (so called ;) and from the declarations 
and movements of West, and the men associated with him, it is their deter- 
mination to maintain their consiitution, or die in the attempt. 

While on the road, Mr. Shelley asked for water, and they refused him. 

SAMUEL W. PECKHAM. 

Providence, ss : 

In Providence, this 23d day of June, A. D. 1842, subscribed and sworn 
to before me, 

HENRY L. BOWMEN, Justice Peace. 



I, Charles F. Harris, of Providence, in the county of Providence, on 
oath depose and say : Having just read the deposition of Samuel W. Peck- 
ham, 1 fully confirm all the statements made by him. In addition thereto, 
I would state, that, in passing from Chepachet to Woonsocket, we met a 
doctor, as the men called him: 1 supposed him to be a Doctor Ballon, who 
lives in Woonsocket. He stopped his sulkey, and the officers came about 



692 • ' Kep. No. 546. 

him. They had some conversation, (a part of which I heard,) to this 
■effect. The doc(or said, "We have five cannon at Chepachet ;" and one of 
the officers (Allen, I think it was) said, " Send them over with horses;" to 
which he replied, "I will." 1 heard West say that Dorr was coming to 
Rhode Island, and would lay Ids bones here, and would not be driven out 
of it again by any one. I have been in many distant parts of this country, 
and have seen the worst descriptions of men ; but 1 must add, that a more 
desperate and blood thirsty gang I never nset with, tlian those who escorted 
us from Chepachet to Woonsocket. 

CHARLES F. HARRIS. 

Providencr, 55; 

In Providence, this 23d day of June, A. D. 1842. subscribed and sworn, 
to before me, 

HENRY L. BOW EN, Justice Peace. 



I, Charles J. Shelley, of Providence, in the county of Providence, on oath 
depose and say: The facts as given in the deposition of Mr. Peckham 
are all true, Irom the lime I fell in with Mr. Peckham at Chepachet. And 
in addition to what Mr. Peckham has stated. I would say, 1 left Woonsocket, 
after being released, at half-past ten o'clock tliis morning. I went to Che- 
pachet, where my carriage was, in company with a Mr. Chase. From 80 
to 100 armed men, commanded by West and Allen, (as referred to in Mr. 
Peckham's deposition,) started from Woonsocket for Chepachet, and, on the 
road, the number increased to some 30O. We arrived in Chepachet, took 
our horse and carriage, and started for Providence, where we arrived safe 
and exhausted. At the place of rendezvous I observed a number of wagons 
filled with calves and lambs. 

CHARLES J. SHELLEY. 



I, John C. Keep, of Providence aforesaid, on oath depose and say: That 
all the facts as stated by Messrs. Peckham, Harris, and Shelley, are strictly 
true ; and, in addition to their statements, I would say, that after we were 
released, 1 rode on a wagon to Chepachet, (where we had left our horse and 
carnage,) witii Mr. Read, one of the officers commanding the insurgents. 
Read said that if the fegislature, at its present session, should extend suf- 
frage, it would make no difference to them ; they should still go on, and 
nothuig short of their constitution would satisfy them. They expected a. 
force of 2,0U0 collected within 48 hours. Their determination was to come 
to Providence, send a flag of truce, and, if not obeyed, to bombard the city; 
that they should keep enough of their men to set fire to the city. I saw 
among the insurgents' ranks men whom I knew to belong to the city of 
]\ew York. Read also said that, at a private signal given, men would 
come to their assistance from Connecticut. A more desperate set of men I 
never before fell in with. 

JOHN C. KEEP. 

PaOVIDENCE. ss : 

In Providence, this 23d day of June, A. D. 1842, subscribed and swora 
to before me, 

HENRY L. BO WEN, Justice of the Peace, 



Rep. No. 546. 693 

No. 190. 

Letter of Lieutenant E. D. Townsend to the Secretary of War. 

New Yokk, June 23, 1842. • 
Sir: Colonel Bankhead has instrucled me to inform you that, while on 
his way to New York, yesterday, he was met at Stonington by the Governor 
of Rhode Island, who had crossed over from Newport, for the purpose of 
communicating with him. 

After this interview, Colonel Bankhead resolved to return to Newport. 
He ordered me to give you this information, having stated in his letter of 
yesterday that he should he at New York this morning, and not having 
•lime before the boat lejt Stonington to write you himself. 

With great respect, I am your obedient servant, 

E. D. TOWNSEND, 
\st Lievt.^ A('jiUant 2d Artillery. 
Hon. John C. Spencrr, 

Secretary of War. 



No. 191. 
Letter of Colonel James Bankhead to the Secretary of War. 

Providence, R I., June 23, 1842. 

Sir: I addressed you yesterday afternoon, in great haste, that my letter 
might go by. the mail, (then about being closed,) to inform 3'ou o[ the sud- 
den change in the aspect of affairs in this State ; and also to inform you 
that I should be this morning at Governor's island, New York. 

At the urgent solicitation of Governor '^ving, who crossed over from 
Newport to Stonington to intercept me on the route, I returned last night 
to this place h'om Stonington, having proceeded so far on my way to New 
York. 

In addition to what I stated in my letter yesterday, I learn from Governor 
King, (who has just called on me,) that four citizens of this city, who had 
gone to Chepachet to ascertain what v/as going on there, were arrested as 
spie.s, by the insurgents, bound, andsent last niglU to Woonsocket, where 
they were confined when Iiis informant left there, at 8 o'clock this morning; 
also that martial law liad been proclaimed by the insurg-ents at Woonsocket 
and Chepachet, and no one was allowed to enter or depart Irom either 
place, without permission. 

The citizens of this city are in a state of intense excitement. 

I shall return to morrow to Newport, to await any instructions you may 
be pleased to favor me with. 

I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, 

J AS. BANKHEAD, 
Colonel 2d RegH Artillery. 

Hon. John C. Spencer, 

Secretary of War. 



694 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 192. 

Letter of Colonel James Bankhcad to the Adjutant General of the United 

States. 

Providence, R. L, June 23, 1842. 

Sir: I left Newport yesterday morning, to return to Fort Columbus, 
wiih the belief that my presence could no longer be necessary for the pur- 
pose I held been ordered there for. The legislature was in session, and, as 
I was well assured, determined honestly and faithfully to adopt measures 
to meet the wishes of the citizens of this State, to form a constitution on 
such liberal principles as to insure full satisfaction to all patriotic and intel- 
ligent men, who had any interest in the welfare of the State, The well- 
known intention of the legislature, in this respect, would, I hoped and be- 
lieved, reconcile the factions and produce tranquillity. But the aspect of 
nfTairs has suddenly become more threatening and alarming. There is an 
assemblage of men at Woonsocket and Chepachet, two small villages (say 
fifteen miles distant hence) on the borders of Connecticut, composed prin- 
cipally of strangers, or persons from otiier States. They have rece»itly re- 
ceived seventy-five muskets from Boston, and eighty from New York, in 
addition to former supplies. They have also several mounted cannon and 
a large quantity of ammunition ; forty-eight kegs of which they stole from 
a puwder-lionse, not far distant from this — the property of a manufacturer 
of powder. Dorr, it is supposed, joined his party at one of the above- 
named places the night before last; he has certainly returned from New 
York, and passed through Norwich. Mis concenlrated forces are variously 
estimated at from five hundred to a thousand men. 

1 had proceeded thus far yesterday afternoon, on my return to New 
York, and had taken my seat in the cars for Stonington, when an express 
from Governor King, who was at Newport, overtook me, to request that I 
would not leave the State ; — too late, however, for me then to stop here, as 
the cars were just moving- ofl^. On geuing to Stonington, I there found 
Governor King, who had crossed over from Newport to intercept me ; and, 
at his sohciiation, I at once returned wiih him last night, in an extra car, 
to this place. Not then having a moment's time to write you, as the steam- 
boat left immediately on the arrival of the cars at Stonington, 1 sent my 
adjutant on in the boat, with directions to report to you the fact and the 
cause of my return. 

1 had written thus far, when the Governor called on me, and has in- 
formed me that four citizens of this Stale, who had gone to Chepachet to 
ascertain the exact state of affairs there, were arrested as spies, bound, and 
sent last night to Woonsocket, where, two hours ago, they were still in con- 
finement. Martial law has been declared in Chepachet and Woonsocket, 
and no one allowed to enter or depart without permission. I yesterday 
afternoon wrote to the Secretary of War, (as 1 had been directed,) in great 
haste, however, to send by the mail, to inform him of the sudden change 
in the aspect of atfhirs here; in which letter I stated thai I should be at 
Governor's island this morning. As I, of course, then did not contemplate 
to the contrary, 1 beg you will do me the favor to acquaint him with the 
cause of my return. 

1 can only add, that the citizens of this place are in a state of intense 
anxiety and excitement. 1 remain here to day, at the special request of 



Rep. No. 546. 695 

several who have just left me. To-morrow 1 shall return to Newport, to 
await any communication from you. 

I am, sir, very respectfuUv, your obedient servant, 

JAS. BANKHEAD, 
Colonel 2d regiment of artillery.. 
Brigadier General R. Jones, 

Adjutant General U. S. army. 



No. 193. 

Letter frojii same to some. 

Providence, R. I., June 27, 1842. 

Sir : As there was no mail yesterday from this, I could make no report to 
the Major General commanding, of the military movements in this quarter 
up to tFiat time. Since my last letter to you, most of the volunteers and 
other military companies called out by the Governor have assembled here, 
to the amount of about 2,000 men. The force of the insurgents, under the 
immediate direction of Mr. Dorr, and concentrated at Chepachet, is esti- 
mated at from 800 to 1.000 men armed with muskets, about fifteen hundred 
without arms, and 10 or 12 cannon mounted. 

It seems to be impossible to avoid a conflict between the contending 
parties, without the interposition of a strong regular force. 

The State force here can defend this city, and it might successfully at- 
tack the insurgent force at Chepachet ; but tliere would be danger in leaving, 
the city without adequate ineans of protection to it, as there is, doubtless, a 
large immber within the city with concealed arms, ready to commence hos- 
tilities. 

The position taken by Dorr's troops at Chepachet is naturally strong, 
and has been much strengthened by intrenchments, &/C. ; it would, iliere- 
fore, be highly imprudent to make the attack, even if no secret foes were 
left beliind within the city, without a positive certainty of success ; and, 
with the aid of a iew disciplined troops, a defeat there would be ruinous 
and irreparable. 

A force of 300 regular troops would insure success, and probably with- 
out bloodshed. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

JAS. BANKHEAD, 
Colonel 2d regiment of artillery. 

[The above letter was addressed to Brigadier General R. Jones, Adjutant General U. S. army.j' 



No. 194. 

and 



Commnnication signed by Janves F. Simmons, William Spragne, 
Joseph L. Tdlinghasl, addressed to the Fresidefit, urging him to com- 
ply with Governor King^s requisition. 

Washington, June 27, 1842, 

Sir: The intelligence from Rhode Island, since the call was made on 
you by the Senators'from that State, is of a character still more serious and 



696 Rep. No. 546. 

urgent than that then comn:iunica{ed to you by iMr. Spragiie, who was 
charged with communications to your excellency from Governor King. 
We are informed that a requisition was made upon the Government of the 
United States by the Governor of Rhode Island, pursuant to resolutions 
passed by the General Assembly of that State, when in session in May last, 
calling tor a proclamation against those engaged in an armed rebellion 
against the government of Rhode Island, and for military aid in suppress- 
ing the same; that your excellency replied lo Governor King, that, in the 
opinion of the Executive, the force arrayed against the government of the 
State was not then such as to warrant immediate action on his part; but 
that your excellency, in your reply, proceeded to say "if an exigeiicy of 
lawless violence shall actually arise, the Executive Government of the 
United States, on the application of your excellency, under the authority of 
(he resolutions of the legislature already submitted, will stand ready to 
succor the authorities of the Slate in their efforts to maintain a due respect 
for the lav/s." Whereby it was understood that, in the event of the assem- 
bling of such an armed force as would require the interference contemplated 
by the constitution and laws of the United States, the Executive of the 
United States, upon being duly notified of the fact by the Governor of the 
State, would act upon the requisition already made by the legislature, 
without further action on the part of that body. 

We understand that, upon this notice being given through the commu- 
nications handed you by Mr. Sprague on Saturday, containmg proof of the 
existence and array of a large body of armed men within the State of Rhode 
Island, who had already committed acts of lawless violence, both by depre- 
dating largely upon {)ropertyin various parts of the State, and by capturing 
and confining citizens, as well as owning and manifesting a determination 
to attack the constituted authorities, you considered that it was desirable 
that this communication should have been accoraj)anied with a further 
resolution of tfie General Assembly authorizing the Governor to act in this 
instance, from the ftict that the Assembly was then in session by adjourn- 
ment, » 

It is the purpose of this communication respectfully to state that we con- 
ceive the existing circumstances call for the immediate action of the Execu- 
tive, upon the information and papers now in its possession. 

The meeting of the legislature, during the last week, was by adjourn- 
ment ; it is in law regarded as the May session of the General Assembly, 
and can be regarded in no other light than if it had been a continuous ses- 
sion of that body, heldfrom day to day by usual adjournments. Had this 
last been the case, it cannot be conceived that new action on its part would 
have been required to give notice of any movements of hostile forces, en- 
gaged in the same enterprise which was made known to the Executive by- 
its resolutions of May last. 

Our intelligence authorizes us to believe that a multitude of lawless and 
violent men, not citizens of Rhode Island, but inhabitants of other States, 
wickedly induced by pay and by hopes of spoil, and perhaps instigated 
also by motives arising from exasperation, on the part of their instigators 
and of themselves, at the course heretofore indicated in this matter by the 
Executive Government of the Union, have congregated themselves, and are 
daily increasing their numbers, within the borders of our State, organized, 
armed, and arrayed in open war upon the State authorities, and ready to be 
!edj and avowedly about to be led, to the attack of the principal city of the 



Rep. No. 546. 697 

State, as part of the same original plan to overthrow the government; and 
that, in the prosecution of this plan, our citizens have reason to apprehend 
the most desperate and reckless assaults of ruffianly violeiTce upon their 
property, their habitations, and their lives. 

We beg leave to refer you, in addition, to a letter which we understand 
was received yesterday by General Scott from Colonel Bankhead, detailing 
some information in his possession. 

We ihe.-efore respectfully request an immediate compliance, on the part 
of the Executive, with the requisition communicated in the papers from 
Governor King, as the most efiectual, and, in our opinion, the only measure 
that can now prevent the effusion of blood and the calamities of intestine 
violence! if each has not already occurred. 

We are, with the highest respect, your excellency's obedient servants, 

JAMES F. SIMMONS. 

WM. spiiaguf:. 

JOSEPH L. TILLING HAST. 

The President of the United States. 



No. 195. 



Com7nunication of the President to the Secretary of War ^instructing him 
to proceed to Rhode Island. 

Washington, June 29, 1842. 

Sir: From the official communication of Colonel Bankliead to you, this 
day laid before me, it is evident that the difficulties in Rhode Island have 
arrived at a crisis which may require a prompt interposition of the Execu- 
tive of the United States to prevent the efi\isioii of blood. From the corres- 
pondence already had with the Governor, of Rhode Island, I nave reason 
to expect that a requisition will be immediately made by the Government 
of that State for the assistance guarantied by the constitution to protect its 
citizens from domestic violence. With a view to ascertain the true condi- 
tion of things, and to render the assistance of this Government (if any 
should be required) as prompt as may be, you are instructed to proceed to 
Rhode Island, and, in the event of a requisuion being made on the Presi- 
dent in conformity with the laws of the United States, you will cause the 
proclamation herewith delivered to be -published. And should circum- 
stances in your opinion render it necessary, you will also call upon the 
Governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut, or either of them, for such 
number and description of the militia of their respective States as may be 
sufficient to terminate at once the insurrection in Rhode Island. And, in 
the mean time, the troops in the vicinity of Providence may with pro- 
priety be placed in such positions as will enable them to defend that city 
from assault, 

JOHN TYLER. 

The Secretary of War. 



698 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 196. 
Depositions of Charles T. Martin, John F. Pond, and William S. Slater. 

I, Charles T. Martin, of Providence, in the county of Providence and 
State of Rhode Island, on oath depose and say : By request of the Gover- 
nor and Council, on the night of June 23d I went as a scout towards Che- 
pachet village. We proceeded as fur as we could, until we met a line of 
sentries about two miles this side of the village. We turned about and 
gathered all the information we could, from persons who had been in the 
village. We learned that there were four boxes of muskets just arrived. 
The force of the insurgents was estimated at that time to be .oOO, under 
command of one Isaac B. Allen. They had collected, among other things^ 
20L) bushels of potatoes, which were sold to Amasa Eddy, jr., the Lieuten- 
ant Governor under the people's constitution, by our informant. He also 
said that they had collected beef and other provisions. Just before day- 
light this morning, while at a tavern some three miles from Chepachet, a 
man came up the road with a gun, and we went out and hailed him, and 
he immediately aimed his gun. We heard steps behind us, and looked 
round, and some half dozen men with guns came up and ordered us to 
make ofi", at the same time their guns all cocked and aimed at us, and 
threatened to shoot if we did not retire. We stood in line — that is, Messrs. 
Pond, Hartshorn, Kendall, and myself, who all went in company. We 
drew our pistols, and determined to exchange shots, and, after some con- 
sultation among themselves, the rebels concluded to pass on. 

CHAS. T. MARTIN. 
Providence, ss : 

In Providence, this 24th day of June, A. D. 1842, subscribed and sworn 
to before me, 

HENRY L. BOWEN, 

Justice of the Peace. 



I, John F. Pond, of Providence, in the county 61 Providence and State 
of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, of lawful age, depose and 
say : That I went out as one of a scout, with Charles T. Martin, Harts- 
horn, and Kendall ; and I confirm all the statements made by Mr. Martin, 
except as to the distance at which we were from Chepachet; being more 
familiar with the road, I should say we did not go within four and a half 
miles from the village. 

JOHN F. POND. 
Providence, ss : 

In Providence, this 24th day of June, A. D, 1842, subscribed and sworn 
to before me, 

HENRY L. BOWEN, 

Justice of the Peace. 



1, William S. Slater, of Providence, in the county of Providence and 
State of Rhode Island, of lawful age, depose and say : On the 24th of June, 






Rep. No. 546. 699 

being in company with Edward D. Pierce, who had professional business 
with Colonel Samuel Y. Atwell, I went to the village of Chepachet. When 
I arrived near Mr, Atwell's house, 1 observed a guard of 30 men, and drove 
up to Mr. Atwell's house. Immediately the guard closed up, and the cap- 
tain directed them to take myself and companion prisoners. They escorted 
us to the tavern, where a room was provided, the door locked, and a senti- 
nel placed over us. Being satisfied, after some detention, that we had come 
to see Mr. Atwell on private business, we were released. 

The insurgents have selected a high hill just at the entrance of the vil- 
lage for an encampment, and are now engaged in raising embankments. It 
is a formidable position, and their forces are increasing constantly. We 
were told that Dorr was expected there to morrow to review the troops, and 
that an accession of strength is expected daily. 

WM. S. SLATER. 
City of Providence, ss : 

Then personally appeared before me William S, Slater, and made oath 
to the preceding deposition by him signed, 

THO. M, BURGESS, 



June 24, 1842, 



Mayor of the city of Providence. 



No. 197. 



State7nent showing the number oj United 'Slates troops stationed at Fort 
Adams, during the month.s of April, May, June, and July^ 1842. 

In April, the regular garrison of Fort Adams consisted of two compa- 
nies of artillery — lU officers and 109 enlisted men. Aggregate - 119 

May 2d, the garrison was reinforced by two companies of artillery 
from Fort Columbus, making four in all, and consisting, at the end 
of May, of 21 officers and 281 enlisted men. Aggregate - - 302 

June I7t!i, two companies left the post; and June 20th, one company 
(of mounted artillery) joined ; making the garrison, at the end of 
the month, three companies of artillery, consisting of 13 officers 
and 177 enlisted men. Aggregate ..... igO' 

July 2d, one company of mounted artillery joined the post, making 
four companies in all, (two mounted,) consisting, at the end of the 
month, of 22 officers and 247 enlisted men. Asrsfregate - ■ 269 

Adjutant General's Office, 
April 8, 1844. 

L. THOMAS, 
Assistant Adjutant General. 



700 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 198. 
Assistaiit Adjutant General to Major M. M. Payne. 

[Confidential.] 
HEACaUARTFRS OF THE ArMY, 

Adjutant General's Office, Washingto?), April 11, 1842. 
Sir : If there be a depot of arms and ammunition belongings to the United 
States at Fort Wolcott, or other exposed position in the vicinity of Fort 
Adams. Major General Scott wishes you to take measures, quietly, to pre- 
vent such depot from being seized by improper persons. Not being at his 
office, he has no means of inquiring or ascertaining, at the moment, 
whether there be such depot, and whetlier you iiave a jjuard at Fort Wol- 

vCOtt. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. G. FREEMAN, 
Assistant Adjutant General. 
Mojor M. M. Payne, Commanding, Sec. ^-c. 

Fort Adams. Rhode Island. 



No. 199. 
Assistant Adjutant General to Colonel A. C. W. Fanning. 

[Confidential.] 

Headquarters of the Army, 
Adjutant General- s Office, Washington, April 25, 1842. 

Sir: I am instructed by Mojor General Scott to direct that. you will im- 
mediately cause two of the companies of your garrison to be filled up with 
effective men out of the 3d, and embark the former, as soon as practicable, 
for Governor's Island, harbor of iNew York. If a vessel can be immediately 
procured by the quartermaster of the post, for the conveyance of the two 
-companies to their destination by sea, you will instruct him to engage such 
transportation ; but if there be any probability of delay in proceeding outside, 
the detachment will take the inland route by steamboats and railroads. 

It is desirable that you should personally accompany the detachment to 
New York, and be there by the 2d proximo. On your arrival at New York, 
you will report to Colonel Bankhead. 

1 am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. G. FREEMAN, 
Assistant Adjutant General. 
Brevet Colonel A. C. W. Fanning, 

2d Artillery, commanding Fort Monroe, Va. 



Kep. No. 546. 701 

No. 200. 

Same to Major M. M. Payne. 

Headquarters of the Army, 
Adjutant GeneraVs Office^ Washington, April 2^, 1842. 
Sir : It is desirable that you should employ any means in your power to- 
obtain accurate information as to the probability of a conflict between ihe 
two political parties now understood to be ready to resort to arms for I he 
possession of (he government of Rhode Island. Major General Scott directs 
that you take measures to get such inforujaiion, and that you report daily, 
if possible, in duplicate — one copy to him (open) under cover to the Secre- 
tary of War, and the other copy to General Scott (sealed) under cover to 
Colonel Bankhead, New York. 

An officer detached confidentially to Providence, with instructions to* 
write directly as above, and inquiries daily made in Newport, (fcc, comma-- 
nicaling the results as above, may be sufficient. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant. 

W. G. FREEMAN, 



Major M. M. Payne, 

Coi/i?}iafiding Fort Adams, R. J. 



Assista?it Adjutant General, 



No. 201. 

Same to same. 
[Highly confidential.] 

Headquarters op the Army, 
Adjutant General's Office, Washington, April 26, 1842> 

Sir : In reference to my letter to you of yesterday, I am instructed by- 
Major Goneral Scott to desire you to hesitate much about sending an offi- 
cer for the purpose of obtaining intelligence in Providence, and not to do 
so if you can obtain the services of any other discreet, intelligent citizen 5 
because the purpose of the detached officer, whether in uniform or not,, 
would be liable to be suspected — which might do much harm in the present 
excited state of public feeling in Rhode Island. Nevertheless, it is the 
wish of General Scott that you obtain, by all honorable means, the fullest 
intelligence possible on tlie great subject I presented to you yesterday, and- 
to communicate the same daily to him (unsealed) under cover to the Sec- 
retary of War, Duplicates need not be sent to New York, as General 
Scott may not be there. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. G. FREEMAN, 
Assistatit Adjutant General, . 
Major M. M. Pj^yne, (or officer commanding,) 

Fort AdimSyR, J. 



702 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 202. 
Same to Colonel J. Bankhead. 
[Confidential.] 
HfiADaUARTERS OF THE ArMY, 

Adjutant GeneraVs Office^ Washington, April 26, 1842. 
Sir: TVvo companies from Fort Monroe, under Colonel Fanning, have 
been ordered to repair immediately to Fort Columbus, to report to you. 
Before this detachment can arrive, you will receive further instructions from 
Major General Scott, under whose orders I am writinof. He directs that 
you will immediately cause two companies in the harbor of New York to be 
filled up with effective men, out of the other two present, and to be held in 
readiness at Fort Columbus, with tents, for detached service. 
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. a. FREEMAN, 
Assistayit Adjutant General. 
Colonel J. Bankhead, 

Commanding 2d artillery.^ Fort Columbus, N. Y. 



No. 203. 

Adjutant General to Major M. M. Payne. 

[Confidential.] 

Adjutant General's Office, 
Washing to?i, April 29, 1842. 

Sir : Although Major General Scott is exceedingly desirous that you 
should meet the general court martial, of which Brigadier General Armi- 
stead is president, and which has been ordered to reassemble at Savannah 
the 10th of the following month ; yet he deems your presence at Fort Ad- 
ams, during the next week, of still higher importance. The General-in- 
chief, therefore, desires that you immediately return to Fort Adams, and re- 
sume the command of that post for the present. Should, however, the 
danger of domestic violence in Rhode Island fortunately pass away by the 
6th or 10th of the ensuing month, it is expected that you will proceed 
rapidly to Savannah; and, if necessary, the general court martial (of which 
you are a member) will be instructed to wait six or ten days for your arri- 
val. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

R. JONES, 
Adjutant General. 
Mnjor M. M. Payne, 

Commanding Fort Adams, R. 1. 



Rep. No. 546. 70^ 

No. 204. 
Same to Colonel Batikhead. 

[Confidential. J 

Adjutant General's Okfice, 

Washington, May 5, 1842. 

Sir : The Generalinchief desires that you repair, individually, to New- 
port, R. I., and there remain until all appearance of domestic violence shall 
have disappeared. If necessary, further instructions will be communicated. 
Immediately on your arrival at Newport, you will please to direct Major 
Payne to proceed to Savannah, there to serve as a member of the general 
court martial ordered to reconvene on the 10th inst., for the trial of Cap- 
tain Howe, of the 2d dragoons. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

R. JONES, 
Adjutant General. 
Colonel James Bankhead, 

2d Artillery, commanding Fort Columbus, N. Y. 



No. 205. 
Same to same. 

Adjutant General's Office, 

Washington, Maij 28, 1842. 

Sir : Your report of the 20th inst. has been duly received. Should you 
consider your presence no longer necessary at Newport, you will please to 
repair to your station at Fort Columbus. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

R. JONES, 



Colonel James Bankhead, 

Commanding 2d artilkry, Newport, R. 1. 



Adjutant General. 



No. 206. 
Same to same. 

Adjutant General's Office, 

Washington, June 1, 1842. 

Sir : Your report of your departure from Newport to Sackett's Harbor, 
as a member of a court martial, on the 29th May, has been received. 

The General-inchief directs that yon forthicith return to Newport, R. I., 
where you will find instructions of importance, despatched by the Secretary 
of War, on Sunday, the 29th.* 

* The letter containing the said instructions is dated the 2Sth of May, 184?. 



704 Rep. No. o46. 

You will please to report the receipt of these instructions, and your ar- 
rival at Newport. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

II. JONES' 
Adjutant GeneraL 
Colonel James Bankhead, 

2d artillery, (under cover to commandins: officer,) 

SacketCs Harbor, N. Y. 



No, 207. 

Same to General John E. Wool. 

Adjutant General's Office,' 
Washington^ June 2, 1S42. 
Sir : In forwarding you a copy of the order directing Colonel Bankhead 
to return forthwith to Newport, R. I., where important instructions from 
the Secretary of War uwait him, I am directed by the Generalin-chief 
to express his disapprobation of the withdrawal of that officer from the 
station, and the specictl service to whicli he had been assigned by instruc- 
tions from the headquarters of the army on this occasion. 
1 am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant. 



Brigadier General John E. Wool, 

Cornmaudiiig, Sf'c, Troy, N. Y. 



R. JONES, 
Adjutant GeneraL 



No. 208. 
Extract from General Orders No. 33. 

HEADaUARTERS OF THE ArMY, 

Adjutant General's Office, Washington, June 2, 1842. 

■»###»*** 

^^4. With a view to united instruction in the higher manoeuvres, the four 
light companies of artillery will be brought together in pairs, at points which 
furnish grounds the best suited for that purpose. Consequently, the light 
companies of the 3d and 4th artillery will constitute the permanent garri- 
son of Fort McHenry; and the light companies of the 1st and 2d artillery, 
on being relieved, will proceed to Fort Adams, to constitute two of the four 

companies assigned as the permanent garrison of that post. 

■»♦ # * * * ♦ * 

By command of Major General Scott. 

R. JONES, 
Adjutant General. 



Rep. No. 546. 705 

No. 209. 

Adjutant General to Colonel James Bankhead. 

Adjutant General's Office, 

Washington, June 6, lJr'4?. 
Sir : As the two light companies just ordered to Fort Adams are fully 
equipped, you will now please seiod to the Watertown arsenal the battery 
of brass guns, &c.j recently furnished by the Ordnance Department for the 
post. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

R. JONES, 
Adjutant General. 
Col. J. Bankhead, or 

Cotnmanding officer Fort Adams, Newport, R. I. 



No. 210. 

' Same to same. 

Adjutant General's Office, 
« Washington, July 9, 1812. 

Sir : In acknowledging the report of your return to Fort Columbus 
from Rhode Island, I am directed by the Generaliu-chief to say, that, having 
been sent to that State on special and confidential service, your return t* 
New York without special authority is irregular, and not appioved. 
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedienT servant, 

R. JONES, Adjutant General. 
Col. J. Bankhead, 

2d artilltry, Fort Columbus, N. Y. 



No. 21L 

Assistant Adjutant General to Colonel Bankhead. 

[E {tract.] 

Adjutant General's Office, 

Washington, June 11, 1842. 
Sir: • * * The two companies now at Fort Adams, to be re- 
placed by two light companies, may wait for the arrival of the latter. * * 
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant. • 

L. THOMAS, 

As^iH Adj't General. 
"Col. J. Bankhead, 

Commanding 2d ortiller^j, Fort Adams., li. L • 

45 



706 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 212. 

Charge of Chief Justice Durfee to the grand jury, at the March term of 
the supreme judicial court at Bristol, Rhode Island, A. D. 1842, published 
agreeably to the following request: 

Grand Jury Room, March 15, 1842. 
The ^rand jurors respectfully tender to the honorable supreme judicial 
court their thanks for the learned and appropriate charge delivered to the 
grand jury this morning, by Mr. Chief Justice Durfee. Relating, as it 
does, to a subject upon which there is much diversity of opinion, but which 
all admit to be of momentous interest, the jurors think its publication would 
t)e useful at the present time, and do request a copy for the press. 

Henry D'Wolf, Thomas Wilson, 

Howland Smith, John J. Allin, 

Samuel Sparks, Jonathan Martin 2d, 

William H. West, Ebenezer Grant, 

S. T. Church, !ra B. Kent. 

Robert S. Watson, 



Gentlemen of the Grand Jury : 

It is made our duty, by statute, to instruct you in the law relating to 
crimes and offences cognizable by this court, by giving you publicly in 
charge our opinion thereon. We are not at liberty to forego this duty, from 
any feelings of delicacy towards others, or for any considerations of a per- 
sonal nature. A court is but the organ of the law ; and when it speaks, it 
should announce what the law is, " without fear, favor, aflfection, or hope 
of reward." I use the language of the oath which you have just taken, 
gentlemen ; for that oath does as truly express our obligations as a court, 
as it does yours as a jury. 

The first duty which every person residing within the jurisdiction of this 
State owes to it, is that of allegiance. It begins with life — with infancy at 
the mother's breast; and if he continue an inhabitant or citizen of the 
State, it terminates only with the last breath which delivers the spirit over 
to its final account. Allegiance is a duty due on an implied contract — often, 
however, sanctioned by an oath, but none the less sacred in the absence 
of the oath — that so long as any one receives protection from the State, so 
Jong will he demean himself faithlully, and 'support the State. All persons, 
therefore, abiding within this State, and deriving protection from its laws, 
owe this allegiance to it ; and all persons passing through it, or visiting or 
jTiaking temporary stay therein, owe, for the time, allegiance to this State. 
One of the highest crimes of which a human being can be guilty, is treason; 
and treason necessarily involves a breach of allegiance. 

From the following resolutions, and the matters to which they relate, 
there seems to be a peculiar necessity for my calling your attention to this 
subject at this time ; for, as a court, it is not only our duty to try offences 
when committed, but to prevent them, if it can be done, by making the law- 
known. 

Those resolutions are in these words ; 



Rep. No. 546. TOT 

"State OF Rhode Island and Providrnce Plantations, 

" //t General Assembli/, January session^ A. D. 1842, 

"Whereas a portion of the people of this State, without the forms of laWj 
have undertaken to form and establish a constitution of government for the 
people of this State, and have declared such constitution to be the supreme 
law, and have communicated such constitution unto this General Assem- 
bly : and whereas many of the good people of this State are in danger of 
being misled by these informal proceedings : therefore. 

" 7/ is hereby resolved by this General Assembly. That ai! acts done by 
the persons aforesaid, for the purpose of imposing upon this State a consti- 
tution, are an assumption of the powers of government, in violation of the 
rights of the existing government, and of the rights of the people at large. 

^^ Resolved, That the convention called and organized, in pursuance of 
an act of this General Assembly, for the purpose of forming a constitution 
to be submitted to the people of this State, is the only body which we can 
recognise as authorized to form such a constitution ; and to this constitution 
the whole people have a right to look, and we are assured they will not 
look in vain, for such a form of government as will promote tiieir peace, 
security, and happiness. 

^'- Resolved, That this Genera! Assembly will maintain its own proper 
authority, and protect and defend the legal and constitutional rights of the 
people. 

" True copy : — Witness, 

"HENRY BOW EN, Secretary P 

Gentlemen, whatever I shall say to you touching these resolutions, and 
the proceedings to which they refer, shall be said with the full and entire 
concurrence of each member of this court. And it is peculiarly appropriate, 
in a case like this, that it should be known what the opinion of this court 
is; so that no man may become implicated in any otience against the State, 
without a full knowledge of the opinion of this court, as an independent 
branch of the government, in relation to the nature of the offence, and the 
law which it violates. 

1 therefjre say to you, that, in the opinion of this court, such a movement 
as that described in these resolutions, is a movement which can find no 
justification in law; that if it be a movement against no law in particular, 
if is, nevertheless, a movement against all law ; that it is not a mere move- 
ment for a change of rulers, or for a legal reform in government, but a 
movement which, if carried to its consequences, will terminate the exist- 
ence of the State itself as one of the Slates of this Union. I will now give 
our reasons for this opinion. 

But, gentlemen, in addressing you upon this subject, I know not but that 
I am addre.ssing those who have participated in this movement. If this be 
the case, I beg you, and all others with whom you may have acted, to dis- 
tinctly understand me. Whatever language I may use to characterize the 
movement, it shall be but the language of the law; it shall mean no im- 
peachment of your or their motives. I will concede to you and to them, 
if you choose, motives as pure and patriotic, legal attainments and talents 
as high, as those of the purest and greatest minds that this State ever pro- 
duced ; and still J say, with all proper deference to you and them, that you 
have mistaken your duties, and misunderstood your rights. Deem it not 
strange that calm lookers-on can see where the error lies, better than tho.se 



708 Rep. No. 546. 

who are engaged in the heat of the movement. Wlicn ^reat masses move, 
they move under the influence of excited feelings. When the object is 
to attain some great political good, real or supposed, the excitement takes 
for its law of action some ethereal abstraction, some general theoretic prin- 
ciple — true, perhaps, in its application to certain theoretic conditions of 
man. but utterly false in its application to man as he is — and endeavors, 
without regard to present social organizations, to carry that principle to its 
utmost consequences. Gentlemen, strong heads and patriotic hearts doubt- 
less gave the first impetus to the French revolution ; but does not the pro- 
gress and issue of that bloody drama tell us that those abstractions, (ia 
which they so freely dealt,) whatever might be their theoretic truth, became 
false and fiendish in their application? Do we not know that the very 
masses which were engaged in carrying them out, rejoiced when the iron 
rule of military despotism came, to deliver them from themselves, and from 
the incarnate demons which the movement had conjured up? 

Gentlemen, when all men are angels, and of the same order, these ab- 
stractions may be true in all their consequences ; but never in their appli- 
cation to man as he is. 

Wiih this explanation, I proceed to show the illegality of this movement, 
and the ruin that it portends. I repeat, that, however patriotic may be the 
intent, the legal effect of it is the destruction of the present State, and the 
construction of a new State out of its ruins. 

Gentlemen, what is a State? I ask not for a poetical definition, but I 
ask for a definition which befits a court of law — which may befit the 
courts of the Union, in which we must be ultimately judged. Strange as 
it may seem, amid all the controversy which this movement has excited, 
1 have not known this question to be asked, or a definition to be given. 
Such have been the jarring and confusion of the social elements, that the 
best minds seem to have uttered their thoughts only in fragments. What, 
I repeat, is a Stiite? Think ye it is tlio land and water within certain 
geographical lines? The child may tell you so when he points at the 
map; but that is not the State, but only the territory over which the State 
has jurisdictio!!. Think ye it is a mere aggregate of neighborhoods within 
those limits? No, gentlemen, there is something wanting to give them 
distinctive unity. A mere proximity of habitations never made a State, 
.any more than congregated caravans of Arabs when by night they pitch 
their tents together in the bosom of the desert. Think ye it is the ag- 
.gregate of inliabitants within such limits? Never. It would be prepos- 
terous to call a mere collection of individuals withm certain limits a Slate. 
Regarded as a mere aggregate, tliey are still without unity, and have 
nothing whereby to bind them together, and enable them to act as an or- 
ganized whole. No treaty can be made with them ; no law can be enacted 
by them. Think ye that it is the mere rulers of those who have the legisla- 
tive and executive power in their hands? This, indied, comes something 
nearer to our idea of a State ; and when we look upon governments abroad, 
we may look no farther. But surely this does not make a State here, at 
iiome, under the constitution of the Uniled States. Here, we must not only 
find a government, but a people so bouud together, colligated and orgasj^zed 
by law, as to appoint rulers, and to reduce ih'. innumerable wills of the 
multitude to a legal unit. I think ! give you ii (rue desc! iption of :^ State, 
• when I say that a State is a legally organized people, subsisting as such 
from generation to generation, vviihoiic end, giving, lliiougii the forms of 



Rep. No. 546. 700 

law, the wills of ^ho many to become one sovereign will. It is a body- 
politic, qnalified to subsist by perpetual succession and accession. It is a 
self-snbsistent corporation, resting upon its own centre, and it is, imder the 
conslitution of the United States, bound, to a certain extent, in its entirety 
and in all its constituent individual elements, to tlial coiiimon central body 
politic, which is tlie corporate peoj)le of tlie Union, or body politic of States, 
whichever it may be. There is, and, from the nature of things, there can 
be, no sovereign people without law — without that unity which the law 
gives them, whereby they are enabled to act as one; and consequently 
there can be no sovereign will, that is not expressed through the forms of 
their corporate existence. 

Now, can there be a doubt that this is a true definition or description of 
a State, and that it applies to this State as one of the States of the Union? 
Lest there should be a Imgering doubt in some reluctant mind, 1 will verify 
this defmition from the history of the State itself. 

The first charter of this State was granted in 1613. Tt incorporated 
Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport, under the name of the incorpora- 
tion of Providence Plantations, in Narragansett Bay in New England. War- 
wick was subsequently admitted. It was then that the inhabitants of this 
State first became a corporate people, but dependent on tiie mother coun- 
try. In 16(30 this corporate people, by their agents, petitioned their sov- 
ereign for a new charter. On this petition the charter in our statute books 
was granted, and, by the same corporate people, in November, 1663, accept- 
ed as their charter or form of governmpnt. This charter declared that cer- 
tain persons named therein, and such as then were, or should thereafter be 
made free of tlie company, a body corporate and politic, in fact and name, 
by the name of the Governor and Company of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations in New England, in America, and by the same name 
that they and their successors sitonid liave perpetual succession. Now, here 
was a corporation, and the freemen constitutincr it continued their corporate 
existence, subsisting by succession, still d-pendent upon the parent govern- 
ment, exercising the powers in the charter granted, holding property of all 
sorts as a corporate people down to tire Revolution. It was then that those 
aggressions and claims of the King of Great Britain, which are set forth in 
the declaration of independence, and wliich were enforced or attempted to 
be enforced by the l)ayonet, threw this corporate j)eople upon the natural 
rights of self-preservation. They resisted as a corporate people. It was in 
the prosecution of this justifiable def-nce, that this corporate people found it 
necessary to cut the bonds which bound it to the motlier country. It did so. 
It was its own act, performed by its delegation in Congress, by its legisla- 
tive body, and by the corporate people itself, in every legal form in whicli 
it could act. It was this act, and this alone, that made us a self-subsistent 
corporation, body politic, or State. It was this people, acting in its corpo- 
rate capacity, or by its members, as members, through prescribed forms, 
that subsequently adopted the constitution of the United States, whereby 
this State became a member of the Union, and its citizens citizens of the 
United States. 

Does not the history of this State, gentlemen, verify the definition which 
I have given? Is a State anything but a self subsistent body politic and 
corporate, designed to continue its existence, by succession and accession, 
through all time } If it be anything else, I neither know nor can conceive 



710 Rep. No. 546. 

what it is. But if it be this, whatever there is of sovereigQly must be found 
in ti)e body politic and corporate, and nowhere else. 

But it has been lately said by some whose opinions are entitled to great 
respect, tiiat, on the separation from the parent government, a subsequent 
assent of the natural people was necessary lo continue the sovereign power 
in the corporate peuple, and that all right in the latter to govern ceased and 
passed to the aggregate unorganized mass of individuals. Gentlemen, this 
cannot be so. The act of separation was the act of the corporate people ; 
and ail that was acquired by that act, was acquired by the corporate people, 
and could be acquiied by none but a corporate people. None but a corpo- 
rate people has tlie capacity to receive and exercise sovereignty. The nat- 
ural people have not the capacity to inherit or succeed to sovereignty, though 
they may create it by compact, all being parties; or by force, where there is 
no su[)erior power to impose restraint. A sovereign will is a unit, is a mere 
legal entity ; it has nowhere, in any civilized country, any existence inde- 
pendent of law. Jn the constitutional monarchies of Europe, it has a mere 
legal existence ; hence the legal maxim in England, that the sovereign 
never dies. and can do no wrong. The moment that the sovereign will 
ceases to be a lega jwuI, and becomes a mere personal will, you have no- 
thing but a master and a body of slaves; you have no State at all, but only 
the semblance ot one. 

The sovereign v/ill is a unit. The moment you divide it, you destroy 
it; and could such a unit pass to thousands of individuals, isolated, inde- 
pendent, and bound together by no common law, as the natural state sup- 
poses, and still continue to exist as a unit, as a one, sovereign will? Never, 
gentlemen ; to pass it to the unorganized mass, is to destroy it. And how 
fallacious the idea that the sages of seventy-six annihilated, reduced to 
nothingness, the sovereignty of every State of this Union, in and by the 
very act which declared them sovereign and independent ! What became 
of the confederation 7 What became of the Congress that made the 
declaration ? 

Truly, gentlemen, some strange infatuation has seized upon the age, if we 
can believe that, when ilie Coiigress crt' seventy six declared these colonies 
(in thn words of tiie declaration) free and independent States, and that they 
had full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish com- 
merce, and to do all other things which independent Slates might of right 
do —that, at that very moment, every one of these States ceased to exist, and 
crumbled into their natural elements. No. gentlemen, our fathers under- 
stood tl)eaiselves better than their children appear to understand them. 
Well may we humble ourselves in the presence of their memory, when we 
find such strange hallucinations seizing upon the wisest and best of us. 
They have made large demands upon the admiration of their children ; let 
us take care we do not make demands, equally large, upon the pity of ours. 
Gentlemen, the definition is correct ; it is true to history ; and it is true to 
the declaradon of independence ; and it is true to the constitution of the 
United States, which, according to its intciU, tliis State, as a corporate peo- 
ple, adopted by its convention. 

Gentlemen, let us not deceive ourselves by the various forms which this 
sovereignty puts on, to carry its will into effect. The orovernment in all its 
departments, legislative, executive, ami judicial, is but the exterior form 
which this sovereignty puts on, in oid3r to preserve itself and to exercise 
jurisdiction over its peculiar territory, and all persons and things within it. 



Rep. No. 546. 711 

It is in this way that it extends protection to the whole people, and to every 
individual man, woman, and child within its jiirisdiciion, and makes them 
all one with the corporate people, except m the mere exercise of the right 
of voting. I have recently heard the phrases "the legal people," "the 
physical people," repeated by those whose opiniotis are entitled to respect, 
as if there was a distinction between them. Gentlemen, we are all the le- 
.gal people — we are all the physical people. Every man, woman, and 
child, not of foreign birth, domiciled within this State, is a citizen of this 
State, and lor that reason also a citizen of the United States. Every man, 
woman, and child has the protection and benefit of all its laws, without 
distinction ; and, lor that reason, every one owes it allegiance and fidelity. 
ISo one within this jurisdiction can lawfully renounce this allegiance, and 
transfer it to another sovereignty^ whether created within this State's juris- 
diction or elsewhere. For this reason, each one and all are the legal people 
of this State, and are so regarded both by the laws of this State and the 
laws of the United States. We cannot recognise the distinction as having 
any just foundation in fact or law. The error lies in the misapplication of 
language. It is apparent that what they mean, who use the phrase "legal 
people," is the corporate people. By thus limiting a large and comprehen- 
sive phrase, a confusion of ideas is produced, and nothing is distinctly seen. 
The language seems to imply that all who are not the legal people, in this 
limited sense, are the illegal people, or people without law and in the natu- 
ral state, and entitled, therefore, to rely on their physical force; and this 
idea seems to be strengthened and confirmed by denominating them the 
physical people. We may all have misapplied these phrases. I myself 
may have misapplied them, for I make no pretensions to being better or 
wiser than others. But if we have misapplied them, let us misapply them 
no longer; let us recollect that the legal people and the physical people are 
the same great whole. 

But, gentlemen, if it he true that tlie corporate people are the sovereign 
people, and the forms of government but the instruments of its will — what 
follows ? Why, the moment that the corporate people ceases to exist as 
such, everything is resolved into its natural elements. This corporate peo- 
ple, whilst it exists, may, of its own will, and through the forms of law, 
which it prescribes by its legislature, put on a::; many different forms of 
government, not conflicting with the constitution of the Union, as it chooses. 
Its power lor that purpose is ample, unquestionable. It may change its 
form as thoroughly and as often as the fabled Proteus; it may extend 
the right of suffrage to every man, woman, and child ; and still remain the 
same legal entity, the same State. But the moment the corporate people of 
Khode Island cea^e to exist as such, whether by force, fraud, or voluntary 
death, cor[)orate Rhode Island herself ceases to exist — the State is gone. 
Yes, one of the good old thirteen is gone forever. You may close the grave 
upon her ; you may write " /«o jacei" upon her tomb; she lives only in 
history. 

It may be asked whether tlie natural people have not their natural rights, 
and whether one of these is not the right of establishing a government of 
their own ? ] answer, that if we grant you that the people have a right to 
violate their allegiance, resolve themselves into the supposed natural condi- 
tion of man, and to establish a new State and government ; and if we even 
admit that it has already, in this particular instance, been done — it does not 
at all relieve us, under the constitution of the United States, from the ap- 



712 Rep. No. 546. 

palling fact that the old State has ceased to exist, and that the new State is 
not a member of this Union. We, as the natnral people, have accomphshed 
a revolution, in which we have originated a new sovereignty, which utterly 
disclaims all connexion with that corporate Khode Island which uttered 
the declaration of independence and adopted the constitution. And how 
can we claim to take her place ? How can we, as citizens of such a State, 
he citizens of the United States? 

1 have heard much, of late, about the right of revolution ; and there is 
no doubt but that, in those cases where a people, by the oppression and vio- 
lence of their rulers, are thrown upon the natural right of self preserva- 
tibr), this right exists, may be exercised, and a revolution be justified. But, 
however justifiable it may be, we should always recollect that, if it be 
revolution, it is revolution, and nothing but revolution. There is no possi- 
bility of making it half revolution and half not. If you resort to revolu- 
tion, you must adopt it, with all its consequences, be they never so calami- 
tous. These calculations are to be made at the commencement of it, and 
weighed against the evils which it is proposed to remedy. 

Thus, gentlemen, if everything be conceded that we can ask for — if it 
be conctided that we have quietly put down the present corporate Rhode 
Island, and that we have succeeded m establishing this earth born prodigy 
in her place— what have we done, but broken our allegiance to our legiti- 
mate State, broken our allegiance to the United States, and accomplished 
our complete outlawry from the Union ? 

But perhaps we may hope that the General Government will, v^ithout 
inquiry whether we be or be not the legitimate State, recognise the govern- 
ment in fact (in legal phrase de facto) as the State. I am apprehensive 
that in this hope we shall be disappointed. Such a recognition v/ould pre- 
sent a question of constitutional law, affecting every State in the Union. 
This could not be avoided ; but if it could, it would still present a question 
of policy, equally certain to be decided against us. True it is, that the Gov- 
ernment of the United States does recognise the government de facto of a 
foreign country as the legitimate govertiment or state. And it does so from 
policy. The Government of the UniiOn, having no fundamental principle 
in common with the monarchies of ^]lurope, and in its anxiety to avoid an 
embroilment in their concerns, recognises those as the government of any 
country v/ho exercise 'he powers of government, without questioning the 
legitimacy of their claims. But how is it with the monarchies of Europe 
among themselves? What is necessarily their policy? Why, whenever 
a revolution is effected in any one of them, upon principles which endan- 
ger their ideas of legitimacy, or the permanence of their institutions, mil- 
lions of swords at once leap from their scabbards, cities are wrapped in 
flames, fields are deluged with blood, and heaped with slaughtered thou- 
sands. Think you ihat it was out of compassion to an exiled Bourbon that 
Europe consumed one whole generation in blood and carnage? No, gen- 
tlemen ; the struggle commenced with sustaining their ideas of legitimacy, 
in which every monarchy of Europe was interested, and terminated in their 
triumph. 

And how much more deeply interested will every State in this Union be — 
all subject as we are to the same common constitution and government — in 
a question of State legitimacy? For what is the principle to be established 
by the recognition of the new government as the State? It presents itself 
in these facts. A portion of the people of this State claimed a further ex- 



Rep. No. 546. 713 

tension of suffrage, nnd an equalization of representation for the benefit of 
several towns. This the legislature did not giant at their request; but 
called a convention, with a view of establishing a constitution which might 
meet every reasonable demand. This I believe to be about the extent ot 
our grievance. And now, before that convention had accomplished their 
task, we, backed by tlio physical force of nnnibers, take the powers of gov- 
ernment into our own hands, frame a constitution, declare it to be the su- 
preme law of the land, and overturn, not merely the government of the 
State, but the State itself iNow, as a mere matter of policy, could the dele- 
gations of the several States in Congress establish the principle, that, be- 
cause of such a ijrievance, mere numbers are above law. and have a right 
to overturn the State of which they are citizens? Let lis try to call this a 
grievance, and then how many thousand grievances are tliere, of greater 
magnitude, in every State ? And if they are to be in this way redressed, 
the stability of our institutions is at an end. Have we no questions touch- 
ing; domestic servitude.^ None touching the social relations? None touch- 
ing tiie most active and powerful of all principles, conscience and religious 
faith? May not protestantism, in a moment of infatuation and alarm, in 
this manner establish itself as the religion of the State? May not Romanism 
then rally, put down protestantism, and establishing itself in turn, nail the 
cross to every steeple, place a priest at every altar, and a teaclier in every 
school, and compel us to support all by taxes? May not the unequal dis- 
tribution of property in some States be found a grievance ? May not banks 
in others become obnoxious? May not certain forms of taxation become 
odious? May not the debts of the Slate bear heavily? Let this principle 
of revolution, by an unauthorized and irresponsible movement of masses, 
become an element of the constitution of the Union, and any State may be 
overthrown, upon any pretext or petty grievance, real or supposed. And 
can any«one believe that, from policy, the Government of the Union would 
recognise such a principle ? Never, gentlemen, never — until that Govern- 
ment, desirous of bringing about a consolidation of these States, chooses to 
put every element of disorganization into operation upon them. 

But if the new government cannot be recognised from policy, the next 
question is, can it be recognised on legal and constitutional principles? 
What says the constitution? '-New States may be admitted by Congress 
into^this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the ju- 
risdiction of any other Slate, without the consent of the legislatures of the 
States concerned, as well as of the Congress." Is it said that tfiis provision 
contemplates a case where only a part of the State's territorial jurisdiction 
may be occupied by the newly-formed State? Very probably the framers 
of the constitution had such a case in mind ; but so much the worse for the 
case in hand. Does not an article which forbi'ds any part of a State's terri- 
tory being so appropriated, for a stronger reason forbid the occupation of the 
whole, and the absolute destruction of the legitimate State? Can you take 
the v/hole without its parts? Gentlemen, it will not be respectful to your 
good sound common sense to spend a moment's time on this point. 

Again: by an express provision of the same constitution, almost imme- 
diately following the above, and to be considered in connexion with it, the 
United States are bound to guaranty to every State in this Union a govern- 
ment, and a republican firm of government. Will this guaranty be ful- 
filled by suffering this government to be annihilated — and annihilated by a 



714 Rep. No. 546. 

power which, by the very terms of the article first above mentioned, can no 
more be recognised as corporate Rhode Island than Texas or Algiers? 

Tell us not of the admission of Michigan. Michigan was a Territory. 
No pre-existent State was subverted. We know of nothing in the consti- 
tution that forbids Congress bestowing upon any Territory that State form 
of government which is guarantied to every State; and which, if reduced 
by this movement to the condition of a Territory, it may be our humilia- 
ting lot, in some way, to receive at their hands. 

But, gentlemen. Congress is not the only tribunal before which we shall 
have to appear. It is the peculiar province of the Supreme Court of the 
United States to decide, in the end, all constitutional questions, and ques- 
tions touching State rights. I will, therefore, state to you what must ne- 
cessarily, according to the common course of judicial proceedings, be the 
process by which this question will be determined in the courts of the 
Union. When the existence cf a State has been constitutionally recog- 
nised, the courts of the United States may well recognise the government 
de facto as the government de jure — in other words, the government in fact 
Bs the government in law. They may well enough presume that those 
who exercise the powers of the State are the legal officers of the State, and 
leave the question of the legality of the election to be setrled by the Slate 
functionaries appointed to that special duty; but, before there can be any 
such presumption, there must be a State— a State known to the constitu- 
tion and laws of the Union, There is no such thing as presuming the ex- 
istence of such a State. A de facto State is, as truly as a de facto corpora- 
tion, an absurdity in terms. A State must have its fundamental laws or 
constitution known to the constitution of the Union, of which it is a mem- 
ber, find in accordance with it ; and to talk of a de facto law, is to talk pro- 
found nonsense. 

To prove, tfien, the existence of the new State, or even to prove the 
existence of any of its officers, you must present to the Supreme Court of 
the Union this instrinnent which has been proclaimed as the supreme law 
of this State, and you must show that it had a legal origin. 

The question will not be, who voted for it? or how many? but what 
right anybody had to vote for it at all, as the supreme law of Rhode 
Island ? 

In the records of the true constitutional Stale of Rhode Island, you can 
nowhere find any law, any authority, countenancing such a proceeding. 

This the friends of the supposed constitution must themselves confess. 
Indeed, they must boldly avow that it was not only voted for without any 
such authority, but against the whole body of the legislation of the State, 
whose fundamental laws have all been recognised, directly or impliedly, by 
the constituted authorities of the Union, and by the very court that will 
be called upon to decide this question. And can we think that this court 
will lose its firmness, and tread back its steps, on account of the delusion 
of some ten or fifteen thousand persons in this State, and establish a con- 
stitutional principle of disorganization, which must eventually become pre- 
dominant in every State, and reduce all to ruin ? It is folly to anticipate 
such a decision, and wickedness to hope for it. 

This pretended constitution, then, does not spring from constitutional 
Rhode Island— from that Rhode Island known to the constitution of the 
United States as the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations; 
it is without legal authority, and of no more value in the courts of the Union 



Rep. No. 546. 715 

than so much blank parchment. You are then without a constitution — 
you are without fundamental laws — you have no officers that can be recog- 
nised as officers de facto, for there are no legal and constitutional duties for 
them to discharge. You have no legislature — no State legislation ; — in one 
word, you have no State, and are reduced to the condition of a mere Ter- 
ritory of the Union, without the benefit of territorial laws. 

Now, gentlemen, what are the consequences? it is well worih while to 
inquire. We stand upon the brink of an awful gulf. We are about to 
take the leap ; and we may well (eel some anxiety to look down into it, and 
obtain a glimpse of what sort of a Tartarus it is into which we are about to 
make the final plunge. 

Gentlemen, 1 will whisper a h\v questions to you— all of which, I dare 
not for the peace of this State, answer even in a whisper. There is too 
much combustible material \\\ this wide-spread Union — too many dating 
and reckless adventurers of all sorts. 

Gentlemen, it is ihe faith of the untutored savage, that certain birds of 
the air, and beasts of the desert, are endowed with something' like a pre- 
science or foreknowledge of the coming banquet which human strife is to 
provide, and that, some days in anticipation of the event, they cume from 
all quarters of the heavens, and from all the far depths of the forest, and. 
congregating in the neighborhood of the appointed place, eagerly await the 
approaching carnage. 1 do not want to be heard or understood by such as 
these ; thert^fore will I not answer all the questions that I may put, but sim- 
ply show you that there are such questions. 

When corporate Rhode Island ceases to exist, what becomes of her dele- 
gation in Congress ? What becomes of her bill in chancery, which she filed, 
claiming througli her charter, and through that only, a portion of territory 
within tlie jurisdictional lines of Massachusetts? 1 mention this, not for its 
importance, but for its illustration ; and because, in the event supposed, the 
question must necessarily arise. What becomes of the public property of 
all sorts? Your court houses ? Your jails? Your public records ? Public 
treasury, bonds, and securities of all sorts, which belong to the present cor- 
porate Rhodejsland, and to her only, and can pass from her only by her 
legislative consent? What become of the actions now pending on the 
dockets of every court in this State — bills of indictment lor crimes com- 
mitteti, or that may be committed ? What become of your State prison, and 
your convicts, from the wilful murderer to the petty thief? What become 
of your corporaiions of all sorts? Of your corporate towns and their records? 
Nay, are there not questions touching life, liberty, and individual property? 
I dare go no farther ; perhaps I have already gone too far. But, whatever 
answer may be given to these questions, (and answered they must ultimately 
be in the Supreme Court of ttie Union,) the bare f;ict that these questions 
must be raised, tried, and decided, is sufficient to send a thrill of horror 
through the heart of every man, woman, and child in this State. 

And all this for what? For if revolutions may be justified, we may well 
put the question. It is said to be for an extension of suffrage and an equaliza- 
tion of representation. How many of you have ever felt the want of this to be 
so great as even to sign a petition to the General Assembly on the subject? 
If this be a grievance at all, is it not the merest trifle, compared with the 
<;alaniities through which we must pass, in order to redress it in the mode 
which this movement has proposed ? If it be a grievance, it has scarcely 
been felt, and a legal and legitimate remedy is already before you from the 



716 Rep. No. 546. 

State's convenlion. Is there any other? Did we ever petition this gov- 
ernment for any favor which reasonable men might ask for — no mutter what 
party was in power — that was not cheerfnlly gr.tnted 7 Are we overtaxed by 
this State? Is there any oppression which can bo named to justify a revo- 
lution ? Have not we and our fathers ail lived in peace and happiness under 
the laws of this State, from its first establishment to the present day ? Did 
not our fathers estabUsh themselves here in a howling wilderness, and, un- 
der the protection of tliat distinctive principle of their government, religious 
liberty, enjoy peace, and quiet, and happiness, whilst the sister colonies 
were shedding blood, and persecuting their fellow- men for conscience sake? 
Did they not under this State, and for tliis State, utter the declaration of 
independence, and, led on by her Greenes and Olneys, go forth in array of 
battle, and shed their blood on a hundred fit-Ids? Did they not gloriously 
and Triumphantly secure to us the righls which we ever since have and now 
enjoy under the protecting laws of this State? But they have done their 
work — they have passed through the toils and suflerings of their day, and 
laid them down in the quiet grave, where the wicked cease from troubling 
and the weary are at rest. They have left the fruits of their labors as an 
inheritance to us. May their sainted spirits join with us in a prayer to the 
Almighty Father of all spirits to save us from this fatal delusion ! 

Gentlemen, the meaning of the word revolution in this case is very dif- 
ferent from its meaning when it designates the conflict between the colonies 
and (he mother country. That was a conflict between corporate bodies 
on this side of the Atlantic, against corporate Britain on the other. But 
revolution in this case means a conflict among the very elements of society. 
It proposes to realize here, in Rhode Island, the horrors of the French 
revolution. It proposes to arm neighbor against neighbor, friend against 
friend, brother against brother, father against son, andson against father — 
and all this for what? Can any one tell us? 

We may flatter ourselves that we are a people too enlightened and too 
good to pass into the excesses which have marked revolutions in every 
age. But, gentlemen, in all ages of the world, and in all countries, excited 
passion, in its extremes, is the same ; the individual man, however en- 
lightened and good he may be as an individual, is merged in the mass to 
which he belongs , he loses his freedom ; he blends with it ; whilst the mass 
itself becomes a mere brute force, which, under the influence of the.idea 
or passion which actuates it, goes on and on — heedless of the ruin which 
it makes, heedless of its own destiny, to its final dissolution or utter anni- 
hilation. Would to God that men would fearn something from history ! 
But it has been well observed, that we ever place the lanlerm in the stern, 
and not at the prow. It sheds its light only on the tumultuous billows of 
the past. We there see the Wrecks of nations that have comanitted them- 
selves to anarchy, tossing and heaving on the stormy surge. Yet on we 
go, exulting in our superiority over our predecessors, heedless of the rocks 
beneath the bow, until the billov/ on which we are borne sinks beneath us, 
and dashes us into fragments. 

It may be thought that I am indulging in feelings not usual to the 
bench ; but, gentlemen, there are occasions when humanity may be ex- 
cused lor rising above ths petty etiquette of ofiicial dignity — when the for- 
malities of the judge may be lost in the realities of the man. And if ever 
such an occasion presented itself in any State, it now presents itself in this. 
It would be our duty as good citizens, but it is imperiously our duty as- 



Rep. No. 546. 717 

sworn conservators of the peace, to tell you what is law, and what is not 
law. This duly we are noi at liberty to forego. 

I therefore. say to you, and all others duly qualified, that it will be law- 
ful for you to vote on the constitution now submitted to you by the State's 
convention ; and that, if it be adopted, any person in this State commits a 
breach of allegiance who wilfully fails to support it. If it be not adopted, 
it will be our duty still to adhere to that compact of our ancestors called 
the charter, as that sheet-anchor at which our beloved Slate has triumph- 
antly ridden out many a storm, and can as triumphantly ride out this. 
And as to that instrument called the "people's constitution," however 
perfect it may be in itself, and however strong may be the expression of 
public opinion in its favor — yet, standing, as it does, alone and without 
<any legal authority to support it, it is not the supreme law of this S^ate ; 
;and those who may attempt to carry it into effect by (brce of arms, will, in 
the opinion of this court, commit treason— treason against the State — 
treason, perhaps, against the United States; for it will be an attempt, by the 
overt act of levying war, to subvert a State, which is an integral jiart of 
the Union ; and to levy war against one State, to that end, we are appre- 
hensive will amount to the levying of war against all. 

Gentlemen, do not misapprehend us ; we make not this declaration by 
way of denunciation or threat, but simply because ii is our duty to declare 
the law. As a court of law, were it even in our power, we would not act 
on any man's fear, save on that fear of which every good citizen may be 
proud — the fear of doing a wrong or illegal act. And we make this dec- 
laration with the hope that those gentlemen who have engaged in this 
movement — for many of whom a personal acquaintance enables us to 
cherish sincere respect and esteem — will be induced to pause and to reflect 
— to reflect deeply. We admit their courage : but may they use it in a 
good cause, and, without following the example, adopt the sentiment of 
■Macbeth, when urged to commit treason and murder — 

" I dare do all that may become a nmn ; 
Who dares •\o more, is none." 



No. 213. 

Organization of the government wider the ]>eople^s constitution^ and mes- 
sage of Governor Dorr. 

From the Providence " New Age" of May 7, 1842. 

The city was crowded on Tuesday with visiters from all parts of the 
country, to witness the interesting ceremonies of the inauguration of the 
governor and the organization of the civil government of Rhode Island, in 
conformity with the provisions of the people's constitution. 

At an early hour, there commenced a constant and immense influx of 
civil guests and military corps, and their numbers continued to increase till 
the hour assigned for forming the procession. 

At about ten o'clock, the procession was marshalled in the broad space 
in front of the Hoyle tavern, and proceeded down High and Westminster 
streets, and portions of other principal streets m the city, to a building pro- 
vided for the occasion in Eddy street, where they halted; and the Gover- 
nor, preceded by tlie shenft", and followed by the other officers and repre- 
,seiitatives elect, entered, and went through the ceremony of inauguration. 



718 Rep. No. 546. 

On motion of Mr. Simmons of Providence, Hon. D. J. Pearce was ap> 
pointed to preside till the organization of the House should be completed. 

Certificates of election wore presented from twenty-two towns, and sixty- 
five members answered to their names. The following appointments werei 
then made : 

Welcome B. Sayles, of Smithfield, speaker ; and John S. Harris and Levi: 
Salisbury, jr., clerks. 

On taking the chair, the Speaker thus addressed the House : 

" Gentlemkn op the House of Representatives : I trust that 1 prop- 
erly appreciate this signal mark of your confidence in the high honor it has 
been your pleasure to confer upon me. Were it not thought that excuses- 
come wilh a very ill grace from all, save those who are eminently compe- 
tent for what they are about to undertake, I would give an expression to 
the extreme regret I feel in my inabiUty and inexperience to discharge thei 
important duties devolving on mo as your Speaker. But I have not felt at 
liberty of late to shrink from any responsibility my friends required ; there- 
fore, I throw myself upon your kind indulgence, knowing 1 shall receive 
your assistance in the discharge of my duties. 

"You, gentlemen, are no ordinary legislature, to whom only your imme- 
diate constituents are to look for wholesome legislation, but the eyes of 
more than 15,000,000 of free people are upon you. May we be able to dis- 
charge the important duties devolving upon us in such a manner as to dis- 
arm our enemies, and satisfy our friends at home, and retain the appro- 
bation of the friends of liberty and equal rights throughout the world, 

•' The constitution provides that the Speaker shall qualify himself by sub- 
scribing the oath, and then administering the same to the members, which 
I will now proceed to do." 

A committee of fil'teen members and the clerks was then appointed to 
count the votes, and the House took a short recess ; after which they re- 
assembled, and both houses were duly organized, when Governor Dorr 
read his message, which appears in other columns — a document which 
cannot fail to be perused with deep interest and full approbation by the 
friends of the constitution and the advocates of equal rights, and the legiti- 
mate descendants of those who achieved our national independence. 

The committee for counting the votes made their report — that the num- 
ber polled for governor was 6,359. The votes for the other officers on the 
ticket did not materially differ. The votes from six towns (in four of 
which meetings were held) were not received in time to be counted. 

An act was passed repealing the law for the punishment of offences 
against the sovereign power of the State, commonly called the Algerine 
law. 

The Governor was requested to notify the President of the United States 
of the organization under the constitution ; and also to notify the presiding 
officers of both Houses of Congress of the same fact, and request them to 
lay the information before their respective Houses; and also to notify the 
governors of the several States of the same, to be communicated to their 
legislatures. 

A resolution was passed requesting the Governor to issue his proclama- 
tion, requiring of civil and military officers and others obedience to the 
present government. 

The sheriff of the county of Providence was directed to prepare the 
State-house for the use of the General Assembly; after which, both houseis 



Rep. No. 546. TIO" 

adjourned, to meet at their present place of meeting at 9 o'clock this 
morning. 

The procession, which, besides the officers elect, included the Independ- 
ent Company of Volunteers, accompanied by the Providence bra«s band, 
and several militia and volunteer corps, and the butchers on horseback in 
white frocks, made a very imposing appearance, and numbered about tliree 
thousand; while double that number, principally true friends to the con- 
stitutional cause, thronged the sides of all the avenues through which it 
passed. Windows and doors were crowded with the smiling faces of the 
fair sex, eager to behold tiie novel sight of an immense assemblage, movingf 
in perfect order, to place the key-stone in the arch of the proud fabric of 
their independence. 

When the procession arrived at the house, the military were called to- 
gether by the chief marshal, and, having unanimously passed the following 
resolutions, were dismissed : 

Whereas we believe that, according to the principles recognised in that 
sacred instrument, our declaration of independence of July 4, 1770 ; by 
the constitution of the United States, and the declaration of rights adopted 
by the people of this State in the year 1790, all political governments de- 
rive their authority from the consent of the governed ; and that the people 
are sovereiijn, and have in themselves, when acting in their sovereign ca- 
pacity, full power and lawful authority to alter and change the form of gov- 
ernment when circumstances involving their happiness require : and 
whereas the people of this State, acting in their original and sovereign ca- 
pacity, have seen fit of late to call a convention of delegates to frame a 
constitution of government, republican in form, which should conform to 
the republican institutions and forms of government of other States in this 
Union — the late government of this State under the cliarter of Charles the 
Second not being of that character : and v/hereas said constitution having 
been adopted by a majority of the whole people of this State : therefore, 

Resolved, That said constitution is the supreme law of this State, and 
ought to be obeyed by all good citizens thereof. 

And whereas, agreeably to the provisions of said constitution, a gover- 
nor, lieutenant governor, senators and members of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, and all other officers to be chosen by the people, agreeably to the 
provisions thereof, have been duly elected by the people, and the govern- 
ment of the State duly orgatnzed under said constitution, and agreeably ta 
the provisions thereof: therefore. 

Resolved further, That, as a component part of the militia of this State, 
we are bound to respect Thomas Wilson Dorr as our "commander-in- 
chief" under said constitution, and that we will obey all lawful orders com- 
ing from him as commander in chief of the military of this State, for the 
defence of said constitution, the laws of this State, and the laws of the 
United States, when called upon so to do. 



GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 
Tuesday Aftern^oon, May 3. 

The organization of the two houses having been completed, on motion 
of Mr. Pearce of Newport, it was 
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That a committee of two mem- 



!*^r 



20 Rep. No- 546, 

bers of this House, with such addition as may be made by the Senate, be ap- 
pointed to wait upon the Governor, and inform him that the General As- 
sembly are ready to receive any communication that the Executive may 
have to lay before them, 

Messrs. Pearce of Newport, and Simmons of Providence, were appointed 
a committee lor tliis purpose on the part of the House; and Mr. Brown, of 
the 1st district, was added by the Senate. 

The committee reported that the Governor vrrould forthwith address the 
two liouses; and the two houses thereupon united in joint meeiujg, and 
were addressed by the Governor in the following 

MESSAGE: 

Senators and Representatives : 

It is with no ordinary emotions that I proceed to discharge the duties im- 
posed upon me by the constitution of this State, in submitting such sugges- 
tions for your consideration as the occasion requires. 

This is the first session of a legislature ever convened under a written 
constitution of government, proceeding from tlje people of Rhode Isiand. 
That a mnjority of the people should have been so long debarred from a par- 
ticipation in those rights which are elsewhere so well recognised, and that 
we have been so slow in arriving at a point long since attained in other 
States, are facts ill adapted to elevate our feelings of State pride, as succes- 
sors of those venerated men v/ho here proclaimed, for tiie first time, the just 
principles of religious and political freedom, which are now the common 
inheritance of American citizens. On the other hand, the peculiar circum- 
stances in which the people of this State have been placed, and the extraor- 
dinary difficulties with which tliey have had to contend, render the establish- 
ment of their constitution a subject of the deepest satisfection to the people 
themselves, and to all who sympatiiize in the progress of rational liberty. 
If the people of Rhode Island are true to themselves, the democracy of Rojjer 
Williams has this day been restored in the place where it originati;d. T'he 
sacred fire, so long extinguished, has been re-kindled upon our altar. The 
sovereignty of the people has been vindicated. The distinctions of caste 
and privilege have been abolished. Our institutions are rendered conform- 
able to the standard of our sister republics. While the rights of those here- 
tofore denominated the freemen of the State have not been impaired, the 
rights of others have been placed on a sure basis, by constitutional provisions 
securing: the common welfivre of the whole people. 

On this peculiar occasion, it is due to ourselves, and to our fellow-citizens 
abroad, who entertain so lively an interest in our affairs, to pass briefly in 
review the history of our proceedings, and to submit them to the scrutiny of 
public opinion — the arbiter of political questions in a free country — and to 
which, in the confidence inspired by a righteous cause, we are ever ready to 
appeal. The idea of imposing a government on the people of this State by 
mere power, and without right, is one which will be promptly discarded by 
the coMStitntiOtialists of Khode Island. 'I'hey maintain the ground that tliey 
are i ot only a inajority, but that thty have proceeded righiiiiHy to alter arid 
refiim tho;r government, according to we!!-detined principles in our reptib- 
, lie an system. 

'I he people of Rhode Inland have, for many yea s past, complained pf 
manifest defects in their fonn of government; t?:e raxit serions of which. 



Rep. No. 546. ^ 721 

were the limitation of the right of suffrage, an unequal representation, and 
the absence of all fundamental laws to limit and regulate the powers and 
functions of the General Assembly. The operation of the suffrage law of 
this State has for a long time excluded from the right of voting three fifths 
of its adult population. The largest vote ever polled by the freeholders was 
at the election of the President in 1840, when S,6G2 votes were cast, in a 
total adult male population, of permanently resident citizens of the United 
States, exceeding 23,000. jt is impracticable for the disfranchised mnjority, 
even if' of pecuniary ability and so disposed, to qualify themselves as voters 
upon real estate. Although the Senate, consisting of ten m-embers, was 
elected upon general ticket by the freemen at large, yet a majority of the 
House of Representatives was chosen by towns containing less tlian one- 
third of the population of the State; so that the conjoint effect of suffrage 
and representation in this State has been to place all political power in the 
hands of a niinority of its citizens, and to hold out the greatest temptation to 
that minority to resist all changes, which would divest the few of the ex- 
clusive control of aflairs. But if these evils had not existed ; if suffrage had 
•been extended, and representation had been equalized, still the want of funda- 
mental laws to regulate the legislature itself, and to protect the citizen against 
legislative tyranny or caprice, would alone have afforded ample justifica- 
tion to the strong impulse among the people in favor of a State constitution 
— such a constitution as should define the rights of the citizen, establish the 
departments and powers of government, and lay do\vn definite and perma- 
nent rules for its administration, to which all might appeal. 

The charter government of this State had no counterpart in any Stale of 
the Union. We have never had a constitution, in the American sense of 
the term. The substitutes for it were a charter granted by Charles II of 
England; various statutes to explain, define, and alter the charter, and to 
supply its deficiencies; and certain usnges ; all which, taken together, com- 
posed our form of government, and were all subject to the will and pleasure 
of the General Assembly. 

The charter of 1663 was the creation, in ordinary form, of a political cor- 
})oration. with general powers of self government to the colony, and it 
granted to th'' colonists the utmost freedom in all religions concern n)etusv 
The zeal and perseverance manifested by Roger Williams and John Clarke 
»in obtaining this charter entitle them to our lasting gratitude. Our ances- 
tors declared themselves a democracy long before the date of the charter, 
and they lived as such under it ; and, aUhoiigh their proceedings were sub- 
ject to the government at home, they enjoyed their institutions, with little 
interruption, to t,he time of the Revolution. It is not the charter with which 
wc find fault. In the day wlien it was granted, it was a noble monument 
of freedom, and well adapted to the circumstances of the people at the time. 
It has long since performed its office, and ought to have been laid aside in 
the colonial archives when our connexion with the mother country was 
severed. It is the action of the General Assembly under this charter, and 
since the Ilevolution of 1776, which has occasioned all our difficulties. It 
has been in the power of the General Assembly, at any moment, by their 
entire control over the right of suffrage, and by extending it, to remove eve- 
ry existing cause of complaint among the people; inasmuch as a liberal ex- 
tension would have led to the adoption of a liberal constitution. The char- 
ter empowers the Assembly t(j admit persons free of the company, and pro- 
scribes no terms or qualifications whatever. Before this charter, and under 
46 



722 llep. No.546. 

that of 1G43, the rule of admission was "beino^ found meet for the service of 
the body politic." 

After the charter of 1663, the laws'niake mention of "competent estates," 
without defining their nature or amount; and in 1666 the admission of the 
freemen was transferred, for greater convenience, to the several towns, who 
were authorized to make admission of those who were "deserving thereof." 
It was not till the year 1724, 88 years afier the settlement ot the State, that 
a definite property qualification was established, by a law of that year, which 
enacted that no man should be admitted a freeman unless possessed of a 
freehold estate of the value of one hundred pounds, or forty shillings a year, 
or unless he were the oldest son of such freeholder. The amount of the 
qualification was afterwards raised to two hundred, then to four hundred 
pounds; and in the year 1762 it was diminished to forty pounds, equiva- 
lent in our present currency to one hundred and thirty- four dollars, at which 
point it has ever since remained. 

Whatever may have been the original inducement for the passage of such 
a law, it does not appear to have been regarded at the time tis a serious in- 
convenience, any more than such a law would be regarded in any State 
purely agricultural. At the time of the Revolution, and for some years 
subsequent, the voters of the State were a majority of the inhabitants. 
The State became deeply involved in the war of the Revolution. The at- 
tention of the people was turned from their own institutions to matters of 
more general and absorbing interest; and the old charter system remained^ 
as before, the government of the State. As population increased, and the 
inhabitants became more and more diverted from agriculture to other pur- 
suits, the evil of this system became more manifest — the number of voters 
bearing a constantly decreasing proportion to the whole number of adult 
male citizens. The vote polled fifty years ago, at ordinary elections, was 
not, as has been stated, two thousand less than the average vote at our 
elections at the present day, in a population nearly double in numbers. 

A poliiical injustice so marked as this, did not fail to suggest the proper 
remedy by an extension of suffrage. In the course of time, the apportion- 
ment of representatives, which was fairly made in the charter, according 
to population, had become extremely unequal. A movement in favor of a 
constitution was made near the close of the last century, but without any 
practical results. In the year 1811 a bill to extend sufi^rage to all citizens 
who paid taxes and performed military duty was passed in the Senate, but 
was lost in the House of Representatives. In the year 1819, and the three 
following years, the subject of a State constitution was again agitated, and 
the oppressive inequality of our present system was clearly demonstrated^ 
but with the usual want of success. In 1824 a convention of the freemen 
was called by the General Assembly to form a constitution. This conven- 
tion proposed to the freemen. a constitution, which redressed, in part, the 
inequalities of our representation ; but a resolution to extend suffrage to 
others besides landholders received only three votes. This constitution 
was voted down by a large majority. 

In 1829, a renewed interest upon the question of their rights was awa- 
kened among the disfranchised inhabitants, especially in the city of Provi- 
dence. Frequent meetings were held, and a petition numerously signed 
was addressed to the General Assembly. It was so far deemed worthy of 
noiice as to be referred to a committee, and to be made the subject of a re- 
port, drawn up by a very distinguished member of the House of Repre^ 



Ikp. No. 546. 723 

sentatives. This committee treated the application of the petitioners with 
scorn and contumely ; described (hem as a low and degraded portion ot the 
commnnity; and reminded them that, if they were dissatisfied with the 
institutions of the State, they were at liberty to leave it. The report was 
received and printed, and considered, with much exultation, as the most 
effective rebuke ever administered to the advocates of liberal suffrage in 
Rhode Island, 

[n 1832, an attempt to obtain a participation in the elective rio-ht shared 
a similar fate. 

In 1&34, a, party was organized for the express purpose of accomplishing 
the same object by direct pohtical action on the electors of tlie State. After 
a resolute struggle of four years, this party became extinct, without having 
apparently created niuch impression upon the freemen, or having tended, 
in any perceptible degree, to change their fixed determination never to 
abandon the existing suffrage laws. 

But the movement of this j^arty gave occasion for some alarm ; and the 
General Assembly forthwith called a convention of freenren, who met at 
Providence, in September, 1834, to propose amendments to the existing in- 
stitutions of the State, or to form a constitution, as they might deem expe- 
dient. A motion to extend suffrage beyond the landed qualification was 
decisively negatived, only seven members voting in its favor. The con- 
vention was unable to maintain a quorum, and adjourned without pro- 
posing a constitution, or any part of one, to their constituents. 

A whole generation had thus passed away, in fruitless efforts to obtain, as 
a grant from the chartered authorities, those rights which are everywhere 
else, throughout the length and breadth of this great republic, regarded as 
the birthright of the people. The legislature Iiad been repeatedly approached 
in terms of respectful petition, and the applicants had been driven away as 
intruders upon the vested rights of the ruling political class. The General 
Assembly, which was invested with as full power to alter the law of suffrage 
in favor of the people, as to establish the law originally, without any pre- 
scription in the charter, had turned a deaf ear to the reiterated and most 
earnest remonstrances of a long injured ami oppressed majority. 

The conventions of the freemen had manifested, if possible, a still greater 
hostility to the claims of the majority. The anxious inquiry of the people 
began to be raised — Is there no remedy for these manifest grievances? Must 
we submit forever to be trodden under foot by men no better than ourselves? 
Is the law of a minority, who hapi)en to possess llieconirol of a State, like the 
laws of the Medes ai.d Persians, to be the immutable standard of right and 
justice, in despite of all the changes which havo been occasioned by time 
and circumstances in the condition of the State and its inhabitants? Was 
this designed to be a government of the few, or of the many? Have we 
gained or lost by the boasted emancipation of our State from colonial sub- 
jection? Questions like these were naturally interchanged among those 
who felt the pressure of a common injustice; and they became bound to- 
gether in attachment to a conLimon cause, and in a struggle for the sam.e 
just and equal rights. And wl\o were these men? They were the younger 
sons of firmers, the great body of the mechanics and of the workingmen 
of the State. 

They found among Cneir number nearly all the surviving patriots of 
the Revolution, who '^elt themselves impelled to assert, in tlie period of 
venerable age, the sajne cause to which they had devoted the freshness aud 



724 Rep. No. 546. 

vigor of their youthful days. The men thus hopelessly disfranchised were 
lliose to whom the defence of the country is committed in lime of war, who 
protect the community against the ravages of coniiagration, who sustain 
their equal amount of the burdens of community, and who sustam, by in- 
direct taxation, the government of the United States. They were sensible 
of no inferiority of nature or condition, which marked them for the subjects 
rather than the citizens of a nominally republican governmeiit. They were 
the descendants of ancestors who had proclaimed to the world, for the first 
time in its history, the first principles of a democratic government, or of 
the men who contributed their substance, their honor, and their lives to the 
freedom and independence of their country. Could they hesitate in the 
course which they were bound to pursue? It was idle to tell them that 
they were well governed, and that tlie existing authorities were better qual- 
ified to provide for their interests, than they were to take care of themselves. 
They felt in their inmost hearts the proud response of American freemen, 
conscious of their rights, and daring to maintain then). 

While it is the right of a British subject to be well governed, they believed 
it to be the right of American citizens to govern themselves; and they de- 
termined to remove the badge of servitude fastened upon them by a landed 
oligarchy. 

in the latter part of the year 1840, an association of mechanics, mostly 
non-freeholders, was organized in this citj'-, for the final attainment of their 
political rights ; and similar associations were soon formed in many oiher 
towns of the State. A portion of the members of these associations, still re- 
taining a hope that the General Assembly might lend an ear to the remon- 
strances of the people, presented once more a petition at the .Tanuary session, 
1841, for a redress of their political grievances. The petition was not acted 
upon. At the same session, a memorial from the town of Smithfield, pray- 
ing for an increase in its representation, received the attention of the House, 
and a committee once more reported a bill for a freemen's convention to form 
a constitution. The experience of the past had forbidden disfranchised citi- 
zens to expect, from a convention so organized, any favorable result ; and 
they soon after proceeded to call a mass conveniion of the people to consider 
the condition and prospects of their cause. This convention met in Prov- 
idence on the 17th of April, 1S41. A second mass convention was held at 
Newport on the 5ih of May. when it was resolved that a convention of the 
'people at large should be called for the formation of a republican constitu- 
tion ; aiid a State committee was appointed to issue the call. The General 
Assembly met in May, 1841, and passed a law for the more pqual apportion- 
ment among the towns of the delegates to the freeholders' convention in 
IMoveniber. At the adjourned session in June, a bill was introduced in the 
House to admit tax- payers to vote with the freemen in the choice of dele- 
p-ates to the November convention. This bill was negatived by the same 
'decisive vote that had been before given against all propositions for an ex- 
tension of sufTrage. 

On the 5ih of July, 1841, the Newport mass convention held an adjourn- 
ed meeting at Providence, and, having become satisfied that therewas no 
longer any hope from the General Assembly, issued instructions to the State 
committee to proceed forthwith in the call of a popular convention ^ which 
instructions were complied with, by issuing to all the towns in the Sutte a 
request to elect delegates, in the proportion, as nearly as possible, of one to 
every thousand inhabitants, to asseu.ble at Ptovideuce in. October for the 



Rep. No. 546. 725 

purpose aforesaid. Meetings of the citizens were duly field, pursuant to 
notice, in nearly all the towns of the State, in the latter part of August, 
moderators and clerks were appointed, and delegates were elected in the 
usual form for such occasions. A large majority of the delegates as^sembled 
in convention, at Providence, on the 4th day of October ; and. affer having 
formed the plan of a constiiution, adjourned till the next month, in order 
that their labors might be submitted to the investigation of the public. The 
convention reassembled in November; and after making several amend- 
ments, finally passed upon the constitution, and proposed it for adop- 
tion, or rejection, to the adult male population, who were citizens of the 
United States, and had their permanent residence, or home, in the State. 
The question upon the constitution was taken on the days appointed in the 
same, in the moiith of r3ecember, 1841 ; and the result was, the adoption of 
the constitution by a large majority. 

The freeholders' convention met in November; and, after preparing the 
plan of a constitution — in which, however, there were some provisions pro- 
posed only, and not acted upon — adjourned to the month of February, 1842- 
Their adjournment took place prior to the second meeting of the conven- 
tion of the people. The frt-eholders' convention, at their first session, ex- 
tended suttVage beyond the existing freehold qualification, to the possessors 
of personal property of the value of five hundred dollars. This convention 
met again, according to adjournment, in February, completed their consti- 
tution, and submitted it to those of ihe people who were qualified to vote 
undtr it; by whom, in the month succeeding, it was rejected. 

This constitution was voted against by a large majority of the friends of 
the people's constitution — not because it was made by the free-men, and not 
by themselves, but because its leading provisions were unjust and anti- 
republican, and tended to prolong, under a different guise, some of the 
greatest of those evils which had been the occasion of so much complaint 
under the old charter system. It is a fact which challenges contradiction, 
and is familiar to every man in this State, that the friends of political reform 
and equal rights have ever been desirous, previous to the adoption of their 
constitution, that all changes in their form of government should be made 
through the action of the Asseivibly, or the body of the freemen. The 
course adopted by them daring a long series of years — their respectful appli- 
catioiis to the Assembly — their delay in the call of a popular convention, 
until every probability of redress had been cut off, and patience had ceased 
to be a virtue, will satisfy all candid men that the minority are in the wrong 
on this point, and that the people have pursued the only course consistent 
with a proper regard to their rights as citizens of a free country. 

Two questions here arise, to which it is our duty to reply — a question of 
right, and a question of fact. Had the people of this State a right to adopt 
a constitution of government Jn the mode they have pursued? and, if so, 
have they adopted this constitution by a mnjority of their whole number? 

That the sovereignty of this country resides in the people, is an axiom in 
the American system of government, which it is too late to call in question. 
By the theory of other governments, the sovereign power is vested in the 
head of the State, or shared with him by the legislature. The sovereignty 
of the country from which we derive our origin, and, f may add, many of 
our opinions upon political subjects, inconsistent with our present condi- 
tion, is in the king and parliament; and any attempt on the part of the 
people to change the government of that country, would be deemed an in- 



726 Rep. No. 546. 

snrrecUon. There, all reform must proceed from the government itself, 
which calls no conventions of the people, and recognises no such remedy 
for political grievances. In this country, the case is totally the reverse. 
When the Revolution severed the ties of allegiance which bound the colo- 
nies to the j)arent country, the sovereign power passed from its former posses- 
sors — not to the General Government, which was the creation of the States ; 
nor to the State governmewts ; nor to a portion of the people ; but lo the whole 
people of the States, in whom it has ever since remained. 'I'liis is the doc- 
trine of our fathers, and of the early days of the republic, and should be 
sacredly guarded as the only safe foundation of our political fabric. The 
idea that government is in any proper sense the source of power in this 
countrj)-, is of foreign origirj. and at war with the letter and spirit of our 
institutions. The moment we admit the principle that no change in gov- 
ernment can take place without permission of the existing autliorities, we 
revert to the worn-out theory of the monarchies of Europe; and whether 
we are the subjects of the Czar of Russia, or of the monarch of Great 
Britain, or of a landed oligarcl^y, the diiference to us is only in degree; and 
we have lost the reality, though we may retain the forms, of a democratic 
republic. If the people of Rhode Island are wrong in the course they have 
pursued, they will nevertheless have conferred one benefit upon their 
countrymen by the agitation of this question, in dissipating the notion that 
the people are the sovereigns of the country, and in consigning to the de- 
partment of rhetorical declamation those solemn declarations of 1770. which 
are repeated in so many of the State constitutions, and which are so clearly 
and confidently asserted by the most eminent jurists and statesmen of our 
country. 

By sovereign power, we understand that ultimate power, which must be 
vested somewhere, and which prescribes the form and fimctions of govern- 
ment. It is, of course, superior to the legislative power, which can be prop- 
erly exerted only according to rules laid down for its action, in that expres- 
sion of the sovereign will called a constitution. This sovereignty is a per- 
sonal attribute, and belongs to the man himself, and not to the soil or 
property with which he may be endowed. It is a power seldom visible ; 
which ought to be, and can be. but rarely exerted. The making and alter- 
ing of laws, which lie at the foundations of society, should be a work of 
great care and caution; and when done, ought to be well done, that it may 
be effectual and permanent. It is our misfortune in this State, that, as no 
expression of the sovereign will has been, until recently, made in the adop- 
tion of a constitution, and no index of this will constantly before the public 
eye, the distinction between the two powers has become obliterated among 
UJ ; and the legislature has been regarded not only as the immediate act- 
ing power, but as the sole power of the State; and all who maiiitain the 
right of ihe people in their original, sovereign capacity, to alter the present 
government, and render it conformable to their just rights, have been repre- 
sented as hostile to law and order, and as putting in jeopardy the stability 
of government. On the other hand, we contend that the people iiave a 
right to change the government when necessary to their welfi^re ; that they 
'are the judges of that necessity; that " time does not run against the peo- 
ple, any more than against the king," and that they have not forfeited this 
right by any acquiescence; that a power to assent, involves another to dis- 
sent ; that even if a past generation had surrendered to a minority their po- 



Rep. No. 546. 727 

litical rights, (which they never have done,) they did not, and could not, bind 
their successors, or prevent them from re-ussuming their sovereignty. • 

If time permitted, I should take great satisfaction in laying before you 
the most abundant evidence that these are the well recognised principles 
of our republican system, and are not to be regarded as revolutionary. 

The declaration of American indepeiidence asserts that governments 
derive their just powers from the consent of the governed; and that it is 
the right of the people (meaning the whole people, the governed) to alter or 
abolish their government whenever they deem it expedient, and to institute 
new government, laying its foundations on such principles, and oro^anizing 
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
safety and happiness. This declaration was expressly adopted by the Gen- 
eral Assembly of this State in July, 177G. 

The constitutions of many of the States, while they contain specific pro- 
visions for the mode of their amendment, set forth, in the strongest terms, 
the right of tiie people to change them as they m>y deem expedient. 

Any other construction would render a portion of the declarations of 
rights in these constitutions entirely nugatory. 

The convention which framed the constitution of the United States, 
acted as the representatives of the sovereignty of the people of the States, 
without regard to the limitation attempted to be imposed by the Congress 
of the confederation. That the v.'hole people, by an explicit and authentic 
act — the great body of society, have a lisjht to make and alter their consti- 
tutions ot government, is a principle which has been laid down by the 
fathers of the constitution, and the ablest expounders of our political in- 
stitutions, by Washington, Hamilton, and Madison. The strong opinions 
of .Tefierson on this point are too well known to need a particular repetition. 

Chief Justice Jay says: "At the Revolution the sovereignty devolved on 
the people; and they are truly the sovereigns of the couniry." " The citi- 
zens of America are equal as fellow-citizens, and as joint tenants in the 
sovereignty.'' 

Justice Wilson, of the same court, says: '• Of the right of tlie majority 
of the wliole people to change their ^rovernment, at will, there is no doubt." 
It is this "one great principle, the vital principle," " which diffuses anima- 
tion and vigor tlirough all the others." He says: "The principle I mean i^ 
this, — that the supreme or sovereign power of society resides in the citizens 
at large ; and that, therefore, they always retain the right of abolishing, 
altering, or amending their constitution, at whatever time, and in whatever 
manner, they shall deem expedient." "In our government, the supreme, 
absolute, uncontrollable power, remains in tlie people. As our constitutions 
are superior to our legislatures, so the people are superior to our constitu- 
tions." The consequence is, that the people may change the constitution, 
whenever and however they please. This is a right of which no positive 
institutions can deprive them. 

Mr. Itawle, a distinguished commentator on the constitution of the United 
States, in speaking of the mode of amending a constitution, remarks : "The 
people retain — the people cannot, perhaps, divest themselves of the power 
to make such alterations." "The laws of one legislature may be repealed 
by another legislature, and the power to repeal them cannot be withheld by 
the power that enacted them. So the people may, on the same principle, 
at any tmie alter or abolish the constitution they have formed. If a par- 



728 Rep. No. 546. 

liciiinr mode of effecting such alterations have been ajrreed upon, it is most 
convenient to adhere to it ; but it is not exclusively binding," 

Ii i*s impossible to misunderstand language like this. It might be sug- 
gested that the people referred to are those who are recognised as voters by 
constitution or laws; but the language used is too clear to admit of sucli 
an interpretation. It is the whole people, the people at large, who have 
the right to change the institutions under which they live. Nor is this a 
dangerous doctrine in its practical application. This I believe is the only 
State in which the majority of the whole people do not partake of the 
electoral privilege. All other Stales have written constitutions, with pre- 
cise provisions for their amendment. It is hardly possible for a case to oc- 
cur in any other State, v.'hich would require the interposition of the people 
in any other than the prescribed mode. In all others suffrage has been en- 
larjied, and all complaints respecting a limitation of suffrage or inequality 
of representation have been redressed without any very protracted delay. 
The constitution will here also be regarded as a final measure. While we 
assert the sovereign right of the people in our own case, and presume not 
to limit its exercise under possible exigencies not now foreseen, and of 
which every generation must judge for itself, we have no reason to believe 
that Rhode Island will be an exception to the general rule in other States, 
or to doubt that its constitution will become a permanent as well as para- 
mount law, to be altered or amended according to its prescribed mode. 

But, whatever opinions may be entertained respecting the right of the 
whole people to change a constitution in any other than the prescribed 
mode, where such a mode exists, there is a point in our case to which the 
attention of every one should be closely invited. Until the adoption of the 
present constitution, there has been no mode prescribed in this State, either 
by the charter, or by any law or usage, for amending our form of govern- 
ment. The charier contains no such direction ; being a royal grant, the 
power to amend by a supplemental charter remained in the grantor, and 
needed no specification. The charter contains a very general authority to 
make all necessary laws; but they must be consistent with the royal pre- 
rogative, and with the rights of parliament. The power of amending the 
charter passed over to the people of the Slate, as an incident to their sove- 
reignty, at the Revolution. 

In the absence of any, such provision, it is a totally unfounded assump- 
tion in the charter Assembly to pretend that the proceedings of the people 
are null and void for want of a compliance with law, when no legal or 
other provision exists upon the subject. All that the General Assembly 
have ever done, has been to request, in their own form, the freemen to as- 
semble and elect delegates to form a constitution. 

The freemen, if they saw fit, might at any time have chosen such dele- 
gates, without such a request, in their own form, and with an equally valid 
effect. Is it not apparent that the people at large have a still greater right 
to do the ^ame thing in this State? ''J'hey have demanded in vain that any 
valid legal objections to their proceedings should be produced. It is to the 
last degree ungenerous and unjust that the freemen should set up their own 
jieglect in years past to provide a constitutional mode of amendments as a 
bar to the action of the people, in the only mode in which they can act at 
all. When any disposition is manifested to amend our constitution in a 
different mode from that prescribed in it, it will be time for alarmists to 



Rep. No. 546. 729 

suggest ilie clanger and instability that maj'^ possibly occur from any irregu- 
lar action of the people. 

But was this sovereign power of the people exercised, in fact, by a ma- 
jority of the whole people of the State? We assert, with entire confidence, 
that it was. I'he voting was conducted as fairly as at any election ever 
held in this State. All challenges of voters were received and entertained. 
The moderators of the meetings, who received the votes, were not under 
oath ; neither are those of their eemen's meetings. The town clerks, and 
wardens and ward clerks in the city of Providence, act under an engage- 
ment ; and this is the only difference between the meetings cf the freemen 
and those of the people. This difference will create no serious objection, 
when it is stated that the name of every man who voted for the people's 
constitution was written on his ticket; and that the ticket of every man 
who did not attend the polls on the three last of the six days of voting, in 
addition to his signature, was attested by that of some person who voted at 
the polls on the three first days. These proxy votes were but a small por- 
tion of the whole. Still further: the name of every man who voted was re- 
gistered; and a copy of the register in every town and ward was duly certified 
with the votes. All the votes have been preserved in their envelopes for any 
subsequent reference. The votes were duly returned to the people's conven- 
tion, and were examined and counted by a large committee. The committee 
reported that, as nearly as could be ascertained, the number of males in 
this State over the age of twenty-one years, citizens of the United States, 
and permanently resident, deducting persons under guardianship, insane, 
and convict, was 23,142, of whom a majority is 11,572; and that the peo- 
ple's constitution received 13,944 voles — being a majority of 4,747. After 
making every reasonable allowance for questionable votes, from which no 
election can be entirely free, it is impossible to entertain a reasonable doubt 
that a large majority of the whole people fairly voted for this constitution. 
The report of the counting committee was transmitted to the General As- 
sembly at the January session, 1842, and a motion was made to inquire 
into the return of the votes polled ; but it was negatived, as usual, by a 
large majority. 

An attempt to impeach the return has been made, by drawing an unfa- 
vorable inference from the subsequent diminished vote against the con- 
stitution of the freeholders. But the attempt fails at once, when it is un- 
derstood that a considerable nutnber of those who voted for the people's 
constitution, and are now friendly to it, voted also for the freeholders' con- 
stitution, as a mode of obtaining a part of their rights and of terminating 
all controversies. Many who voted for the first named constitution, were 
excluded from a vote against the second by its suffrage provisions ; and 
there were others who were qualified, but declined to vote at all. 

At the election of State officers under the people's constitution, there 
were no opposing candidates ; and, notwithstanding the powerful influences 
brought to bear upon the election, there was a larger vote by 1.600 than 
was polled for the officers of our opponents at the election held by the free- 
men. At this election, a portion of those freeholders who are the friends 
of the people's constitution, and who had voted for officers at the election 
held under that constitution on Monday, voted again for a constitutional 
candidate, and have been very strangely claimed, in consequence, by the 
party who sustain the old charter system. 

When the constitution of the people is examined, without reference tO' 



730 Rep. No. 546. 

its origin, it is found that there are few objections made against it. It 
guards wilh great care all civil and political rights ; it establishes as equal 
a representation as the circumstances of the State will permit, and a senate 
to be chosen in districts under such an apportionment as to secure to a ma- 
jority of the population a majority of its members. The freeholders' con- 
stitution, on the other hand, was rejected for many reasons — one of which 
was its defective provisions relating to suflrage, and its exclusion of the 
vote by ballot. The main objection was, that it entirely abolished the ma- 
jority principle in our government. Under it, both tlie House of Repre- 
sentatives and the Senate were to be elected by towns and districts contain- 
ing less than one third of the inhabitants of the State. The senators were 
also assigned to the districts, without scarcely any reference to their popula- 
tion. 

By the nature of the provisions relative to amendment, any subse- 
quent improvement of this instrument was rendered nearly impracticable. 

At the session of the Assembly in March, 1842, the people's constitution 
came under the consideration of that body, twice ratified— directly by the 
votes of the people in its favor, and indirectly by the rejection of another 
instrument. But these repeated manifestations of the popular will were 
totally disregarded. A bill to conform the gejieral election to the provisions 
of this constitution, and another to submit it to those who were qualified to 
vote under the constitution of the freehold^■rs, were promptly rejected. A 
proposition was made to extend suffrage ; and a second proposition was 
offered at the adjourojed session in April, for the call of another convention 
to form a constitution — the delegates to which convention were to be voted 
for by a constituency not much extended beyond the present freeholder. 
Both propositions shared the fate of the preceding. 

Your attention will be required to the force law and resolutions recently 
adopted by the General Assembly for the suppression of the constitution. 
Laws like these, which violate in some of their provisions the well-known 
privileges enjoyed by the subjects of the British monarchy, could hardly 
find favor in the land of Roger Williams. These enactments have been 
regarded by the considerate men among our opponents as most impolitic 
and unjust, and by the people as null and void, because conflicting with 
the paramount provisions of the constitution. 

Military preparations have been made by direction of the Assembly; and 
the people have been consequently put upon the defensive. But this is not 
the age nor the country in which the will of the people can be overawed or 
defeated by measures like these. There is reason to believe that a letter 
addressed to Governor King by the President of the United States was writ- 
ten under a mistake of the facts, occasioned by the misrepresentation of 
the character, motives, and objects of the constitutionalists of this State. 

Our fellow-citizens in other States will perceive, from the exposition 
which has been made, without further comment, that the people of this 
State are engaged in a just and honorable cause ; and (hat they have taken 
the only course for the attainment and security of their just rights. 

We are assembled in pursuance of the constitution, and under a sacred 
obligation to carry its provisions into effect. Knowing the spirit which 
you have manifested throughout this exciting controversy ; the moderate, 
but determined, course which you have pursued ; your love of order, and 
respect for all constitutional laws, and for the rights of all other persons, 
while engaged in the acquisition of your own, 1 hardly need to remind you 



Rep. No. 546. 731 

of your duty to cast behind you all injuries or provocations, and to leave 
them to the retributive justice of public opinion, which will uhimately ap- 
preciate every sincere sacrifice to the cause of truth, of freedom, and hu- 
manity. Entertaining the deep and earnest conviction that we are engaged 
in such a cause, and conscious of our own imperfections, let us implore the 
favor of that gracious Providence which guided the steps of our ancestors, 
upon this our attempt to restore, and permanently secure, the blessings of 
that well-ordered and rational freedom here established by the patriotic 
founders of oar State. 

The provisions in the constitution, relating to the security of the right 
of suflVage against fraud, and to the registration of voters, will require your 
immediate action. The Stale demands of its government an economical 
administration of affairs, and will justly complain of any increase of its 
ordinary expenses at the present period. 

I ca;)noi more appropriately conclude this communication than in the 
words of the constitution, which declares that " No favor or disfiwor ought 
to be shown in lesfislatiou toward any man, or party, or society, or religious 
denomination. The laws should be made, not for the good of the few, but 
of the many; and the burdens of the Slate ought to be fairly distributed 
among its cuizens." 

THOMAS W. DORR. 

Providence, R. I., Mat/3, 1842. 



No. 214. 
Governor Dorr''s address to the people of Rhode Island, August, 1 843. 

7b the people of Rhode Island. 

Fellow Citizens: Some time has elapsed since the intention was ex- 
pressed by me of addressing you upon the afTairs of our State, and the part 
which I have taken in them during the eventful period of the contest for 
the establishment of the constitution adopted by the people. The delay 
since tiiy mformal communication of June, 1842, for reasons of which you 
are well aware, could produce no injury to any interest of yours ; and it is 
mainly a duty to m^'^self that now calls upon me to explain more at large 
some of the events of the past year, and to disengage them, partially at least, 
from the misrepresentations with which they have been invested by the 
fertile invention, stimulated by success, of our political opponents. State- 
ments have also appeared in the papers, without my request or knowledge, 
purportnig to set forth my views, feelings, and intentions, which I must 
continue to exercise the right of expressing for myself. 

You will understand me not as undervaluing the cause of the constitution 
and of equal rights — which to me is still great and just, which is dear to the 
friends of American freedom, and which lu\s been made sacred by defeat — 
but as referring to my present inability to serve it. Having so much to say 
of my own personal concern in it, and regretting that some things must be 
said of others which I would gladly omit, and that they should on any oc- 
casion be placed in the wrong, I have approached the subject with reluctance 
and delay. 1 am not disposed to become the accuser of my associates. 
What I have done, if it be right, will stand of itself; and, if wrong, shall not 



732 Rep. No. 546. 

be divided among- them. Of the g:eneral current ot calumny which ha;s 
been so unsporinely poured out lor more than a year past, I have had 
noihiufj: to say. The particulars in snccrssion "have had their day, have 
been discoursed about, have been despised with their authors, and will be 
forgotten with them." They were false; they are not believed, and this 
is enough. Your attention will be asked to a general review of the facts of 
this controversy. In these the public are interested, and they have been 
industriously perverted. The review cannot be so brief as might be desired, 
and the repetition of many things before known is unavoidable. 

I trust thnt the principles of political right involved in the Rhode Island 
question, with the authorities which support them, together with the annals 
of the time, will be submitted to the judgment of our fellow citizens, in an 
authentic form. and by competent hands, on some other and not too distant 
occasion. 

The recent controversy unnecessary. 

It will strike every one forcibly at the outset, and throughout the whole 
course of affairs connected with the Rhode Island controversy, that it was 
unnecessary, and that on various occasions it might have been prevented by 
the adherents to the charter government. But the experience of our own, 
if not of other American States, furnishes no exception to the rule existing 
in other parts of the world, under less favorable forms of government — that 
they who hold unjust power will not readily part with it ; and that the more 
unjust it is, the more tenacious the grasp with which it is retained. 

Here, as elsewhere, the real aristocrat is he who, rich or poor, is not satis- 
fied with the possession of his own rights, but seeks to retain or to possess 
himself of a part or the whole of the riglits of his neighbor. And the dis- 
tinction of our country is not the absence of aristocracy in all its forms, but 
the supposed ability of the mass, through themselves and their mstitutions, 
to protect and defend themselves against its assumptions and machinations. 

As is faiTiiliar to most of you, the people of Rhode Island would have 
been satij<fied for the time with the beginning thus made, if the landholders' 
convention of 1824, assembled to form a constitution, had added to their 
other propositions an extension of suffrage to the leaseholders of real es- 
tate. In IS34, the convention similarly organized, and for the same pur- 
pose, would have given general satisfaction by an extension of suffrage to 
all tax payers. In 1841, the people of the Sta^e called for the possession of 
the just and equal rights which belong to the citizens of a democratic re- 
public. The legislature might, at any time, have altered the statute which 
establishes a landed qualification for voters. 

The people looked earnestly toward the old charter go\''ernment for the 
attainment of these rights, so long as there was the smallest appearance of 
success to justify their reasonable expectations. From habit and expedi- 
ency, they were disposed to await the operation of accustomed forms, and 
through them to derive the benefits which were their due, and indisputably 
their due, to the most ordinary apprehension of political justice. It was 
not until the last moment, and when all recourse to the charter Assembly 
was cut off, that the committee of the mass meeting of citizens held at Prov- 
idence on the .5th of July, 1841, in pursuance of the instructions of that 
meeting, called a convention of the whole people to devise for themselves a 
new and more liberal form of government. 

At the preceding May session of the General Assembly, a bill was intro- 



Rep. No. 546. 783 

duced to admit the citizens of the State to a participation in the choice of 
delegates to a convention to frame a constitution, which convention liad 
been called by the legislature at the January session, 1841. This bill was 
drawn by me, and handed to the member who introduced it. To disarm 
opposition, and to give the bill a better chance for a passage, this member, 
of his own motion, at the same session, struck out the clause embracing 
resident citizens in general of suitable age„and inserting lax-payers in ad- 
dition to the freehold voters. The bill, notwithstandmg the very n)oderate 
amendment thus introduced, was voted down by the overwhelming ma- 
jority of .52 to 10; and it was thus conclusively settled and determined, in 
a State where no form existed for amending its institutions, that the free- 
holders and their oldest sons only should be called upon to frame a consti- 
tution for the government of all. Repeated experience had shown, durino- 
a course of 3'ears, that a convention thus organized would concede little or 
nothing to the people, and would reproduce as nearly as possible /he old 
charter government with a change o( form. And this opinion was demon- 
strated to be correct by tlie action of this last convention, which refused to 
consent to anytliing like a liberal extension of suffrage, till February, 1842, 
two months after the adoption of their constitution by the people at large, 
when the convention adopted a provision of suffrage far less extensive than 
that in the people's constitution. It is true that an extension of suffrage was 
made to a large number of voters for and against this constitution, who 
were not permitted to vote for the delegates, and to have a part in making 
it ; and it was voted down. 

And, once more, it was not till it was understood by the charter Assembly 
sitting at Newport, in June, 1842, that a gathering of citizens at Chepachet 
had taken place for the defence of the people's constitution, that a bill for 
the call of another convention to frame a constitution was passed. The re- 
port of the gathering at Chepachet, wliich preceded the introduction of the 
bill into the House of Representatives, being at first doubted, the bill was 
not acted upon ; but the report being tlie next day confirmed, with consid- 
erable exaggeration, the bill was forthwith taken up in the Senate, and 
rapidly passed through both houses, without the projected amendments to 
diminish the constituency of the delegates; and this, notwithstanding the 
ground taken on the charter side, that the legislature had »io power to ad- 
mit any but landholders to vote, and thai nothing could be done while the 
people threatened. 

Thus it is true, from begiiming to end, that the minority of one third of 
the people of Rhode Island never intended to admit, and never did admit, 
the majority of the people to take part in the formation of a constitution, 
•until a portion of this people had appeared in arms in the last resort. And 
it will also be understood from this statement, on what ground it is asserted 
that to this small body of men assembled in arms, upon whom so much 
cahimny has been heaped, are the people indebted for all the freedom which 
now exists under any constitutional form in Rhode Island. * 

Origin of the lafe movement. 

The movement of the people in favor of a constitution, which com- 
menced in the latter part of 1840, was a continuation of other attempts to 
accomplish the same object which had been uniformly unsuccessful. And 
here let me say that I had no part in originating this last movement. It was 
got up, as 1 have been informed and believe, by the firemen and mechanics 
of PfovidencCj who deemed themselves as well (qualified to vote for their ru- 



734 Rep. No. 546. 

lers, as to do their work and to protect them from conflagration. The part 
I have had in pnblic affairs commenced in 1834, by an election to the House 
of Representatives from the city of Providence; and the great object to which 
all the abilities I possessed were devoted was, as you will recollect, the estab- 
lishment of a republican constitution through the forms of law. The consti- 
tutional party of freeholders, through whose action upon the politics of the 
State the reform was sought to be accomplished, after exhibiting some signs 
of animation, gradually expired, not having attained four years ; and its obse- 
quies were performed by an early and constant friend to reform, (Dr. Metcalf 
Marsh, of Smithfield,) and myself, who were the only delegates present at 
the last convention. ■ In fact, it was treated as a matter ol ridicule that the 
freeholders should be requested to give away their exclusive power, by 
admitting other classes of citizens to the polls. The spirit of the charter in- 
terest was accurately expressed by one of their number, when he said^ 
•' You ask us to give you your rights ; but this is not all — you ask more, and 
will* take ours with them; for my vote will not be worth half so much as 
it is now, when you all have the same privilege ;" — the essence of aristocracy 
here and everywhere. 1 have ever since abided by the exposition of prin- 
ciples relating to popular rights, which I had the honor, with other friends 
to reform, of addressing to the people of the State in 1834. But, looking^ 
back to a campaign of nearly four years, and regarding my political posi- 
tion, I preferred that any new attenipt shonld proceed from those who were 
most interested in it — the non-freeholders themselves, in their own time and 
by their own motion. Through the natural operation of causes which still 
continued, the movement of 1840, in the organization of suffrage associa- 
tions, was originated ; and it was carried forward with unexampled enthu- 
siasm. It commenced without any knowledge of it on my part. My views 
were known to be the same as in 1834; I believed the people were politi- 
cally oppressed, and trusted that they would eventually gain their rights ; 
but I had attended no meetings, public or private ; and it was not till sev- 
eral months had elapsed, that 1 was invited to address the friends of reform. 
The request was not immediately complied with ; but, being s-itisfied that 
the contest was now restimed in good earnest, and required no urging on 
iny part, I accepted the invitation of my friends, and avowed myself a sup- 
porter of the revived constitutional cause. I have said so much on this 
point, not in tlie way of disclaiming a connexion with the reformers at the 
outset of their righteous enterprise, but that the honor thus ascribed to me 
may be assigned to those to whom it justly belongs ; and in reply to a sug- 
gestion of our opponents, that this was a mere political excitement got up 
by a few party men, to influence the general or local politics of the State. 

Principles maintained. 

Although, as has been already stated, the constitutional party of 1834 
were ready, in a spirit of compromise, to stop short of the full measure of 
the riglit of suffrage, yet it is gratifying to me in the retrospect to perceive 
that, in setting forth the claims of our fellow citizens at that early day, I did 
not fall short of the true standard of democratic principles. Government 
was represented not as the creator of rights, but as created for the better de- 
fence and protection of natural, inherent rights, derived from the Author of 
our existence. The natural right of suffrage instituted political society, and 
is a portion of the liberty which that society is sacredly bound to maintain 



Rep. No. 546. 735 

in the execution of its trust. Democracy guards all rights, property inclu- 
ded ; but looks first at the mnn himself. 

1 have earnestly contended ogainst the foreign, anti American doctrine, 
which has been so sedulously inculcated by the aristocrats of this country, 
and is favored by many of the forms of speech famiUar to those of an oppo- 
site faith, — that suffrage rests upon the concession, favor, or grant of the ru- 
ling power; and is a franchise or privilege to many or a few, as reasons of 
state may render expedient. }]owever it may be elsewhere, there is no por- 
tion of the community iiere authorized, as better than the rest, to say. who 
are, or are not, fit to partake of pohlical rights. For these, the American 
citizen is not properly a suitor to his equals. Instead of being called upon 
to show cause why he should be admitted to a share of the common paliti- 
cal inheritance of universal suffrage, the burden is on tfie other side— on the 
society, to show cause why he should be excluded, for a sufficient act or de- 
fect, from what naturally belongs to liim. 

While the foreign subject may liave occasion to say " with a great sum 
obtained I this freedom," the prouder title of the American citizen is, "but 
I was BORN FREE." He is taxed because he is a citizen, but he does not 
vote because he is taxed. He votes because he is a man in a free country, 
whom democracy regards politically as the brother and equal of all others; 
and, as such, he is bound to bear, in his just proportion, the burdens of the 
State. 

Sound and indisputable as these principles are in the estimation of real 
democrats, they are far from being generally reduced to practice. On turn- 
ing to some of the State constitutions, we find that the citizen is obliged lo 
purchase his rights m some form, eitlier by money or service; and that the 
political worth of a man is thus in some degree measured by his means, and 
tlie poorer are treated as an inferior order in the State. The sooner these 
remnants of the old leaven of aristocracy are purged from our constitutions, 
the better for the consistency of our political party, and for the growth and 
stability of the principles on which it rests. 

Notwithstanding the loud notes of "law and order," and their variations, 
in Khode Island, there is reason to believe that it was not so much the want 
of form and authority iu our proceedings that gave offence to the chartists, 
as the free and just principles which pervade the constitution of the people. 

Proceedings of the people. 

The people of Rhode Island having found that all expectations of relief 
from the charter authorities, who for more than forty years had resisted all 
the demands of justice, and had repelled the more recent applications of pe- 
titioners with scorn and contumely, were illusory and vain, and that further 
delay was an outrage upon unalienable rights, as well as inconsistent with 
self respect; believing that under the Anierican system of government the 
people are, and were intended to be, superior to their rulers, a«|d that forms 
are devised, not for the prevention, but for the protection and furtlierance of 
rights ; believing tliat the sovereignty of the State was vested at the Revolu- 
tion, not in the organization of the State government, but in the people them- 
selves, and that they needed no request or permission from (he legislative ser- 
vants (themselves acting upon delegated powers) for its proper exercise; be- 
lieving that the declaration of American independence was not the emana- 
tion of a transient enthusiasm, or a rhetorical exaggeration for political ob- 



736 Rep. No. 546. 

jects, (as has been lately asserted,) but the deliberate exhibition of jnst princi- 
ples, and ot sacred, unalienable rights, in perpetual metnory, to all coming 
generations of American freemen, that they niiglit know the way of their 
fathers, and walk in it, and maintain it ; believirjg, also, that the Rliode Island 
freeholders' declaration of 1790, wljicli, equally wilh the declaration of in- 
dependence, sets forth the right of the governed, the people at large, the pos- 
terity of the existing generation, to make, alter, and amend their form of 
government, as the greatest good (of which they are the competent judges) 
shall require, was upon its face, and by the evidence of history, the cautious 
and deliberate re-production of the same great and unchiingeable verity in 
our political system; believing that one generation cannot bind another to 
any form of political injustice, and finding in Rhode Island no prescribed 
mode, either m the shape of a constitution, charier, law, or usage, for exer- 
cising the inherent right of renovating and ref )rming their government, to 
which expediency and convenience nnght render it advisable to conform — 
in the free exercise of their just powers, and in their original and sovereign 
capacity, proceeded to form and adopt a republican constitution, which right- 
fully became the paramount and supreme law of the State. 

Vole for the constitution. 

This constitution was voted for by a large majority of the adult male cit- 
izens of the United States, permanently resident in the State. Nearly a ma- 
jority of the whole people voted for the constitution, in person, at the polls. 
The remainder of the votes were given in by proxy, (a mode of voting well 
known to the early laws of the State.) with the attestation upon each of 
some person who had cast his vote at the polls. The votes were returned 
to the convention which framed the constitution, and were carefully ex- 
amined and counted by a large committee. I was a member of the com- 
mittee, and believe that the result was accurately declared by the conven- 
tion, upon evidence as satisfactory as that by which the result of any elec- 
tion, before or since, has ever been announced. I was disposed to take 
nothing for granted in a matter of this vital importance, and had the best 
reason to believe, with those who were associated with me, that the founda- 
tion of our title v/as firmly established. These voles were carefully anthen- 
4icated, and have been safely preserved. By vote of the convention, a gen- 
eral permission was given to the secretaries to issue copies of the lists of vo- 
ters, returned with the votes, to those who might apply for them. Lists of 
the voters in a majority of the towns, (1 believe in all the larger towns,) were 
thus put in circulation, and underwent the vigilant scrutiny of those most 
concerned to detect the existence of unauthorized votes. The returns were 
found to be in the main correct, wilh exrceptions not materially afft^cting the 
accuracy of the result, and leaving, after all the reduction of our opponents, 
a large and undisputed majority of the whole people. 

The question of fact, whether this constitution was thus adopted or not, 
surely cadhot be afiected by any subsequent votes, either in the election of 
officers, or upon other constiiutions proposed to a portion of the people. 
The delivery of copies of the lists was suspended only wfien it was discov- 
ered that the principal use made of ihem was to subject the voters lo an in- 
quisitorial process for tlu^ opinion which they had thus freely expressed. A 
list of all t!ie voters and of their votes ong'it to he, and no doubt will he i\i 
a proper time, presented to the public, in verification of the f;ict w^ltcil lies 
at the fouudiition of all our proceedings. 



Rep. No. 546. 737 

No investigation by charter Assembly. 

But not only were the people's party convinced of the adoption of the 
constitution by an authentic act of the mojority, but they furnished an op- 
portunity to t}ie charter party, in possession of the existinir government, to 
inspect the evidence of the fact, and to institute a thorough scrutiny, which 
would have disclosed all irregularities, if any existed, and have placed an 
effectual negative upon all further proceediugs, by setting aside the title 
npon which they rested. And this might have been done without a con- 
cession ou the part of the legislature that any rights had been established, 
through a mode alleged by them to be defective. As a strong expression 
of public opiniou, to say the least, the vote of the people demanded of them 
an investigation. If the fact that a majority had so voted had been 
ascertained, the question of right, in the estimation of the Assembly, 
still remained open. If the majority claimed had been proved to be a false 
assumption, or any serious doubt had been raised respecting it, the contro- 
versy in the forui in which it presented itself would have terminated. 

When the General Assembly refused to make auy examination of these 
votes, they admitted their existence as alleged by the opposite party, and 
they were driven to rest their case upon the rightful effect of these voles, 
and to deny that the people, without their authority, could reform the gov- 
ernn)ent of the State. 

Before the election of a government by the people the constitution had 
been thrice ratified; by their direct vote, by the admission of their oppo- 
nents, and by the defeat of the landholders' constitution which had been 
proposed as a substitute. 

Candidates for governor. 

Among the candidates for the offices under the ne.^}j government, I re- 
ceived the honor of being proposed to the people tor governor of the State. 
The nomination was not sought nor declined by me; and it was not ac- 
cepted till it had been declined by three others to whom it had been ten- 
dered — one of them of opposite political sentim.'Uts in general politics — 
and until there was reason to appreliend the failure of a candidate, from a 
reluctance to assume the responsibility which the times imposed. 

A government elected. 

The government under the constitution was duly elected ; and it remain- 
ed, by its organization, in the prescrib.ed form, to give a complete effect to 
the authentic will of the people of Rhode Island. Thus far, every step had 
been carehilly and successfully taken. The sense oi justice existing in the 
political community, even among many who questioned the regularity of 
the proceedings of the people, was on the side of the great majority who 
had been so long excluded from the birthright of American citizens. It 
was believed that they had suffered a palpable injustice in the long post- 
ponement of their claim to a participation of political power ; and their ap- 
parent determination to complete what they had commenced, in the same 
spirit with which it had been carried on, inspired the general expectation 
that they were approaching the successful issue of the great enterprise in 
which they were engaged. 
47 



738 Rep. No. 546. 

Meeting of (he General Assembly — action expected of them. 

On the 3d of IVlay, 1842, the General Assembly under the new constitu- 
tion met at Providence; the government was duly organized; and its of- 
ficers assumed their obligations to maintain it, and faithfully to discharge 
the duties which had been severally imposed upon them. The period for 
decided action had now arrived. If the government were such, it was en- 
titled to sit in the usual placesof legislation, to possess and control the pub- 
lic property, and to exercise all the functions with which it vi/as conslitu- 
tionally invested. A government without power, appealing to voluntary 
support, destitute of the ability or disposition to enlorce its lawful requisi- 
tions, was no government at all, and was destined to extinction. It was 
impossible to mistake the position in which we then stood ; and, as it is well 
known to you, it was my strong opinion and desire that, when the legisla- 
ture had been organized, and all necessary preliminaries had been com- 
pleted, they should forthwith assume the control that belonged to them over 
the public property, and proceed to the work of legislation in the place oc- 
cupied by their predecessors. Had this step been taken, right would have 
been confirmed by possession, the law and the fact would liave been con- 
joined, and the new order of things would have been acquiesced in by all 
but a minority powerless, though aided from abroad, for any effectual oppo- 
sition. I believe that many of the more candid of our opponents are now 
ready to make this admission. The prompt use of the moderate degree of 
force which was necessary at this critical point of affairs, would have ren- 
dered any greater force unnecessary, would have removed the danger of 
subsequent violence and of bloodshed, and would, in all probability, have 
insured, without leaving any room for regrets, the consummation of our 
desires and exertions. 

Action postponed. 

But the action required by the occasion was postponed. The majority 
of the House of Representatives preferred to request the surrender of the 
custody of the State house; and shortly before the close of the session of 
two days, the Assembly passed, without dissent, an act requiring all persons 
to deliver to the proper custody the possession of any public property in 
their hands, leaving the execution of it, with the other laws and le.soluiions, 
to the future attention of the chief magistrate. 

Looking back from the point at which affiiirs are now to be survi yed, we 
can see too clearly that it was here that the cause was defeated, if not lost. 
The tide was at the flood, and leading on to prosperous issues. The nu- 
merous array of our brethren in arms on the occasion of the inauguration, 
about 800 strong, were both prepared and desirous to maintain the govern- 
ment of their choice, and to perform all its legal requisitions. The neces- 
sity of action then, to render action afterwards unnecessary, was so appa- 
rent to my mind, that when it became certain that nothing would be done on 
the first day, the officers of the Providence escort were directed to be in 
readiness with their men, for any orders, on the next day. The delay in 
counting the votes, and reporting the organization of the government, made 
it so lute in the afternoon, before the delivery of the message was com- 
pleted, that most of the escort from other towns had returned to their homes. 
I have reason to suppose that the opinions of our military friends coincided 



Rep. No. 546. 73^ 

with my own on the point in question, and that they went back from the 
duties of the day disappointed at the untoward beginning of the new order 
-of thinf^s iti Rhode Island. 

In the mean time, the opinion of the legislature in favor of inaction was 
strengthened by conference among themselves, and by the exertions of some 
of their number. In the eyes of their opponents, they had risen from mis- 
demeanor to treason. They seemed to themselves to have done enough for 
one day, in securing the constitution by an actual organization; although, 
by omuting the decisive measure, they had practically done nothing ; and, 
by suffering the critical moment to pass by unimproved, they lost the ac- 
cession of all the doubtful and wavering in the community, who were 
waiting for a result ; and they weakened the confidence of their friends, by 
exciting a doubt whether they felt confident of being in the right. I look 
back to this crisis with feelings that cannot be described. What I then 
said and felt, some of you can attest. INoihing was done. Having lost the 
tide, our enterprise was cast among shoals and quicksands ; a series of mis- 
adventures and ill-sustamcd efibrts tor retrievement ensued. You know 
the rest. 

It may be said that 1 ought to have paid no attention to the legislature, 
or to have overruled their o[)iniou ; and that, rn the exercise of authority, 
which the critical exigency of the time would have justified, I ought to 
have taken immediate possession of the public property, and to have seated 
the legislature in the State-house. If they had resigned their places and 
abandoned the government in consequence, affairs would have speedily ter- 
minated, without the prolonged agony which ensued. I feel the force of 
this suggestion. And if it be just, although it was my function not to 
make the laws or to direct the law- makers, but to execute their acts and 
orders, then am I not without blame for the failure of the session. The 
course indicated might have worn the appearance of an executive magis- 
trate, in his first act, coming in collision with the legislature, and seeking to 
bend them to his wishes, and risking the danger of a disruption. Re this 
as it may, if anywhere, it was here that some of us came short of our duty 
to the people whom we represented. I am willing to commit the question 
to their candid judgment, to whom the censure shall be assigned. 

The Asse7nhly deterred by the threats of Tyler. 

It will be asked, why was not a resolution to occupy the State house, and 
other public property, immediately passed by the acclamation of both 
houses? Doubtless there were many who had overrated their own pur- 
poses, and who found it easier to declare in advance what ought to be done, 
than to meet the requirements of the day when it arrived. But what prin- 
cipally operated upon the nunds of the members, as I suppose, to deter them 
from promptitude of action, was the apprehension of an armed interven- 
tion by the national executive, and the desire to avoid a collision. On this 
subject I cannot avoid dwelling somewhat at large, as its importance de- 
mands. Through the eflect thus produced, the action of John Tyler, cas- 
ually occupying the place of President, v/as the principal cause of the over- 
throw of the government and constitution of the people of Khode Island ;^ 
and he has thus dealt a blow at the institutions of his country, for which, 
when his other acts are forgotten, he will be remembered. It is seldom 
-Jhat, in a country boasting of a free government, it is in the power of ati 



740 Rep. No. 546. 

individual thus to wrong- and afflict the people of a whole political commu- 
nity, and to impress himself with such marks of odiimi upon their annals. 
President Tyler, by tfie advice and instigation of his Secretaries Webster 
and Spencer, has inflicted an injury upon onr people not easily to be re- 
paired, and under circumstances which show him to be a deliberate ag- 
gressor. No case had occurred, under the consiitution and laws of the 
United States, to authorize any intervention on his part in the local affairs 
of a sovereign State. There lias been no "insurrection,"' no "domestic 
violence," no resi>>tance to an authorized government, no attempt to impair 
the execution of tiie laws. The people's government had not been elected. 
All that could be said by the commissioners of the charter party, who were- 
delegated to Wa5,hington to sohcit the employment of the national troops- 
against their fellow citizens at home, was, that the great majority of the 
peopie had voted for a constitution which was too liberal to please the mi- 
nority, and without their permis!>ion or request; and that, if the majority 
proceeded to set up a government, and to make their constitution effectual, 
the commissioners appreh.ended lliat such an act might be regarded as an 
insurrection, or lead to domestic violence by the charter government (if it 
should persist in contravening the will of the majority) against its popular 
substitute. This was all that could be properly said. But if, as tlieir friends 
at home liave asserted, the commissioners went further, and represented to- 
the President that the charter party of Rhode Island was the party of the 
President's political friends: and if they held up, with a distinctness suffi- 
cient to be intelligible to a prospective candidate, tiie contingency of the 
electoral votes of the State, they were not wanting in the diplomatic adroit- 
ness which their business required of them, nor insensible to the predispo- 
sition of the individual with whom they were negotiating. 

Grounds assumed by the Pi^esUleiit. 

Two things were by him taken for granted, which have not been, and £ 
trust never will be in tliis country, admitted by the people — viz: that the 
people hav^ no right to change a government, in a peaceable and authentic 
luaiiner, wr.houl leave from the existing legislature, wliether it represent a. 
majority, or only a small fraction ol the people; and that the President of 
these States is the constitutional umpire of State rights, authorized to set- 
tle all domestic quei^tions of this kind summarily with tlie sword, in case of 
the non-acquiescence in his mandate to the offending party, in favor of 
that which he espouses. 

He denies the sovereignty of the people. 

The important question of fact, wfiether the people of Rhode Island had 
actually, by a great majority, instituted another form of government, repub- 
lican in its character, as required by the constitution of the United States^ 
was im.mediately set aside by his unwarrantable assumption that tl:e form 
is everything, and the substance nothing; and that, for want of form, the 
acts of the people could not be regarded or inquired into for a moment.: 
The matter of fact considered by the President was, whether the people of 
Rhode Island had been invited, authorized, or commanded to form and 
adopt a constitution by their superiors, the servants of the minority repre- 
senting them in the legislature, Finding that this constitution had been 



Rep. No. 546. 741 

framed and adopted without any such formality, in the original, sovereign 
rio-ht of the people, he at once assumed the ground that the whole proceed- 
ing was null and void, and liable to be arrested by the military power vested 
in his hands; — an assumption at war with the declaration of independence, 
and with the constitutions of the States, and whicli completely overthrows 
the fundamental principle of our democratic republics— the sovereignty of 
the people; not of the favored few, but of the \vhole. 

The doctrine of the present anti-republican administration was, and is, 
that the sovereign power, (the power which democracy regards as the crea- 
tor of the legislative, judicial, executive, and all other political powers in 
the State — itself original, ultimate, underived, and forever vested in the 
hands of the whole people.) notwithstanding the unequivocal purport of 
€ur declarations and constitutions, the clear current of authorities, and the 
opinion of the ablest statesmen of all parties, from the revolution down- 
ward to tlie present day, is vested in that political formation denominated 
the State. It may be admitted by some politicians of this school, that the 
people originally, before government is instituted, I;ave equal rights to par- 
ticipate in the act of lormation ; but they contend that, afterward, all 
changes must originate in the will and authority of the State, exj)ressed by 
its officers, v/hether representing the whole, the mnjority, ihe minority, or, 
through the decays of the "rotten borough system," the smallest fraction of 
the whole mass. The sovereignly is in the organization, and not in those 
who organize ; in the system devised by the people, and not in the people 
themselves; in the governed, the majority of the wliule mass, who consti- 
4ute the people of a country. 

This doctrine was embodied in a letter, snid to have been prepared by the 
Secretary of State, addressed by President Tyler to Gov. Kmg in April, 
3 842, m which it is set forth most explicitly that no valid change of a State 
government can take place without the consent of " thk authorities and 
PEOPLE," the authorities being first in time and importance, and ilie agency 
of the people being secondary, and of course subject to the impulse and. 
control of their public servants. 

Vieivs of the Secretary of State. 

The Secretary of State, Mr. Webster, was subsequently still more direct 
and positive on the point we are now considering. He declared in May» 
1842, that in a political point of view the people of a State are to be re- 
garded in the light of a corporation. The individuals holding a right to 
vote are the members of a body politic. The government are the directors ; 
and when it is asked what acts have been done by the corporation, the sole 
reference must be to its record, or a transcript authenticated by the record- 
ing officer and by tiie corporate seal ; so that an inquiry whether the people 
of Rhode Island have adopted a constitution, must be simply, what is the 
evidence of the authorization and of the result of their proceedings under 
the hand and seal of the charter officers? To show, by proof from without, 
that nineteen out of twenty of the corporators have voted or acted in a par- 
ticular manner, is no evidence of the act of the corporation ; and without 
the due certificate under hand and sea! of charter officers, it matters not how 
many citizens have voted for the people's constitution. This is an inquiry 
which cannot be gone into. It is, says Mr. W., a revolution, (meaning the 
attempt to reform the government i;i Rhode Island.) If the men of the rev- 



742 Rep. No. 546. 

olutionary war had not succeeded, they would have been hanged. They 
understood the consequences, and it was all fair. From which 1 infer, that,, 
in the view of the then Secretary, no principle was involved in the revolu- 
tionary contest to justify the venerated patriots of that day in their struggle 
for the establishment of their unalienable rights. They contended nobly, 
and with success ; and a monument has arisen to the heavens on the field of 
their early encounter, to indicate their undying names to all succeeding 
generations. And yet their success was the criterion of tlieir merit, and of 
their claim to the grateful reverence of posterity. If they had not succeeded, 
they would have been — and more than this, in alT fairness ought to have 
been — suspended by the neck, and on the spot first signalized by their for- 
mal resistance to the myrmidons of British despotism. It is not surprjsing^ 
that an individual enteriaining sentiments like these, which breathe the 
genuine tory spirit of days gone by, should, at a recent commemoration, 
have preserved a perfect silence respecting the principles in the presence of 
the men of '70. He praised their actions because they succeeded, without 
affirming the right to contend and to succeed, (the American right,) without 
leave of the " autlioiiues" of Great Britain, and without any other name,, 
save that of God and of their country, to resist and beat down their oppres- 
sors. Had the monument on Bunker Hill been raised by a British party to 
immortalize their success in the extinction of the American cause, and of 
the patriots who defended it, can it be doubted that the distinguished abili- 
ties of the orator of the day would have been at the service ot that party, to 
celebrate their principles and their acts, to which success had set the right- 
ful seal of trnth, and whicli had thus been commended to the respect and 
honor of the American people? Let it be added that Tyler and Webster 
claim to be the followers of the illustrious author of the declaration of inde- 
pendence — the first originally, the second afar ofl". and with the spirit of re- 
cent adoption ; and the picture is completed. 

" Anarchy and confusion^'' apprelLended. 

I know it will be said, perhaps, by a majority of a large political party in 
this country, who would feel aggrieved to be denominated the successors of 
the tories of the Revolution, that the President and his Secretaries were 
right ; that they ought not to have considered for a moment the proposition 
that the people at large in one of our States — the governed — the community — 
have a right in any case of injustice, however long continued and aggra- 
vated, to take their own affairs into their own hands, and to make a writteri 
constitution where none exists, or to cliange a constitution already in opera- 
lion ; because such a concession would open a door to anarchy and confu- 
sion, and unsettle the foundations of regulated liberty. But let it be asked 
of those who hold such an opinion, whether they do not practically take 
side with the opposers of the American Revolution, and on precisely the 
same ground, and with the very language which they employed? Do they 
not impugn the formation of our Stale governments, and of the first Con- 
gress, and of the national constitution itself, which was framed by an as- 
sumption of authority on the part of the delegates to the convention ? And 
is it true that there is a tendency to anarchy and confusion in the principle 
ior which we contend 7 It is rather a principle of order, of stability, and 
.of peace. Let us bring together the right contended for, and the danger 
apprehended, and see if they stand in the" connexion of cause and effect. 



Rep. No. 546. 74^ 

A groundless apprehension. 

So lon^ as the spirit of freedom kindled in this country at ihe Revolu- 
tion shall continue to exist — that is, so long as the attiibules of the Saxon 
race shall remain unimpaired— the people of our Slates and of our country- 
can" never be expected to submit permanently to any great practical injus- 
tice m the form or administration of the government under which they 
live. The Saxon American will have his rights. This comes of his blood 
and origin. If his rights are not conceded, when his patience has been 
exhausted he will take them. He understands perfectly that political is 
the only safeguard of civil liberty ; that, in order to derive the benefit of 
good laws, it is indispensable that he should have a voice in choosing the 
makers of the laws. He not only claims, in the spirit of English freedom, 
to be well governed, but to govern himself. It is one of the great blessings 
of our country that such a spirit of independence, and such a sense of jus- 
tice, are so deeply infused into the people ; and that the constitutions of 
the States in so great a degree protect them in their rights, and provide so 
generally for the convenient amendment of all imperfections in their own 
structure. But still there must be somewhere a reserved power — *' a power 
behind the throne greater than the throne itself" or there is no ultimate 
protection of natural riohts; and the boast that American institutions dilfer 
in their basis from the monarchies of the old world, is empty and fallacious.. 
The difference between them, in this view, is, that the American govern- 
ments were better at the start, and are more just and better arranged ; but, 
being set in operation, they are all the same as those of the old world in 
their relation to the people, who are subordinate to the forms by which they 
are surrounded — the creatures of the State — the servants of the " authori- 
ties" who govern them. The great foundation of our American system is 
thus effectually nullified. It is not true that, in the United States, all just 
government is derived from, and rests upon, the consent of the governed, as 
the declaration asserts. It is not true that the governed have a right of 
themselves to help themselves whenever old forms become injurious and 
oppressive, however expressly such a right may be guarantied in the con- 
stitution, and taken out of the definition of Revolution, by being recognised 
as a principle of the government itself And thus, after all that has been 
so often and so inconsiderately said upon the days of the returning anni- 
versary of our national existence, there is no remedy in the last resort but 
direct and unauthorized force for inveterate evils in the body politic. The 
consequence is inevitable. Force will become the arbiter of right, as it 
now is in the countries of the old world. 

Importance of Ihe reserved sovereignty. 

Other cases similar to that in Rhode Island may arise. Although the 
modes provided for amending the State constitutions may now appear to 
meet all cases that may occur, it may not be so always. J3y the operation 
of causes not now estimated, by the relative decrease of population, by 
legislative usurpation, by false constructions, by the increase of wealth and 
hixury, by the growth of monopoly and artificial interests, and in all those 
ways in which political power is gradually stealing from the many lo the 
few, inequalities not now conceived of may disclose themselves in our po- 
litical systems, portentous in their character, and threatening, unless speed- 



744 Rep. No. 546. 

ily eradicated, seriously to impair or to overthrow the Hberties and the 
institutions of the country, 1 ask, then, where is the true conservative ele- 
ment of our system, if it be not in the reserved sovereignty of the people? 
In the cases supposed, of unjust power accumulated in the hands of minor- 
ities, will it have a tendency to restore the equilibrium, to keep constantly 
before the n)inds of the ruling minority that they are the sovereigns of the 
State, and beyond control or responsibility ; and that the measure of right 
to the majority is what they have got, or what the minority choose to con- 
cede to them? Will it satisfy the people, and be a means of pacification 
in the Stale, to hold out the sword as a barrier to reform, if ihai reform 
shall be unpalatable to the prevailing oligarchy? Is it a measure of peace 
to invoice Ihe aid of the General Government to force back tfie people of a 
State withih the linjits prescribed to iliem by an in perious fjiction? Will 
it defeat injustice, and restore equality, for the General Government to 
promise its aid to a faction, so long as it will hold out against the will of 
the majority ? If this be the way of peace in this country, then must some 
change come over the spirit of this people, which shall divest them of all 
their more robust qualities, and render them unworthy of the inheritance 
purchased for them by the blood of the revolution, and fit only to be the 
slaves of a corrupt aristocracy, who, "booted and spurred," shall "ride 
them legitimately by the grace of God." 

Effect of the opjjosite doctrine. 

On the other hand, it is equally manifest, that to cherish the spirit of equal- 
ity, constantly to assert the worth and importance of the individual man, 
and to maintain the conjoint sovereiffijiy of all, must have the effect of pre- 
serving a wholesome balance of power in the political system. The hum- 
blest individual realizes his value as an integral part of the couiraon mass. 
The loss of all things leaves him yet a man, with a voice in the State. The 
State did not make him what he is. He looks to a higher source for the 
origin of ritrhts, in the exercise of which, conjointly with his equals, the 
State itself has been created. 

This doctrine of sovereignty, beyond and superior to all existing institu- 
tions, is only the extension to the men of political society in the mass, what 
every democrat aflirms and believes of them individually, as the possessors 
of native and unalienable rights, conferred by the h;md o( God, and which 
it is the purpose of government not to give but to strengthen and protect, in 
the name and with the power of the whole people. 

Where these principles are carefully guarded and maintained, and enter 
into the apprehension and imbue the sentiments of the community, the po- 
litical stale will not fail to conform itself, and without intolerable delays, to 
the mind and will of the people. The certainty that exists, that no wrong 
can be permanent, that those who hold unjust power under existing forms 
must surrender it, and accommodate themselves to the spirit of the ago, and. 
the demands of their co tenants in the sovereign power, is a perpetual admo- 
nition to the spirit of injustice and exclusiveness that might be otherwise 
disposed to get and keep all it can, and, as in the infcituated aristocracies of 
the old world, to concede nothing until concession is too late, and the people 
have already helped themselves. 

Deny these principles, and exclude this ultimate sovereignty, and you 
cast the State into a rigid mould of uniformity ; you make its defects perma- 



Rep. No. 546. 745 

iicnt; you encourasfe the aristocrcicy, which is growing upon us, to resist 
every change; you blot out the original, distinctive character of our repub- 
lic, and vest in the interests of the day, more especially the wealth of the 
couniry, not only the political adnnnistration, but the control q( {he form of 
the government Itself, which is the index of the prevailing power in every 
country, and in the end will shape itself to it, as the shadow to the substance. 

But let it be understood tliat the mighty hand of the people, which 
created the State and its institutions, though now withdrawn and invisible, 
is still potent with its original energies; and let but a finger of that hand 
be pointed at the wrongs or corruptions which resist refortn through ordi- 
nary and convenient modes, and bid defiance to the wishes of the majority, 
and the miracle is wrought. The barriers of lime, and interest, and pre- 
judice, and corruptio;i, give way. The will of the majority prevails, and 
the practical working of the State is made to conform to the standard of 
equality and justice. The hand is withdrawn. Its use is suspended. The 
certainty that it exists, and can and will be used In the last resort, prevents 
the necessity of using it at all. 

1 cannot render to this subject the justice it requires, but a deep and 
earnest conviction of the truth and importance of the principles asserted 
will justify me in dwelling upon them. Whenever the people of these 
States shall so far forget the orij^in of their institutions as to believe 
themselves the creatures of tlie governnient, and liiat all their rights are 
derived from it; that what the State concedes is the measure of their 
privileges; and that they are the subjects of a sovereign power, and not 
the equal participators of that power, they will be ready to become the 
instruments of the prevailing aristocracy, whatever may be its form; our 
government will be changed, and will subside into the mere arbitrary 
regimen from which it emerged. Give up the vital principle which ani- 
mates our American political system, and nolhiiig but its form separates 
it from the aristocracy and monarchy of Europe. Time and wealth will 
do the rest. I am ilie friend of "regulated liberty," but still more friendly 
to the right of the people to make the regulations by which their liberty is 
defined and protected. 

TAe President claims to arbitrate upon the rights of the people with the 

sword. 

But not only does the President, with his administration, assert that the 
people in a State have no riijht to amend (heir institutions without the per- 
mission of the au'horiiies, but he also sets forth the dangerous doctrine, so 
well calculated to alarm the democracy of the couniry, and all friends to 
the constitution, that the national executive is the ultimate judge and um- 
pire in all questions of the kind that may arise in the States; and that, ia 
defiult of obedience to tlie Executive mandate, it may be enforced with a 
strong hand, and the contumacious, (or '■'■ insurgents,^^ as they are denomi- 
nated,) may be overthrown and put to the sword. This is the plain mean- 
ing of the President's letter, rendered unequivocal by his actions. If this 
be the true doctrine in such cases, as it now stands uncorrected, then we 
have in our midst the elements of a great central despotism of the most 
odious, as well as destructive character; and those distinguished anti-fed- 
eralists were not far from the truth, who declared that the convention had 
provided in the constitution a President with an all absorbing power whea- 
«ver, under favorable circumstances, he should choose to exercise it. 



746 , Rep. No. 546. 

And this assumption is the more to be abhorred, because it is of a power 
obtained by steahh, in the usual mode of these encroachments, by a forced 
enlarg^ement of powers undenied, and salutary in their legitimate exercise. 
The President is aiithorized to suppress " insurrections," and to quell " do- 
mestic violence ;" and the cases to which his authoi ity extends are readily per- 
ceiver', not only from the necessary force of language, but from experience 
in the course of our history. The rising up against, and forcibly resisting 
in the exercise of its functions, or dispersing a duly constituted government, 
is one of the cases. So, also, when any of the laws or any lawful author- 
ity of that government is resisted or obstructed with violence, it is the right 
of the President, in the last resort, and when other means are inadequate, 
to lend the aid of the United States to sustain the government or the law. 
But the Presicfent stretches his authority far beyond this point. There had 
been no insurrection — no domestic violence in Rhode Island. The people 
had, in a peaceable manner, assembled together in their several towns, and 
elected delegates to a convention which had publicly and peacefully framed 
a constitution, which was in the same manner adopted, and under which 
the laws and officers were continued in force and in place. The people were 
about to meet once more, in a prescribed manner, to elect the officers desig- 
nated by this constitution. When this constitution had been carried into 
effect, those who resist* d the government under it would be, in the view of 
the constitution of the United States, the real insurgents and actors of vio- 
lence. At this point, the President interferes; he strikes down the right of 
the people at a blow ; he charges upon them that their further proceedings 
will necessarily be insurrectionary, and lead to violence ; whereas he him- 
self stimulated all the violence that v/as to be apprehended, by denying the 
sovereign, self governing right of the people, by casting his sword into the 
scale of one of the parties, causing it to preponderate, and by stimulating 
that party to acts which it would not otherwise have thought of. 

What right had the President to assume that the charter party would hold 
out against the will of the majority? By coming to him to solicit his inter- 
ference and aid, notwithstanding the fact that they had at their control the 
treasury and the military power, they had confessed themselves to be a 
helpless minority. If he had let the matter rest where it was, and, follow- 
ing the example of a democratic predecessor, as upon a similar application,, 
had replied, that, when a case for his interference had actually arisen, he 
would attend to it, no exception could have been taken, and neither party 
would have derived an advantage. But, instead of this just caution, he 
enters at once into an exposition of State riglits ; lays down what the peo- 
ple can do, and what they cannot do; urges the minority to hold on, by the 
promise of military succor; and, to all intents and purposes, transfers to him- 
self the ultimate sovereignty over the people. A lord paramount, or a su- 
preme military despot, could do no more under the same circumstances ; 
and such is .lohn Tyler in his relation to the people of Rhode Island. If 
the doctrine of 1842 is to prevail, such may some of his successors become 
to the whole people of the country, without the exercise of that eternal 
vigilance, which is the price of our dearest and most valued rights. 

Assault on State rights. 

Look for a moment longer at the assault which has thus been committed 
upon State rights. The constitution of the United States was adopted in 



Rep. No. 546. 747 

separate, sovereign States, for specific objects, which experience had shown 
to be unattainable under the form of a confederation acting on the States 
themselves, and not upon the individual citizens. Under the State consti- 
tutions, which are somewhat indefinite in the jjrant of powers, the local 
governments practically exercise the powers which are not withheld from 
them by special reservation. The Government of the United States, on 
the other hand, was intended to exercise only such powers as were specifi- 
cally granted, or indispensable by implication, to carry those which had been 
specifically granted nito operation. This was the necessary restriction 
upon a limited government, without which it would become strongly cen- 
tralized, and absorb the powers of the separate States. 

Of the two great parties into which the country always has been and 
will be divided, the tendency of one has been to enlarge, by free construc- 
tion, the original grant of powers to the Federal Government ; of the other^ 
the democratic party, (with occasional departures from the true principle, 
which the people thus for have rectified,) to confine the General Govern- 
ment within its original boundaries, and to preserve unimpaired the rela- 
tive proportions of the centripetal and centrifugal forces of the system, as 
the only sure expedient for perpetuating both f )rms of government. We 
see, at the present time, the effect of these opposite principles and tenden- 
cies in the controversy f)ending between the two parties : the one contend- 
ing for a national bank ; an exclusive tariff; plans to subsidize the States;: 
an indefinite system of internal improvements ; an assumption of State 
debts; — the other rejecting all these measures of^ their opponents as incon- 
sistent, not only with sound policy, but with the terms of the grant by 
which the national Government was carved out of the original powers of 
the several grantors. 

These attempts at enlargement have been for the most part manifested in 
the legislative departments of the General Government, which, by their 
separate organization, hold each other in check, and thus give time to the 
salutary operation of public opinion upon each. But this last assumption 
by the Executive is of a still more formidable character, and more arbitrary 
than the others, as vesting in a siuiile will the disposal of the reserved 
rights of the States and of the people, and by a forcing process in a part of 
the constitution where it would be the least expected that the authority 
would be detected. 

The theory of constitutional rights is thus reversed by the Executive. 
No one has heretofore thought of looking into the constitution of the United 
States for a grant of sovereign powers to the people, for the plain reason 
that out of these pre existing powers the constitution itself proceeded. 
Henceforth, enlightened by the logic of the President's advisers, we are to 
bear in mind that the States and the people are the creatures of one of the 
central powers which ihey are supposed to have created. 

The citizens of the States are thus placed in a worse position than British 
subjects. In Great Britain, the sovereignty is by theory in the government,, 
and not in the people. All reforms, therefore, must proceed from the gov- 
ernment ; and for the people to act on their own authority is treasonable. 
But the discretion which restrains them is not vested in one man — the head 
of the State — but in Parliament; and the conjoint action of the two houses 
is necessary to the imposition of penalties upon the subject for attempting 
40 interfere with the jurisdiction of his superiors. It would be bad enough 
-if the Congress of the United States should assume to dictate to the people 



748 Rep. Fo. 546. 

of the States the measure of their rights and the constitutions under which 
they should hve. But it is intolereible when one man assumes to be the 
arbiter of their fates, to dictate to tliem the mode of procedure and the time 
of waiting for redress, and joins himself to one of the parties in a State to 
put down the other with the sword. 

^Vo the wisdom, the integrity, and patriotism of a Washington, a Jeffer- 
son, or a Jackson, if to any single judgment, might the citizens of h. State 
be willing to commit the arbitrament of their pnhtical right ; but they 
liave no guaranty that the seats of these illustrious men will be always 
filled by successors of a similar character. In the vicissitudes of the politi- 
cal world, the chair of state may be occupied (though it is to be hoped not 
frequently, sometimes casually) by an mdividual who has betrayed [lis 
friends, without securing the confidence of his enemies ; who changes his 
principles with his habiliments, according to the exigency of the day ; 
whose opinions and motives are distrusted ; whose measures and ap- 
pointments are directed towards personal objects, under the stimulus of 
.an inordinate and diseased vanity, which craves a popular election to 
a place for which nature and his constituents never intended him; 
who contaminates all that he touches, and in his turn is worked upon, 
■through a dangerous facility of. disposition, by sinister and unprinci- 
pled advisers, (souie of them irresponsible,) and who is controlled for the 
time by the influence that is nearest at hand, enforcing itself with appeals to 
an Incliscriminating credulity and an all-gvasping selfishness. If such a 
inan should arise in tliis country, God forbid that he should be permitted to 
hold in his hands tlie political rights of Rhode Island, or of any other State ! 
Let them at least remain in abeyance till, in the rapid revolution of time, he 
shall, with the cordial unanmiity of all parlies, be restored to the place from 
which he was taken. 

Can it be wondered that, in view of the wrong inflicted upon our State, 
•as well as of the principles and practices of the present chief magistrate, the 
democracy of the country should so generally shun his contact, and set 
their faces against his administration, and the ignoble faction by which it is 
^sustained ? 

Military attiiudt of the President. * 

President Tyler having assumed, upon the application of the charter 
.government of Rhode Island, to decide the controversy then pending, lost 
no time in following up his engagements to his friends in that State, by issu- 
ing a manifesto against the constitutional party and their proceedings. A 
second letter was afterwards addressed by him to the charter Governor, be- 
lieved to have been prepared by Mr. Spencer, the Secretary of War. The 
military force of the United States at Newport was increased by draughts 
from other posts, and by a detachment of horse artillery, which could add 
no strength to a fortification, and which, it v/as openly boasted by the mem- 
bers of the charter party, on the occasion of performing its manoeuvres be- 
fore the members of their legislature, was to be employed against the people. 
At a later period, another detachment of horse artillery was* marched to 
Rhode island from Plattsburg. It was stated at one of the posts in New- 
port, that the troops had been sent there to aid President Tyler in expound- 
lijg the constitution of the United States to the people of Rhode Island, who 
appeared to be slow in comprehending it. A distinguished officer in the 



Rep. No. 546. 149 

artillery service was directed to report himself to the charter government^ 
and was afterwards efficient in advising the plans to be pursued. Other 
United States officers also rendered their services in other modes. It is be- 
lieved that the revenue-cniter service was also held in requisition to block- 
ade, if necessary, the maritime approaches to the State. There is reason to- 
beheve that ihe inmiunities of the post office were disregarded, and that let- 
ters addressed to the members of the constitutional party have been opened 
and resealed, and that other letters have been withheld from their destina- 
tion. The custom-houfe in Providence was made a place of depot for mu- 
nitions of war ; and officers under the United States were seen at the head 
of parties to search houses and to make seizures. Subsequently to the en- 
campment at Chepachet, the charter troops were reviewed, with high com-^ 
mendation, by a colonel in the United States infantry, and by the Secre- 
tary of War. 

Effect of the President's letter. 

The effect of the President's letter in April was greatly to depress the 
constitutionalists, and to encourage their opponents, who at once ceased to 
express any desire to accommodate themselves to the wishes of the majority,, 
and determined to set them at defiance, expressing themselves confident m 
the forces of the Genera! Government, which would do all the fighting on 
their side, if any were required. A desire for a contest at arms had existec^ 
in neither party. Neither was prepared for it. The military organization 
was at its lowest ebb. 1 believe that there was but one militia company in 
Providence fully officered. The members of most of the chartered compa- 
nies inclined more toward the people's side than to the other. But when" 
the President loaned to one party the sword of the Union, Ihe face of things: 
was changed at once. The charter party became confident. They had 
been the first to take measures of military preparation. Their want of num- 
bers was now compensated, and they set to work to recruit their force, and 
to improve their oroanization, lookiiig to the President to supply all defi- 
ciencies. Previously to his first letter, the President, from his conversa- 
tiot>s, was supposed to be of precisely the opposite opinion to that which he- 
expressed. 

This demonstration of the President had the same effect as if the whole? 
force of the Urnted States had actually been employed in Rhode Island. 
That it ought to have had such an effect, may well be denied from what 
will appear hereafter. But I speak of the fact, which the people of larger 
States have not fully appreciated. The force uf the Union, in a small State 
that may be traversed in a day, was a disparity with which it seemed to bo 
vain to contend, even in a cause so just and nglueous as that of the consti- 
tutional party. The President, in attacking the rigiits of a small State, had- 
manifesied the greatest indignity of all, as it may well be asserted by ihose- 
who know him that he would never have ventured upon such a course to- 
ward a larger State. The threat of Mr. Tyler to march the whole army of 
the United States into JSew York, or Pennsylvania, or Virginia, or even 
the well-prepared and martial State of New Hampshire, for the sake of sup- 
j)ressing a constitution that the great majority desired to live under, would 
liave drawn down the derision of the people of those States, and have 
aroused their entire energies, so that the army, when it came, would have- 
served rather to fertilize the soil than to suppress tlie rights of the citizeiis^. 



750 Rep. No. 546. 

Bill Rhode Island has paid the penalty for her contracted territory imposed 
by the President. This act alone will justify the retribution which awaits 
him. His veto of the rights of Rhode Island casts all his other vetoes into 
the shade. Conscious of an unworthy course, he omitted all mention of it 
in his last message to Congress, and contented himself with the empty, 
heartless congratulation, that -^ the personal liberty of the citizen is sacredly 
maintained, and his rights secured, under political institutions deriving all 
their aiUhoritij from the direct sanction of tlie people ;" while the recollec- 
tion of his high-handed interference to suppress the direct action and the 
choice of the people of Rhode Island was fresh in all minds. 

Apparent recovery. 

The first shock seemed to have expended itself. The election of officers 
under the people's constitution proceeded. The people appeared to have 
recovered their self-possession ; but this appearance was deceptive. The 
meeting of the legislature disclosed the under-tone of feeling among (he 
memhers, and their indisposition to active measures, to which I have be- 
fore alluded. 

Object of visit abroad. 

Shortly after the session of the people's Assembly, having attended to the 
necessary executive business, I set out for the city of New York, with the 
intention of proceeding to Washington. I was strongly urged to visit the cap- 
ital by many of the best friends of our cause, and a vote to the same effect 
was adopted at a large meeting of the citizens in Providence. They were 
desirous that I should ascertain, on the spot, what were the springs of the 
movement against us at Washington, and whether there was a final deter- 
mination to suppress our constitution by force. Believing this point to be 
settled beyond question, I doubted whether any advantage was to be derived 
from such a visit, which was without avail, as might have been expected. 
I nevertheless complied with the strong urgency of my friends. My great ^ 
object in leaving Providence at this time, was to present our cause to our 
democratic brethren abroad, and to ask them, in the name of our common 
liberty, if our constitution was to be put down, without an effort elsewhere 
to counteract what we believed to be the unconstitutional and unjustifiable 
interference of the national executive. 

Character of the appeal made. 

It has been charged, that this was a censurable invitation to citizens of 
other States to interfere with affairs in which they had no concern, and in 
which, had they been left alone, they would have felt no interest. I most 
explicitly deny the assertion in all its parts. It comes with an indifferent 
grace from any who, through their agents, have urged and importuned the 
President of the United States to exercise a power of interference, which 
converts his office to a despotism. Let me then repeat that, with the views 
I entertain respecting popular soyereignty within State limits, I am one of 
the last to invoke the interposition of the citizens of other States in political 
matters of a local character : nor have I done so. I held that the people of 
Rhode Island were competent, and had the exclusive right, to attend to and 



Rep. No. 546. * 751 

to manaofe their own affairs, in their own time, and in their own way; and 
had the right to Hve under such a form of repnbhcan government as should 
suit them best, without advice or dictation from abroad. Nor did they 
stand in need of aid. If tliey were not capable of asserting their own rio-hts, 
they were not qualified to enjoy them. 

It was therefore with great regret that I saw the attempt made by our 
opponents to withdraw the controversy from its position within the bound- 
aries of a State to an external jurisdiction: and no approach was made on 
our side to the President of the United States, until he had been solicited 
by the charter commissioners to lend a military force for our subjugation. 
Nor was he asked by us to take part with the people, in substituting a re- 
publican constitution for the government of the prevailmg oligarchy. He 
was furnished with such explanations as were necessary to counteract the 
partial and injurious representations that were made to him of the character 
and proceedings of the constitutional party, and the false views that were 
taken of their principles and rights ; and this was all. But when an un- 
authorized invasion from abroad was invited by our opponents, and the aid 
was at hand to enforce the commands of the invader, the time had arrived 
to inquire if our countrymen of oihcr States were disposed to look on in 
silence, and to see the people of a small State borne down, without assist- 
ance, by an act of usurpation, and sacrificed to the unjiislifiable policy of 
the executive. The appeal was made to our brethren, nor was it made in 
vain. 

Prompt response of the democracy. 

Equally unfounded is the assertion that the citizens of New York, and 
of other cities and States, were urged and stimulated to take an interest 
which they did not naturally feel in the cause of their brethren in Rhode 
Island. They needed no impulse. The great heart of our democracy 
conveys its warm and healihful tides through every member of the political 
system; and an injury to any portion of it, however remote or minute, be- 
comes, by the pervading sympathy, a wrong and injury to all, which every 
brother of our common fraterniiy feels to be his own. The declaration of 
President Tyler of his intended intervention in the aflairs of Rhode Island 
had an electrical e^ect upon the democracy of the country. They felt that 
a great wrong was about to be committed upon one of the Slates least able 
to defend itself against it, and, through that State, upon the common rights 
to self-government of the American people, with whom in the several States 
the sovereign power resides. Tliey raised a generous and decisive tone of 
remonstrance, which shook the air of the palace, and reminded its occupant 
of the mortal tenure of his place. 

: But in the midst of the healthful enthusiasm which the time excited, you 
will look in vain at the proceedings of any public or private meeting, in 
New York or elsewhere, for the slightest indication of an intention or de- 
sire on the part of our fellow citizens abroad to impose upon our State insti- 
tutions similar to their own standard, and more conformable to their own 
views of political justice. The great point, which it is impossible to mis- 
take, and where all opinions and sentiments were found in unison, was the 
right of the people of Rhode Island to live under a republican constitution 
of their own choice — under a poor constitution, if such were their pleasure 
— without being dictated to by a superior force from without, falsely arroga- 



752 Rep. No. 546. 

ting to itself an offensive and dangerous supremacy, in an affair exclusively 
appertaining to the independent citizens of a sovereign State. Whether the 
feople's constitution were better contrived than the old charter, or than the 
landholders' constitution, was interesting to the democracy abroad only so 
ff.r as thc-y were concerned in, and gratified by, the progress of free prin- 
ciples at liotn?. and in foreign States ; but whether the people of Rhode 
Island had a right to make a constitnliot), and whether the President of the 
United States was to assert the contrary doctrine with force, were questions 
which every deinocrat felt himself at liberty to ask and to answer in sucli 
a manner that the repiiblic should receive no detriment. 

]Neither in this, nor in any other matter connected with the constitutional 
party in Rhode Island, has there been any concealment. In my address 
to the democrats of New York, at Tammany Hall, on the 14lh of May, and 
in my proclamation of the 16th, the ground on which aid from abroad was 
asked and expected was distinctly set forth. I disavowed to our brethren 
ihere and elsewhere any desire to involve them in a conflict between two 
parties in a State ; freely avowing to them, that, if the majority of our people 
were not competent to succeed in their own right and in their own strength, 
they were not fit or worthy to succeed at all. I invoked aid to rescue the 
majority from an unequal contest with another force to be unjustifiably in- 
troduced from without. Believing this force to be set in motion, to be used 
in suppressing the rights and liberties of the majority in Rhode Island, our 
friends avowed their readiness to lend diis aid. They prepared themselves 
to lend it ; and had the people of Rhode Island and their representatives 
maintained the ground which they assumed in the support of their consti- 
tution, and not shrunk away from it when the decisive occasions presented 
themselves, they would have been powerfully and successfully sustained, 
and the intervention of Tyler would have made Rhode Island the battle- 
ground of American freedom. But having receded from this position, they 
lost this coi'ditional support, and placed their friends in the attitude of ex- 
pectativtn. While these fjiends were willing, in s!ich a cause, to help those 
who manifested the disposition to help themselves, they were disposed hot 
to assume the burdens of those who shrunk from the contest, but to wait 
until it became evident that they were in earnest, and intended to maintain: 
themselves to the extent oT their own means and abilities. 

Aid from abroad. 

All who come to aid us from abroad, in the course of this conte.'^f, so far 
as I know, were thirteen brave men at Chepachet, from the city of New 
York, and less than a third of this number from Massachusetts. For every 
one of these, there were ten or more in the opposite ranks who had volun- 
teered or were enlisted from abroad, to serve against the constitutional 
catise, in defence of the charter party, and without justification or excuse; 
for this party had possession of the military organization of the State and 
of the treasury, and was sustained by the military force of the General 
Government. 

Rehirn to Providence — position of affairs. 

On the 16ih day of May I returned to Providence, having, as I believed, 
accomplished the mcst important object for which I had departed. My 



Rep No. 546. ^ 753 

reception by a numerous collection of citizens, including a respectable por- 
tion of the military, who manifested a martial appearance, was cordial and 
gratifying. One of my lirst inquiries, .m arriving at Providence, was made 
of a commanding oflicer, whether lie was prepared for action. The reply 
was in the negative, and that his men were out only for parade. The 
citizens and military returned to their homes, and I was left to myself. 

My position was that of a prisoner guarded by a few of his friends. It 
was impossible that this state of things should continue. It could be ter- 
minated by surrendering my office, by an arrest from the charter govern- 
ment, or by carrymg into effect the orovernment set up by my constituents. 
To surrender my post, and to reti'-e from the responsibility which it im- 
posed upon me, was a thought not likely to occur to me. To submit to au 
arrest, and to the breaking up of the government, witfiout an effort in its 
behalf, and in the face of the strong pledge of nearly 800 men in arms, as- 
sembled at the inauguration, that they would respond to all lawful com- 
mands proceedino- from me as chief magistrate, and of a similar pledge of 
the largest public meeting ever held in Providence, on the I2ih of May, 
would have been, in the general opinion and in f.ict, a dishonorable aban- 
donment of tlie means apparently placed at my disposal, to maintain my 
own, and the rights intrusted to my keeping. 

Altcm/)t to take possession nf the public property. 

Duty and fidelity to my obligation prescribed a course from which I felt 
110 disposition to recede ; and it was taken. I endeavored to obtain posses- 
sion of the public property still withheld from the rightful custody, and to 
establish the government in fact, in pursuance of the resolution of the Gen- 
eral Assembly; and with this intention I assembled what appeared to be a 
sufficient force to accomplish the object. After a long delay for the arrival 
of the military from the country, at an early hour in the morning of the 
iSth of May a movement was made upon the arsenal in the city of Provi- 
dence, a depot of the State arms, with two hundred and fifty men and two 
pieces of artillery; two others being left behind, through a neglect wliicli 
has never been accounted for. The place to be taken was a stone building 
of two stories, Vvith artillery in the first and infantry in the second. After 
the opening of the large doors below, it became indefensible against an 
assault. The attempt failed from desertion, for want of better organization 
and of oficers, and by the disabling of the guns through treachery. Some, 
persons having access to them, and acting in concert with our en*^mies, did 
not intend that anything should be accomplished; and they prevailed. 
(Shortly after the summoning of the arsenal, aboiK two-fifths of our men 
left the ground, by the unauthorized order of a subordinate officer. The 
officer first in command under me also disappeared, and was followed by 
others. Delay occurred in altering the position of the pieces. An in- 
ellectual altempt was made to discliMrge them : they had been rendered un- 
serviceable. 'I'hc greater portion of the men had become scattered, or had 
retired, i directed the pieces to be withdrawn, and left the ground at day- 
light with thirty five or forty men. None remained behind after we had 
retired. My wannest acknowledgments are due to the steady good coii* 
duct of those who kept their places to the last. 

48 



754 Rep. No. 546. 

Subsequent proceedings. 

The failure to accomplish our object, though we were left with the means 
before possessed to renew the attempt, natiirallj'- encouraged our opponents, 
and raised the determination on their part to assume the offensive. Of this 
we were fully apprized ; and, on returning lo headquarters, new officers 
were appointed, the means of defence were placed in readiness, and at the 
proper time the signals were given for ail the friends of the constitution to 
rally for its support. Most of the men had returned to their places of abode 
in the city. They did not answer the sunmions. JMany who had left their 
arms piled at headquarters did not return. Not a few who voted for the 
constitution, and who had sustained it, and the sovereignty from which it 
sprang, with their ability, their zeal, and means — some with the eloquence of 
the lips and of the pen — appeared in arms on that day in the ranks of our 
opponents. Our friends in Providence, with a iew exceptions, yielded to 
the panic which had been produced by the demonstration of the chartists, 
and absented themselves. Some were imposed upon by the delusion of a 
compromise. At this critical moment, when 1 had a right to expect the 
silence, if not the co operation, of those associated with me in the govern- 
ment, nearly all the members of the legislature from the city of Providence 
resigned their offices. They subsequently published a handbill, to proclaim 
the stand they had taken, in which my proceedings were called "deplorable" 
and "destructive," and I was condemned and denounced, and virtually 
handed over to the dealings of the enemy. This handbill was submitted 
to the charter governor. Several of these members of the legislature joined 
in addresi^ing to me a letter of similar import, to announce their resignation, 
and that their support and that of the citizens were withdrawn from me. 

Making every allowance for the state of things at the time, and for the 
subsequent exertions of the individuals to whom I refer, and who then fell 
back from the cause, 1 find it difficult to trust myself to give expression to 
the feelings which the occasion excited, and which the remembrance of it 
so painfully revives. Let the facts suffice. Had five hundred, or half that 
number, of the 3,500 men of Providence who voted for the people's consti- 
tution, appeared on this day to defend it, the charter party would have 
failed in their turn, and would have recoiled from an attack which might 
have been promptly repelled. I was left almost alone. There were,^ at 
first, about sixty armed men on the ground, and the number gradually de- 
creased. The last report made to me by the officer in command was, that 
the men were leaving. The charter force was about 500 strong. A few 
brave and determined men still remained by the guns. I did not deem it 
my duty to direct the fS'w who remained to what appeared to be a useless 
sacrifice of themselves or others. Having directed the officer in command 
to withdraw them from the position, I left the ground. 

The few who had charge of the artillery pieces maintained themselves 
in a gallant manner against the large force of the charter party who after- 
wards came up. I was informed, the same evening, that a rally had been 
made, and directed that the post occupied by our men should be main- 
tained, informing the commander that 1 should join him the next day. 
This order was not carried to him, according to promise. It was repeated 
the next day in writing, and was received too late. Ascertaining that an- 
other rally was then impracticable, I left for the city of New York. 



Rep. No 546. 755 

Compromise spoken of. 

As il regards a compromise of the constitution with the charter party, or 
any of its members, of which so much was heard at the time, — let nie say. 
once for all, mid leaving to others of our party all the credit they may claim 
for their motives or intentions, that 1 have had nothing to do with any such 
design or attempt. I need not dwell upon the absurdity or the dishonesty 
of an attempt of an officer in my position, w[io, bearing an oath to main- 
tain the constitution under which he was elected, should undertake to com- 
promise such an instrument, or to negotiate it away. If it could not be 
supported, it must fall. The only release to me was by a surrender of my 
duty and office, or by the act of the people repealing the fundamental law 
which they liad established. No man can rise up to gainsay my fidelity 
to the constitution. 

Why were not farther proceedings abandoned? 

It will now be inquired why, after such a demonstration as has been de- 
scribed, all thoughts of any further proceeding to carry into effect the 
people's constitution were not abandoned, and the cause was not left to ex- 
pire in the hands of those who had brought it into existence .' I reply, that 
the rights of the case were not taken away by a failure of arms. Nor could 
I be permitted to believe that the cause was surrendered by its friends. 
The course pursued by the representatives of Providence, and of other 
places, was not approved by the people. They regarded, 1 had reason to 
beheve, the disaster of the. 18th of May as a casualty to be retrieved at the 
earliest opportunity. It is not a part of my disposition to give up a good 
cause, while any ground is left to stand upon. Much less could it occur to 
me to believe success an impossibility, in the midst of numerous assurances, 
verbal and in writing, ;ind from various quarters in Rhode Island, that the 
governor of ti^e State needed only to raise once more the constitutional 
standard at the right place, and with sufficient notice, to be surrounded by 
such a portion of those who had voted for their own freedom as would in- 
sure, at all hazards, its triumphant vindication. Could it be possible that, 
of the 14,000 who had given their suffrages to the people's constitution, 
there would not be found a fourth or a sixth part who would avow what 
they had done, and evince their sincerity by their actions, when that cause 
was about to be finally stricken down, with which the memory of so many 
wrongs endured, and of rights pursued and almost acquired, was indelibly 
associated? They had but to stand up and show themselves to their op- 
ponents, to nullify their efforts. If our cause had been suffered to abide the 
result of a first movement, in which many of its friends complained that 
they had not the opportunity to participate, the death of our constitution 
would have been attributed to me, and with justice. This burden cannot 
now rest upon me. 

Support promised. 

The charter party had gained more than we had fost, and were improv- 
ing every opportunity, and all the means furnished by the treasury and 
wealth of the State, to strengthen themselves against all further attempts to 
uphold the government of the people. The hesitating or reluctant were 



756 Rep. No. 546. 

stimulated to animosity and rancor by all kinds of extravagant reports of a 
great arniament in New York and Connecticut destined for the invasion of 
the State, with the two-fold object of establishing the libertins of Rhode 
Island, and of despoiling its citizens of their property ! But, on the other, 
hand, I could not doubt the evidence presented to me that the constitution- 
alists, with unequal means, were equally on the alert, and resolute for an 
occasion which demanded all their energies. I relied not upon the money, 
but upon the men of the State ; and they promised to be in readiness, with- 
out regard to threats from abroad. More than 1,300 (including 400 or 500 
from Providence) in several towns were represented to me as being pledged 
to rally to the support of the government, when their services should be 
required. With such a beginning, it was reasonable to believe that, if the 
great object in view — the complete establishment of this government — could 
not be uiimediately carried into eifect, at all events a session of the legis- 
lature could be maintained, and the work of the first session, which m 
4Some important particulars was left unfinished, could be completed. 

Proceedings at Chepachet, {Glocester.) 

I left the city of New York June 21st, for Norwich, Connecticut, on my 
return to Rhode Island. Desiring that no premature movement should 
occur, and that if any further steps should be taken, all who were so dis- 
posed might have an opportunity to join in the defence of the constitution 
and government, an order was sent to convene a council of military officers 
at Chepachet, to determine whether it were feasible to make any movement 
at present, and, if so. in what manner. No meeting or council was lield, 
and I was next informed that five hundred men were assembled at Chepa- 
chet, without orders, and in expectation of an attack in that quarter. 1 lost 
no time in setting out to share with them the fortunes of the cause. On 
my arrival, I found that their number was greatly exaggerated, and did not 
■exceed one hundred and eighty or ninety, some of whom left in the after- 
noon of the 25th, On the night of the 26th there were not more than 
fifty men on the ground, the remainder being scattered about the village. 
On the 27th, the day of disbandment, there were two hundred and twenty- 
Jive, as 1 am informed by the officer who was second in command of the 
field ; and this is the greatest number that appeared m arms on our side. 
•It was stated somewhat larger (at an average of from 250 to 300) in a 
former communication, from the information I then had. The present 
statement, I presume, is as nearly correct as can be ascertained. A much 
larger number of persons came and went as spectators^ some of whom may 
have been set down as a part of the military ; but, of course, those only are 
ito be counted who staid and took up arms for the cause. At no time was 
the whole supply of arms in use. 

It has been stated by our opponents that our least number was seven or 
eight hundred ; and this has been believed to be the fact by many of our 
friends abroad, and has passed as such into the annals of the year. Had 
such a number of armed men been collected, the result might have been 
different. 

Of the 250 men who mustered for the capture of the arsenal, abont one- 
half were at Chepachet; so that the whole number who took up arms, in 
actual service, on our side, npon both occasions, may be set down at 350. 

.As it was impossible to keep our lines at Chepachet clear of intruders, 



Rep. No. 546. 757 

under the guise of friends, our true numbers and condition must have been 
at all times known to the chartists in Providence. 

Orders issued and repetUed. 

Orders were sent, and repeated, to all the towns in Providence county, 
where the majority of our strength lay, for the military who were friendly 
to the constitution, to repair forthwith to headquarters, for its defence with 
the result I have stated. Similar orders were also sent, as far as practi- 
cable, to other counties. A general notice was thus given, and, the distances 
being short, ample time was afforded to all who were pledged, and to all 
others who were inclined to act out their resolutions, to come to the rescue 
of their cause, nov/ in peril. 

The ground occupied — Acote's hill. 

I was greatly surprised, on my arrival, to find the few who had assembled 
posted in an untenable position, which was commanded on one side, at a 
short distance, by a superior elevation of land ; exposed on another side, 
and overlooked by an eminence, from which it could be swept by heavy 
artillery. There was no fort on Acote's hill, as has been commonly stated. 
On two sides of the summit slight, field works were thrown up, with wide 
mtervals for the artillery, consisting of seven light pieces. The other sides 
of the hill were unprotected by works. 

Amoimt of the charier forces. 

By the aid of martial law, and a heavy penalty for non-appearance, the 
charter government had succeeded in mustering a force, which appears by 
their pay roll to have exceeded four thousand men ; the male citizens of 
the State over 21 years of age being more than twenty-three thousand. 
The proportion of this force to our owa was as eighteen to one ; that of the 
three divisions p^i in motion a^jainst Chepachet was about as eleven to one. 
No expense was spared to furnish the charter forces with artillery, some 
thirty pieces, and an abundance of the other material requisite for service. 

On our side, as we had no resort to a treasury and the contributions of 
the wealthy, it was apprehended that there would be a deficiency of means- 
for subsisting the considerable body of men who were expected to take the 
field. Bat, small as were our 7?teans, (too small to be mentioned,) the defi- 
ciency of men was still more marked and regretted. In so narrow a com- 
pass of operations, the campaijjn must be short. It was our men, a portion 
of the 14,000, that we needed. But the people were called, and they did 
not come. Let the reasons be assigned by others. I am stating the facts 
which truth and justice to those who did respond to the call made upon 
them require me to set forth. The people as a body, let it be said, were 
unwilling, or unable ; they were deterred by the threats of the President, 
or debarred by the mailed hand of a niilitary despotism. Be it as it may, 
they did not come ; and to a few was left the burden of affairs. 

Denounced by our friends. 

Nor was this all. Under a renewed and increased panic, occasioned by 



758 Rep. No. 546. 

the operation of martial law, many of our friends in Providence (35 men 
and 10 officers only came to our support from that place, of more than 
3,500 who voted for the constitution) were led to renounce and denounce 
our proceedings as no losiger to be "^o/era/e^," and they subscribed a paper 
to this eifect. They declared that all they wanted had been obtained, in 
the call by the charter assembly of a convention to form another constitu- 
tion. Our paper, the organ of our party in Providence, expressed the same 
opinions in strong terms, and joined in condemning and reprobating the 
conduct of the Governor, and those associated with him, in upholding the 
cause with arms, in the last resort. 

A military council.. 

To our unspeakable disappointment, it now became evident that we had 
been, if not imposed upon, greatly deceived in the support which had been 
promised. It was not a case where delays and difficulties had occurred, 
which made it necessary for a few to sustain themselves as they might, 
until the rest should be able to rally to their aid ; but a repudiation of the 
whole proceeding, and those concerned in if — not by a fraction of the party, 
as on a former occasion, but by nearly the whole. My proclamations and 
orders had been put forth in the name and strength of those whom 1 repre- 
sented ; and the discrepancy between the call and the result was now more 
mortifyinor than ever. Nor was it in my power to deter those of our party, 
who had taken and were daily taking arms in the ranks of their enemies, 
from acting with them against the cause they had so solemnly engaged to 
support. 

It was my duty to submit the condition of affairs to the officers in com- 
mand of our force. This was done by convening a council in the forenoon 
of the 27th. No final action was determined upon at this meeting. An 
order for dismission was approved by the officers at a meeting in the after- 
noon ; and it was proclaimed to the men before seven o'clock. I left 
Glocesier an hour after. Thus ended the attempts to enforce the consti- 
tution of the people. 

Reason for the course taken. 

In taking the course which a painful necessity thus seemed to prescribe 
to us, let not the motives which governed our proceedings be misunder- 
stood. In the council of officers, the only point considered was our relation 
and duty to the people for whom we were acting. We had assembled in 
arms as a portion of the people, callipg upon them to do the like — not for 
any partisan, Jocal interest, but for the defence and welfare of all. It was 
not our constitution and rights that were to be maintained, but the consti- 
tution and rights of the majority, who not only declined to take part with 
us, but virtually and actually denounced us to the enemy. It was a con- 
test among fellow-citizens. We were not guerillas, about to fight for suc- 
cess and spoils, that would be more valuable in proportion to the smallness 
of the numbers among whom they were to be divided ; but we were in 
arms for all, in the name of all, and for public rights; and the arms fell 
from our hands only when we found ourselves contending against a com- 
mon array of enemies and friends. It was our friends, and not our ene- 
mies, who conquered us. 



Rep. No. 546. 75J> 

The military question. , 

The military question arising in the condition of affairs that has been 
related, is entirely distinct from that which was considered in the council 
of officers. Whether or not the force assembled at Chopachet was adequate 
to contend with the forces of the charter government, let others decide, not 
solely by the comparison of numbers, but from all the circumstances of the 
occasion. In addition to what has been stated, our post was destitute of a 
supply of water ; there were on hand provisions sufficient for a day only. 
The quantity of balls for the artillery pieces, supposing them all to be in 
use, would have kept them sup{)lied for about fifieen minutes; ihongh the 
materials for a close discharge were more abundant. The place was not 
one in which a body of men no larger than oilers could suffer themselves to 
be surrounded, either with or without supplies of provisions and n)aterial. 
The alternatives were to advance or to retreat. If afii\irs had not ended as 
they did, for the reasons that have been given, it is now iniavailing to in- 
quire what result might have been expected ; but it is justice only to say, 
that both our officers and men were ready for all that the occasion required, 
and to meet their opposers at least half-way from their point of departure. 
This is not an idle parade of intentions. If a tnovement upoii Greenville, 
the nearest post, did not take place on the night of the 27lh, the chartists 
may attribute the act not to their numbers or preparation, but to our repu- 
(\\A\\u^ friends. 

My associates in arms. 

I pause here, for a moment, to render the tribute of gratitude, which is 
so justly due, to the brave and true-hearted men who rallied at Chepachet 
for the defence of the constitution and government of the people. They 
were of the sons of the soil, and of the mechanics and working-men of our 
party. Many of them, if not a majority, were already partakers of the 
landed suffrage, and came to support the rights of the non-freemen, who 
staid away. They came forth in the garb of the field and of the workshop, 
more fit for use than for display; and it is not surprising that their appear- 
ance did not suit the critical eyes of fasiiionable inspectors, wiio look on the 
outside to find the man. These men also came f^reely, expecting only a 
subsistence, in the spirit which carried the men of an earlier day to Bunker 
hill, and to serve a cause which they believed to be the same in principle 
with that of our national freedom. They came in a spirit of personal de- 
votion., aiid, for the most part, v/ithout any previous nnlitary formaiiot), to 
fall into the places th;it might be assigned to them. They remained as 
freely as they came. Previously to the mornitig of the 27th, there was no 
restraint upon the departure of any one; after this, all who chose to stay 
were required to conform themselves to a stricter discifdine. Their organ- 
ization, hastily exlemporizid for the occasion, was necessarily imperfi3ct and 
insufficient; but they were prepared to render all sacrifices. I shall carry 
with me to the last period of existence the grateful remembrance of their 
devotion to myself and to the cause, for which they were ready to lay down 
their lives. Their manly tears attested the sincerity of the regret with 
which they left it to its enemies. If it were wrong that it was pursued no 
further, the blame is mine, and not theirs. Regarding my duty to all, as 
governor of the State, 1 believe, after a review of all circumstances, that I 



760 Rep. No. 546. 

decided rijfhlly. Excln.ding; from recollection all but my position ,is com- 
mander of a post, the associates who held it, the military spirit of the occa- 
sion, and the wrongs to which onr brethren have been subjected, I confess 
that I have found, in the retrospect, the dictates of judgment sometimes 
overruled by the feelings which I shared with my associates, and which 
animated all hearts. Let them decide whether 1 am subject to censure. 
Upon this question they are the only suflVage men whom I can recognise 
as rightful judges. 

False clamor raised ngn'mst them. 

So much has been said, in strict jnstice to those wb.o took up arms for 
our cause at Chrpachet. A iew facts will suffice to set at rest the false 
imd. base clamor which has been raised against their designs and proceed- 
ings, to promote the purposes of the charter party. Witli the judicial ap- 
paratus and all the officers of the State at their service, there would have 
been no difficulty in establishing the fact of unjustifiable conduct, if it had 
existed. Our men were cautioned against all invasions of private rights. 
The irregularities of an ordinary militia muster were not seen amonsr them. 
The small damage discovered to have been committed in one instance, was 
promptly compensated. To say that this tnoderation was to be rewarded 
by a general license, when they should reach the city of Providence, is ati 
idle charge, though it worked to the advantage of the Algerine inventors; 
it was made to cover up their own iniquities and outrages, and it comes 
from them with a bad grace while the public bear in mind the "sacking of 
Ohepachet," and the appropriation of private property; not to dwell upon 
the gathering up of unarmed men, many of them from the fields and work- 
shops, and marching them, tied with ropes, to grace a triumphal procession. 

The victory of the Algerbies. 

The •' victory" over our force at Chepachet, which has been made the 
subject of empty (not to say childish) exultation, becomes greatly diminished 
upon a close inspection. For reasons, satisfactory or not, before stated, this 
force was disbanded, by a general order, before 7 o'clock in the afternoon 
of the 27th of June ; and a copy of the order was sent by me enclosed to a 
friend in Providence, (discuit 16 miles,) with a request that he would cause 
it to be published. Tliff letter was intercepted in Providence, and I'brth- 
Avith laid before the charter government. An order from headquarters in 
Providence to advance, might have reached the nearest division of the 
charter forces, at Greenville, between nine and ten o'clock; and this divi- 
sion had information, it is believed, of our departure, bulbre it was made 
known in Providence. Yet the division was not put in motion till the next 
day, and did not reach Chepachet lill a quarter before eight in the morning 
of the 28th, thirteen hours after the disbandmeiit. Nor was it put in 
motion till it was ascertained that our picket-guard of 20 men, stationed 
below Chepachet, had been withdrawn upon the disbandment. Our men 
at Acote's hill separated soon after they were dismissed, except twenty- 
seven, who remained until between 3 and 4 o'clock in the next morning. 
An urgent request was left by me that the hill should be dismantled, and 
the guns and tents removed. This was promised, and there was ample 
time; but it was not done. Very early in the morning of the 28th, some ot 



Rep. No. 546. 761 

the artillery pieces were discharged amor.o: the trees, by four persons who 
came to see the ground. When the division arrived from Greenville, there 
was no man in arms on or near the hill to oppose them. The only sem- 
blance of a conquest was the empty tents and the pieces left upon the hill ; 
and yet we read the following general order of the day, equally false and 
ridiculous : 

" Orders, No. 54. Headquarters, &.C., June 28, 1842. 

The village of Chepachet and fort of the insurgents were .stormed at 
quarter before 8 o'clock this morning, and taken with about otie hundred 
j)risoji.ers, by Col. William W. Brown ; none killed, and no one wound- 
ed," (fcc. 

All which can only mean that the charter troops, in taking possession, 
did not injure one another; there being no enemy to injure them. An ac- 
count, published by 'heir sympathizers abroad, states that the charter troops 
came up and dispersed 700 of their enemies without loss of life. 

The disparagement of our men by the chartists reacts upon the calum- 
niators in another form. It is charged that the suffrage men betrayed a 
want of spirit in leaving Chepachet ; and their open disbandment is called 
a flight. If they had broken up in the face of an attack, there would have 
been a better foundation for t!ie charge. But this was not the case. And 
it may be asked, "Of what stuti' must men -be made, of whom it takes from 
2500 to 3,000. with 30 guns and an abundant material, to contend with 
225 men, such as they have attempted to describe the suffrage force?" If 
our 225 men are to be disparaged, what shall be said of the courage and 
enterprise of between 3,000 and ^1,000 men, who lay for several days within 
16 miles of Chepachet, and made no attempt to assail or surround its de- 
lenders? The return of less than half a dozen of our men to Woonsocket, 
in the evening after thf disbandment, caused such an alarm to the charter 
force stationed there, several hundred strong, that they precipitately fell 
back t jiles; " none killed, none wounded," notwithstanding the rapidity 
of the movement. 

So long as the suffrage party stood firmly by their resolutions, and 
showed no signs o^ flinching, the chartists were civil, and kept at a re- 
spectful distance. When the former began to filter, the latter, backed by 
Mr. Tyler, turned fierce vlances upon them. When the former showed a 
disposition not to contend, ;he latter breathed threatenings of war. When 
the former had q^wqw up, and the few who came had gone, and the chartists 
were sure of it, they pursued and took a part of the contents of Chepachet. 

Thi'se matters are not revived for the sake of stimulating past animosities. 
God knows the recollection of wrongs and injuries inflicted upon the suf- 
frage men does not need to be exasperated. Eat they are mentioned ta 
rebuke the petty boasting, of which it is no more than fair to believe that 
the really brave among our opponents must be heartily ashamed, as they 
are of the transactions at Chepachet, and of the capture of citizens who did 
not bear arms, and of their march with some who did, fastened with ropes, 
to and in the city of Providence. 

Subsequent events. 

After the first vindictiveness of triumph had somewhat subsided, 1 ad- 
dressed a letter, from New Hampshire, to some whom I still believed to be 



762 Rep. No. 546. 

my friends in Providence, to ask them if the cause was at an end, and if 
any service remained that I could render to it. These questions were put, 
that the answer might enable me to decide upon a subject for some time in 
contemplation, viz : a return to Rhode Island. Twice I had left the State, 
declining to surrender, and thus to disable myself from serving the cause 
of the people. But a different motive had been assigned, which could be 
best repelled by re entering the jurisdiction of the prevailing government 
during the continuance of martial law, and responding to all accusations. 
1 have not been kept out of Rhode Island by any regard to personal conse- 
quences. The thought of surrendering my citizenship in Rhode Island has 
never entered my mind. Right or wrong, I am responsible there for all 
that I have done. 

The answer of my friends was, that the cause was not extinct ; that they 
had hopes of accomplishing something at the ballot-box ; and that my per- 
sonal freedom, by remaining out of the State, was to be desired, and might 
be useful. This request was regarded as imperative; and the intention of 
returning was postponed. 

Seizure of my papers. 

No secret was made of the letter, and it contained no suggestion of any 
further military proceedings ; nevertheless, tlie friend who carried it was 
arrested in Providence for treason. All my private papers in his possession, 
to be brought to mo on his return, were seized without any form or process, 
and, excepting a small portion, have been ever since retained. All of these 
papers were of dates prior to the 6th of May ; none of them, I believe, re- 
late to military movements; none tend to prove any fact in any form of 
controversy that would not be readily admitted; and many, if not most of 
them, have no reference to political subjects. Some of the letters among 
the papers, addressed to me from abroad, as private, have been published 
by the captors. In connexion with the decencies, not to say of warfare, 
but of civilized life, and with the dangers to private property, of which the 
chartists have expressed apprehensions, this proceeding might suggest a 
comment ; but it does not seem to be necessary. 

Another constitution. 

In November, 1842, another constitution, generally known as the Al- 
gerine constitution, was proposed, by the convention called in June, to 
those of the people who were authorized to vote for it. It received the 
votes of about 7,U0O of the 23,000 citizens of the United States in Rhode 
Island, after every exertion had been made by the charter party to swell 
the list. The friends of the people's constitution on this occasion very gen- 
erally protested against the proceedings of their opponents. The people's 
constitution could doubtless be superseded in the mode pointed out m it 
for its amendment, or by an act of the majority of the whole people. In 
neither of these modes has another constitution been substituted. That 
under which the government is now carried on was adopted by a small 
minority, and has been sustained by the Algerine laws, backed by the 
military ; and the constitution adopted by the people, and the government 
elected under it, have bee^ set aside by the same force. 



Rep. No. 546. 763 

Registration of the suffrage yarty. 

A qneslion inimediately arose among the suffrage party, whether, all 
circumstances considered, they ought to register themselves under this new 
constitution, and contest the ensuing State election. There was danger af 
impairing their protest by this proceeding, and, on the other hand, they 
were debarred from acting under the constitution rightfully adopted ; and 
a party which is confined to the expression of purposes and resolutions, not 
carried into political action, loses its cohesion, and cannot long exist. 1 
united with others in recommending a registration, upon the assurance of 
two fads, in which all concurred, viz : that the suffrage party would very 
generally register themselves, and tliat, when registered, they would con- 
stitute an undoubted majority of the electors; requesting, at the same time, 
that I might not be considered as in the list of candidates for office. The 
resolution to register was complied with, and a commanding majority of 
the electors was undoubtedly recorded on the suffrage side. 

Object in vieic. 

The expected success was unequivocally and decisively pledged to the 
resuscitation of the people's constitution by the democratic convention. 
The election of a legislature by the people's party would, by general con- 
sent, relieve the State from the Algerine laws and the military domination 
which pressed upon it; but, in regard to the mode of revivi.'ig the people's 
constitution, there was a difference of opinion. The legislature chosen 
under the Algerine constitution would be, of course, under an obligation 
to support it, from which they could not be discharged by their own act, 
or by any power short of that of the people, which creates and changes the 
forms of government. The imputation by our opponents of a design to 
exercise a self dispensation from their engagements, on the part of a legis- 
lature elected by the people, was a groundless suggestion for political effect, 
and was promptly repelled. My views on this subject, and others con- 
nected with i(, were expressed at large to friends in Providence three 
months before the election. But while this charge was publicly disclaimed, 
it cannot be too much regretted that, during the canvass, there should have 
been any appearance of denying or keeping out of sight the main object of 
the contest — the ultimate renewal and restoration of our constitution. Such 
.a suppression could not fail to give an aspect of insincerity to the whole 
proceeding, and to have a most injurious effect upon the result. 

The election. 

After a struggle of great severity, in which the money power of the State 
was brought to bear more efieclually than ever before, in every variety of 
its multiform influences, upon all classes and interests, the registered ma- 
jority was transferred to the other side, and the Algerine victory was se- 
cured. A proscription unexampled in Rhode Island— perhaps in any other 
State — was brought to bear upon our voters. But, on the other hand, there 
is implied a too great facility of being proscribed, which renders the retro- 
spect still more unsatisfactory. It is gratifying to turn from it to the 7,400 
men who could not be put down on this occasion, and whose devotion to 
the good cause remained unabated by adversity. How far the value of the 



764 Rep. No. 546. 

protest against the Algerine constitution is affected by the result which has 
occurred, 1 shall not now inquire. 

Nor does there renjain to me space to consider the value of an appeal to 
the Congress, or to the Supreme Court of the United States, for any aid 
that they can afford in giving effect to the people's constitution. 

The result of the last election annulled the request of my friends, con- 
tained in their reply to my letter of August, 1842, and left me to consult 
the duty which I owe to myself, in the position in which I am placed. At 
an early day after the election now about to take place. I iiiall return lo 
Rhode Island. 

General review. 

The length of this communication will preclude many of the reflections 
which the details of facts so forcibly suggest. Having retired from the 
contest for your rights, you have the less reason to complain of the evils 
which have been visited upon you. You have realized, in the letter and 
spirit, the consequences wliich were pointed out, in my last call to our sup- 
port, on the 25th of June, as necessarily resulting from a refusal to respond 
to it. You have been treated by your victors (who act as \t they had a 
perpetual lease of power) as the inhabitants of a conquered territory. You 
have been subjected, m time of peace, to seizures of person and property 
utider martial law, administered by all who chose to take it in hand, with- 
out judjje or trial ; and you are still the subjects of a strong military super- 
intendence. Your constitution and government have been set aside, and 
the freedom of speech and of action for a time disappeared. True, much 
has been extorted from the dominant faction. The electors have been 
doubled, and the political power, which, under the charter system, was 
vested by the conjoint operation of representation and the landed suffrage 
in one niydk part of the population, has been more widely diffused, although 
the chartists have constructed a senate of thirty-one members, IG of whom 
represent 23,000 of the population, and 15 members the remaining 85,000. 
But the great right of all — that of the people to live under such institutions 
as they prefer, of their own choice and free will, and not by favor, grant, 
or permission — has been overthrown; and in this respect the victory of the 
charter party is unquestionable. 

We have also seen the acts of the charter party approved by a large whig 
minority in the country; and the democracy uiay well ask themselves, in 
view of this fact, how the contest of the Revolution would have terminated, 
if it had been deferred to a later day; and what exertions are incumbent 
upon them to revive the patriotism of past days, and to keep alive the 
original principles of our form of government. 

The ease with which the people of a State have been put dov/n, by a 
minority, without the aid of an hereditary aristocracy, or a strong standing 
army of its own, as in the old countries, by means of the substitutes which 
are found here for both, will suggest to all the sacred vigilance with whicli 
our rights must be guarded, if they would save the American republics 
from lapsing into the fate which has arrested those of other ages and 
countries. Force and proscription, if not as effectual here as elsewhere, 
have been demonstrated, by our recent experience, to be quite strong enough 
for all the purposes of an aristocracy of wealth. It is the part of wisdom 
to regard the earliest sign of evil in the political system, and to be prepared 



Rep. No. 546. 765 

to counteract it. This early lesson in Rhode Islund may be full of instruc- 
tion, and cannot be safely disreg-arded. 

In these allusions to the consequences of your inaction it has not been 
my purpose or desire to raise a spirit of revenge ; but. in the view of tliese 
consequences, you will be better enabled to estimate the opposite course 
which I attempted to pursue. My remarks are pariicularly commended to 
those who have approved all my principles, as conformable to the standard 
of Jeffersonian democracy, and have opposed all my measures for carrying 
them into effect, without suggesting any that were deemed more correct or 
expedient. 

Nor is it my desire to call your attention to individual hardships. The 
cause intinitely transcends its supporlers, and its defeat or loss throws] into 
the shade all wrongs to individuals, all private griefs. Individuals are 
nothing in the compari;>on. In the faithful service of such a cause, it is 
honorable to rise or fall. 

The recent milida laic. 

Without stopping to comment tipon the acts of legislation through which 
it has been attempted to regain from the Algerine constitution a part of its 
concessions to the people, I may say of the recent militia law, that it an- 
swers one valuable purpose. While it exempts the great majority — the en- 
rolled militia — the suffrage men — from military duty, and thus gets rid of 
their military qualification as voters, — and also taxes them (and not the 
community at large) for the support of the active militia, tiie charter men, — 
it at the same time demonstrates on which side is the real, unbiassed 
n^^ajority oi ihe people of the State. An undoubted and confident ma- 
jority in a republican State does not depend on its strong military 
organization, its arsenals, its jealous iirilitary supervision, for its strength 
and efficiency; and, on the other hand, no stronger confession could be 
offered of inherent weakness in a political party, than a dependence upon 
such auxiliaries, which furnish but a doubtful and transient aid, and can- 
r.ot be long tolerated even by the side which relies upon them. If the 
charter party have an actual reliable majority of the people with them, who 
are so from preference and conviction, and not from proscription and com- 
pulsion, all this regulating apparatus is unnecessary and injurious, as well 
as irritating to the community. The conclusion is, that the present party 
ascendency is unnatural and factitious, not self sustained, but propped up for 
an uncertain period by external appliances, and destined to fall away when 
the pressure shall be withdrawn, and the public mind shall revert to its ordi- 
nary state. 

Our brethren abroad. 

The hearty enthusiasm manifested in our late contest by our democratic 
brethren abroad, especially in the city of New York, in Nev/ Hampshire, 
in Massachusetts, and Connecticut, demand of us the most sincere and fra- 
ternal acknowledgment. The principle of popnlar sovereignty inscribed 
i;pon our banner, they will never "willingly let die;" and though ob- 
scured or lest with us, it will assuredly be vindicated elsewhere, whenneces- 
sity shall require, with the hearts and hands of democratic freemen, who 
'• fear no omens in their country's causer 



766 Rep. No. 546. 

TJie suffrage womtn of Rhode Island. 

And let us not forget the debt of gratitude which is so justly due to the 
women of Rhode Island, who, like their predecessors of early days, have in 
the past year done so much, in the spirit of true devotion, to lighten the 
toils and strengthen the hearts of their brethren and associates. Their 
deeds of mercy were hallowed by the prayers of the poor, and will be treas- 
ured up for other days,\vhen it will be said that they at least were worthy 
of success. 

Conclusion. 

Fellow-citizens-: If the principles that have been considered and set forth 
be true, then the just blame is not that so much was done, but that more was 
not done, in support of the constitution of the people. 

Claiming no exemption from the common lot of error and infirmity, 1 
leave to the honest judgment of my countrymen the transactions which 
have been passed in review, trusting that the part which I have had in 
them will not be found at variance with the conduct of a good citizen and 
a patriotic son of our common native State, loyal to the cause of your rights 
and to the great fundamental principles of American political truth, and 
anxious lor the ascendency of just constitutional law. 

I have discharged the office conferred upon me, to the best of my ability, 
and of the means which were placed at my disposal. I have ever been 
ready to do all that these means permitted for the support of our common 
rights, I have invited none to dangers that I was not ready to share with 
them. Success is no criterion of rights, I have spoken of a cause which 
ought to have succeeded, as if it had succeeded. 

And now, in the midst of the exultation of our opponents, still encour- 
aged by the generous devotion and the cheering voice of our democratic 
brethren — and, above all, sustained by the consciousness of having served 
an honest and righteous cause from good motives, and to justifiable and 
honorable ends, I will confide in the everlasting right and truth, which are 
cast down only to rise again — it may be in other times and forms — with 
renovated power. In our political faith there is no despair. The anchor of 
Hope is inscribed upon the arms of our State. 

May the good Providence, under the shadow of whose protection it has 
so lonff reposed, and which elicits good from apparent evil, converts the 
wrath of man to its praise, and renders salutary the discipline of adversity, 
reanimate in us a spirit worthy of the inheritance derived from the fathers 
of our State, and at length assure to all the sons and citizens of Rhode 
Island the birthright of American freemen, 

THOxMAS W, DORR. 

BosTot^j August 10, 1843. 



Rep. No. 546. 767 

No. 215. 

Proclamation of Governor King, temporarily suspending martial law in 
Rhode Island, dated August 8, 1842. 

By his excellency Samuel Ward Kino^, Governor, Captain General, and 
Commander in chief of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plan- 
tations. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas the General Assembly of the said State of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations did, on the twenty-fifth day of June last, pass the 
act following, viz: 

"AN ACT establishing martial law jn this State. 

** Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 

"Section 1. The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is 
hereby placed under martial law; and the same is declared to be in full 
force until otherwise ordered by ihe General Assembly, or suspended by 
proclamation of his excellency the Governor of the State." 

I do, therefore, pursuant to the authority aforesaid, and by the advice of the 
Council, hereby suspend the operation of said act from the date hereof, until 
the first day of Septen)ber next, and the same is suspended accordingly. 
In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of said State to be affixed to 
these presents, and have signed the same with my hand. Given 
|. 1 at the city of Providence, on the eighth day of August, in the 
L^' ^-J year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, and 
of the independence of the United States of America the sixty- 
seventh. 

SAMUEL WARD KING. 
By his excellency's command : 

Henuy Bowen, 
Secretary of State. 



Proclamation of Govertwr King, indefinitely suspending martial law in 
Rhode Island, dated August 30, 1842. 

By his excellency Samuel Ward King, Governor, Captain General, and 
Commander-in-chief of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plan- 
tations. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas the General Assembly of said State, on the twenty-fifth day of 
JuDe last, passed the act following, viz: 

"AN ACT establishing martial law in this State. 

'' Be it ejiacted by the General Assembly as folloios: 
" Section 1. The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is 
hereby placed under martial law; and the same is declared to be in full 



768 Rep. No. 546. 

force, until otherwise ordered by the General Assembly, or suspended by 
proclamation of his excellency the Governor of tJie State." 

And whereas, on the eighth day of August instant, 1 issued a proclama- 
tion suspending the operation of said act until the first day of September 
then next ; I do now, therefore, pursuant to the authority in s^ud act to me 
given, and by advice of the Council, liereby further suspend ibe operation. 
of said act on and after the said first day of September, indefinitely. 

Given under my hand and seal of said State, at the city of E^rovidence, 
this thiriieth day of August, in the yecr of our Lord one thousand 
[l. s ] eight hundred and forty- two, and of the independence of the United 
States of America the sixty seventh. 

SAMUEL WARD KING. 
True copy — Witness: 

Henry Bowen, Secretary. 



No. 216. 



doTrespondence beticeen Hon. John B. Francis and Hon. Henry Clay, 
relative to the- affairs of Rhode Island. 

Washington, February 19, 1S44. 

Dear Sir: Enclosed are certain resolutions passed at a meeting of the 
law and order members of the General Assembly of the Stale of Hhode 
Island, holden in Providence on the 14th instant, which I have the lionor 
to forward to you. 

Your generous support, at a time when few politicians dared to evince 
any sympathy for us, cannot but increase the aUachment to you already so 
strong in our State. 

By Mr. Crittenden's advice, 1 direct to Savannah. Wishing you a pleas- 
ant journey to this city, 

1 am, most respectfully, your obedient servant, 

JOHN BROWN FRANCIS. 

Hon. Henry Clay, at Savannah., Georgia. 



Augusta, March 31, 1S44. 

My dear Sir : I duly received, in- this city, your ftiyor transmitting 
certain resolutions adopted at a meeting of the law and order members of 
the General Assembly, held in Providence in February last ; and I request 
yon to convey to them my profound acknowledgments for the friendly and 
flattering allusion to my name in some of the resolutions. 

I congratulate your State upon its 6uccessful vindication of social order 
and the authority of the law. 

The principles avowed and attempted to be enforced, by subvert! ng thfi 
existing government in Rhode Island, struck at the foundations oi al^ i-afety 
and security in civilized society. They were revolutionary, without beuig 
characterized by a manly spirit of open and fearless resistance, fu re- 
Ibuking and repudiating them, Rhode Island has rendered an important 



Rep. No. 546. 7^ 

service to the cause of order, stability, and free institutions ; and Iiaving" 
achieved a decisive triumph over disorder and anarchy, I have no doubt 
that she will not tarnish the kistre of it by any act of useless and uncalled- 
for severity. 

I am, with, ^reat respect, your friend and obedient servant. 

H. CLAY. 
Hon. John Biiown Fuancis. 



Extract from a speech of the Hon. Henry Clay, delivered at Lexington^ 
Ky., in the autumn of 1842. 

9. The last, though not least, instance of the manifestation of a spirit of 
disorganization whicli I shall notice, is the recent convulsions in Rhode 
Island. That liule but gallant and patriotic State had a charter derived 
from a British king, in operation between one and two hundred years. 
There had been enacted upon it laws and usages I'rom time to time, and 
altogether a practical constituti^^n grew up, which carried the State as one 
of the glorious tliirteen through the Revolution, and brought her safely" 
into the Union. Under it, her Greens and Perrys, atid other disthiguished 
men, were born and rose to eminence. The legislature had called a con- 
vention to remedy whatever defects it had, and to adapt it to the progressive 
improvements of the age. In that work of reform, the Dorr party might 
have co-operated ; but, not choosing so to co operate, and in wanton de- 
liance of all established authority, they undertook subsequently to call 
another convention. The result was two constitutions, not essentially 
differing on the principal point of controversy — the right of suffrage. 

Upon submittuig to the people that which was formed by the regular 
convention, a small majority voted against it. produced by a union in cast- 
ing votes between the Dorr party, and some friends of the old charter, who 
were opposed to any change. 'I'he other constitution being also submitted 
to the people, an apparent moiority voted for it, made up of every descrip- 
tion of votes, legal and illegal, by proxy and otherwise, taken in the most 
irregular and unauthorized manner. 

The Dorr party proceeded to put their constitution in operation, by elect- 
wg him as the governor of the State, members to the mock legislature^ 
and other oflicers. But they did not stop here ; they proceeded to collect, 
to drill, and to marshal a nulitary force, and pointed their cannon against 
the arsenal ot the State. 

The President was called upon to interpose the power of the Union to 
preserve the peace of the State, in conformity with an express provision of 
the federal constitution. And I have as much pleasure in cvf/rsssing my 
o-pinion thai he faithfully performed his duty, in responding to thai call, 
as it gave me pain to be obliged to animadvert on other parts of his con- 
duct.' 

The leadnig presses of the democratic party at Washington, Albany, 
New York, and Richmond, and elsewhere, came out in support of the Dorr 
party, encouraging them in their work of rebellion and treason. And wheii 
matters hud got to a crisis, and the two parties were preparing for a civil 
war, and every hour it was expected to blaze out, a great Tammany meet« 
i.Kg was held in the city of New York- headed by the leading men of the 
49 



770 Rep. No. 546. 

party — the Cambrelengs, the Vanderpoels, the Aliens, <fcc. — with a perfect 
knowledge that the military power of the Union was to be employed, if 
necessary, to suppress the insurrection ; and, notwithstanding, they passed 
resolutions tending to awe the President, and to countenance and cheer the 
treasofi. 

Fortunately, numbers of the Dorr party abandoned their chief. He fled ; 
and Rhode Island, unaided by any actual force of the federal authority, 
proved herself able alone to maintain law, order, and government within 
her borders. 

I do not attribute to my fellow-citizens here assembled, from whom I 
differ in opinion, any disposition to countenance the revolutionary proceed- 
ings in Rhode Island. 1 do not believe that they approve it. I do not be- 
lieve that their party generally could approve it, nor some of the other ex- 
amples of a spirit of disorganization which I have enumerated ; but the 
misfortune is, in times of high party excitement, that the leaders commit 
themselves, and finally commit the body of their party, who perceive that, 
unless they stand by and sustain their leaders, a division and perhaps de- 
struction of the party would be the consequence. Of all the springs ot 
human action, party ties are perhaps the most powerful. 

Interest has been supposed to be more so ; but party ties are more in- 
fluential, unless they are regarded as a modification of unaginary interest. 
Under their sway, we have seen not only individuals, but whole communi- 
ties abandon their long-cherished interests and principles, and turn round 
and oppose them with violence. 

Did not the rebellion in Rhode Island find for its support a precedent 
established by the majority in Congress, in the irregular admission of Ter- 
ritories as Slates into the Union, to which I have heretofore alluded ? Is 
there not reason to fear that the example which Congress had previously 
presented encouraged the Rhode Island rebellion? 

It has been attempted to defend that rebellion upon the doctrines of the- 
American declaration of independence, but no countenance to it can be 
fairly derived from them. That declaration ajsserts, it is true, that when- 
ever a government becomes destructive of the ends of life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness, for the security of which it was instituted, it is the 
right of the people to alter or abolish it, and institute new government; and 
so undoubtedly it is. But this is a right only to be exercised in grave and 
extreme cases. " Prudence, indeed, will dictate," says that venerated instru- 
ment, " that governments long established should not be changed for light 
and transientrcauses." "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, 
pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a. design to reduce them under 
absolute despotism, it is their right, their duty, to throw off such govern- 
ment." 

Will it be pretended that the actual government of Rhode Island is de- 
structive of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness? — that it has perpe- 
trated a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing the same invariable 
object, to reduce the people under absolute despotism? Or have any other 
causes of complaint existed, but such as might be peacefully remedied, with- 
out violence and without blood — such as, in point of fact, the legitimate 
government had regularly summoned a convention to redress, but for the 
results of whose deliberations the restless spirit of disorder and rebellion 
had not the patience to wait? Why, fellow citizens, little Rhody ^God 
bless aud preserve her !) is one of the most prosperous, enterprisingj ana ew^ 



Rep. No. 546. 771 

lightened States in the whole Union. Nowhere is life, liberty, and property 
more perfectly secure. 

How is this right of the people to abolish an existing government, and 
to set up a new one, to be practically exercised I Our revolutionary ances- 
tors did not tell us by words, but they proclaimed it by gallant and noble 
deeds. Who are tfik people that are to tear up the wholi fabric of hu- 
man society, whenever and as often as caprice or passion may prompt 
them? When all the arrangements and ordinances of existing and or- 
ganized society are prostrated and subvened, as must be supposed in such 
a lawless and irregular movement as that in Rhode Island, the established 
privileges and distinctions between the sexes, between the colors, between 
the ages, between natives and foreigners, between the sane and insane, and 
between the innocent and the guilty convict, all the offspring of positive 
institutions, are cast down and abolished, and society is thrown mto one 
heterogeneous and unregulated mass. And is it contended that the major 
part of this Babel congregation is invested with the right to build up, at its 
pleasure, a new government.^ Tliai as often, and whenever society can be 
drummed up and throv/n into such a shapeless mass, the major part of it 
may establish another and another new government, in endless succession ? 
Why, this would overturn all social organization ; make revolution — the 
extreme and last resort of an oppressed people — the commonest occurrence 
of human life and the standing order of the day. How such a principle 
would operate in a certain section of the Union, with a peculiar population, 
you will readily perceive. 



No. 217. 
Indictment vs. William H. iSmillt, and certificate of commitment. 

Providence, sc. 

At the supreme judicial court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, holden at Providence, within and for the county of Prma- 
dence, on the third Monday of September, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and forty-two: 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Providence, upon their 
oaths present:— That William H. Smith, of the city of Providence, in the 
county of Providence, esquire, being an inhabitant of and residing within 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being under 
the protection of the laws of the said Slate of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not weigh- 
ing the duty of his said allegiance, but wickedly and traitorously devising 
and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, move, 
and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, and to 
subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the said State, and 
to usurp the sovereign power thereof, and to set up and establish a certain 
usurped and pretended government in the place of the true ond rightful 
government of the said State, on the third day of May, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand ei^ht hundred and fortytwOj at the city of ProvideiscSj 



772 Rep. No. 546. 

in the county of Providence aforesaid, maliciously and traitorously with 
force and arms did, with divers other false traitors, whose names are un- 
known to the said jurors, conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to stir up, 
move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, and 
to subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the said State, 
and to usurp the sovereign power ot the said State, and to set up and es- 
tablish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place and stead 
of the true, lawful, and rightful government of the said State; and to fulfil, 
perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and v/icked treason and treasonable 
compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said William H. Smith, did, 
on the said third day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and forty two, at the city of Providence aforesaid, in the aloresaid 
county of Providence, within the territorial limits of the said State, as the 
same are now actually held and enjoyed, with force and arms, not being 
duly elected thereto according to the laws of the said State, and under a 
piretended constitution of government for the said State, maliciously and 
traitorously assume to exercise the ministerial functions of the otfice of 
secretary of state of the said Slate, contrary to the duly of his said allegi- 
ance and fidelity, against the form of the statute in such case made and 
provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said William H. Smith, being an inhabitant of and residing within, 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being 
«mder the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, 
not weighing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitor- 
ously devising and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to 
stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said 
State, and to subvert and alter ihe legislature rule and government of the 
said State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set 
up and establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place 
of the true and rightful government of the said State, on the third day of 
•May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at 
ihe city of Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously 
■and traitorously, with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, 
whose names are at present unknown to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, com- 
pass, imagine, and intend to stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, 
and war against the said State, and to subvert and alter the legislature rule 
and government of the said State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the 
said State, and to set up and establish a certain usurped and pretended gov- 
ernment in the place and stead of the true, lawful, and rightful government 
of the said State ; and to fulfil, perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and 
wicked treason, and treasonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, 
lie, the said William H. Smith, on the said third day of May, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty two, at the said city of 
Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, within the territorial 
limits of the said State, as the same are now actually held and enjoyed, 
maliciously and traitorously, with force and arms, not being duly elected 
thereto according to the laws of said State, and under a pretended consti- 
tution of government for the said State, did assume to exercise the ministe- 
rial functions of the office of secretary of state of the said State, and then 
.^Sld there, as such pretended secretary of state of the said State, being with 



Rep. No. 546. 77S 

divers other false traitors to the jurors aforesaid unknown, then and there 
assembled and met together as the General Assembly of the said State, did 
take the oath of his said pretended office of secretary of stale of the said 
State, contrary to the duty of his said allegiance and fidelity, against the 
form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace 
and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
that the said William H. Smith, being an inhabitant of and residing within 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being under 
the protection of the laws of the said Slate of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not weigh- 
ing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously devising' 
and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, move, and 
excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, and to subvert 
and alter the legislature rule and government of the said State, and to usurp 
the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up and establish a certain 
usurped and pretended government in the place of the true and rightful 
government of the said State, on the fourth day of May, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- two, at the city of Providence^ 
in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and traitorously, with 
force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whose names are un- 
known to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to stir 
up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, 
and to subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the said 
State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up 
and establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place and 
stead of the true, lawful, and rightful government of the said State; and 
to fulfil, perfect, and bring to efiect his most evil and wicked treason, and 
treasonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said William H. 
Smith, on ihesaid fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and forty two, at the aforesaid city of Providence, in the 
aforesaid county of Providence, within the territorial limits of the said State, 
as the same are now actually held and enjoyed, with divfersother false trai- 
tors to the jurors aforesjid unknown, being then and there assembled and 
met together, did then and there, widi force and arms, not being duly elected 
thereto accoraing to the laws of the said State, maliciously and traitorously 
assume to exercise the ministerial functions of the office of secretary of 
state of the said State, contrary to the duty of his said allegiance and fidel- 
ity, against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and 
against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said William H. Smith, being an inhabitant of and residing within 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being under 
the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not weigh- 
ing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously devising- 
and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, move, 
and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, and to 
subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the said State, and 
to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up and establi'^' 
a certain usurped and pretended government in the place of the true 
rightful governm^iut of the said State, on the third day of May, in th 



174 Rep, No. 546. 

of onr Lord one thousand eiorht livindred and forty-two, at the city of Prov- 
idence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and traitorously, 
with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whose names are 
!iinknown to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to 
stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said 
State, and to subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the 
said State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said Stale, and to set 
up and establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place 
and stead of the true, lawful, and rightful government of the said State; 
and to fulfil, perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and wicked treason, 
and treasonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said Wil- 
liam H. Smith, on the said third day of May, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at the city of Providence, in the 
aforesaid county of Providence, within the territorial limits of the said 
State, as the same are now actually held and enjoyed," with force and arms, 
not being duly elected thereto according to the laws of the said Slate, did, 
iifider a pretended constitution of government for said State, maliciously 
and traitorously meet and assemble, with divers other false traitors to the 
jurors aforesaid unknown, for the purpose of exercising the ministerial 
functions of the office of secretary of state of the said State, contrary to the 
duty of his said allegiance and fidelity, against the form of the statute in 
stich case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the 
State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said William H. Smith, being an inhabitant of and residing within 
said Slate of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being under 
the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not weigh- 
ing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously devising 
and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, move, 
and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war agamst the said Stale, and to 
subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the said State, and 
to usurp the sovereign power of thfe said State, and to set up and establish 
a certain usurped and pretended government in the place of the true and 
rightful government of the said State, on the third day of May, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at the city of Prov- 
idence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and traitorously, 
with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whose names are 
unknown to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to 
stir up, nnove, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said 
State, and to subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the 
said State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set 
lip and establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place 
and stead of the true, lawful, and rightful govermneut of the said State; 
and to fulfil, perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and wicked treason, 
and treasonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said Wil- 
liam H. Smith, did, on the said third day of May, in the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at the said city of Providence, in 
the aforesaid county of Providence, within the territorial limits of the said 
State, as the same are now actually held and enjoyed, with force and arms, 
not being duly elected thereto according to the laws of the said State, meet 
and assemble with divers other false traitors, to the jurors aforesaid un- 



Rep. No. 546. 



775 



iiHOwn, for the purpose of exercising the ministerial functions of the office 
■of secretary of state of the said State, contrary to the duty of his said alle- 
giance and fidehty, against the form of the statute in such case made and 
provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 
Preferred by — 

ALBERT C. GREENE, 

Attorney General. 
A true copy — Attest 

W. PAINE, Jr., CVe/vt. 



A true bill : 

Geo. C. Ballon, /breman 
Joseph Robinson 
Samuel M. Taber 
John Harris 
Nehemiah Scarborough 
Joseph W. Davis 
Henry S. Hazard 
Thomas Bowen 
Lyman W. Perkins 
Spencer Pease 



Obhrey Jenne 
Horatio N. Waterman 
William H. Andrews 
Lewis W. Davis 
Jonathan Harris 
Caleb Allen 
Nath'l Spaulding 
Caleb Hathaway 
Isaac Field. 



Providence, sc. June 2, 1842. 

Committed the body of William H. Smith, of Providence, to the State's 
jail in Providence, on complaint of Henry G. Mumford, city marshal, set- 
ling forth that at said Providence, on the 8th day of May, A. D. 1842, and 
at divers other times between that and the 2d of Jane, A. D. 1842, not be- 
ing elected thereto accordino to the laws of thi:> State, and under a pretend- 
ed constitution cf government for this State, with force and arms feloniously 
and traitorously did assume to exercise, and did exercise, the office of the 
secretary of state withni the territorial limits of this State, as the same are 
now actually held and enjoyed ; and did, together with a large number of 
associates, usurp the sovereign power of this State, against the peace and 
dignity of this State, and contrary to the statute in such cases made and 
provided: on which complaint the said William H. Smith, being arraigned, 
pleaded not guilty, and, on examination, was adjudged to be probably guilty 
of the said offence by said court, and was ordered to be committed for safe 
keeping until discharged by due order of law. 
Committing ....... 74 

'Carriajje - - - - - - --2 00 



$2 74 



HENRY L. BOWEN, /. P. 
R. W. POTTER, Sheriff. 



June 3, 1842. 
William H. Smith, named on the opposite page, having this day given 



776 Rep. No. 546. 

recogDJzance for his appearance to answer the charsfe there referred to. with 
sufficient surety, is discharged from his said commitment by me. 

W. R. STAPLES, 
Justice iSvpremc Judicial Conrt. 

The above commitment and discharge are correct copies of the original 
lecord in jail book " C,"' of Providence county jail. 
(Seventeen cents paid.) 

THOMAS CLEVELAND. /ai/er. 



No. 218.^ 

Indictment vs. Burrington AntJiony. 

Providence, sc. 

At the supreme judicial conrt of the State of Khode Island and Providence 
Plantations, holden at Providence, within and for the county of Provi- 
dence, on the third Monday of September, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and forty-two : 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for. the body of the county of Providence, upon their oaths 
present : That Burrington Anthony, of the city of Providence, in the afore- 
said county of Providence, gentleman, alias esquire, not regarding the du- 
ties of his allegiance to said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully 
contriving the peace of said State to disturb, and to subvert the govern- 
ment of the said State, and to set up and establish a false and pretended 
government in (he place and stead tfiereof, on the third day of May in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty two, at the said 
city of Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, with force and 
arms, did combine and confederate with divers other evil disposed persons, to 
the jurors aforesaid unknown, to set up and establish a certain usur])ed and 
pretended government in the place and stead of the true, lawful, and rightfu! 
government of the said State ; and to fulfil, perfect, and bring to effect, his 
said false, malicious, and wilful design, he, the said Burrington Anthony, 
on the said third day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-two, at the city of Providence aforesaid, in the aforesaid 
county of Providence, with force and arms did signify that he would ac- 
cept the ministerial office of sheriff of the aforesaid county of Providence, 
in the said State, in and under a certain usurped and pretended govern- 
ment to be set up and established in and over the said State ; to which said 
office he, the said Burrington Anthony, then and there ftxisely claimed and 
asserted that he Jiad been elected, chosen, and appointed by virtue of a cer- 
tain false and pretended election, held and made in the said State on a 
certain day, to wit, on the eighteenth day of April, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at certain unlawful and 
"void meetings and assemblies of divers freetuen, inhabitants and residents 
of the said State, there held and assembled in the several towns of the said 
county of Providence, and in the several wards of the city of Providence, 
amongst other things, for the election of certain State officers for the said 
State, to wit, for the election of governor, lieutenant governor, senators, 
attorney general, and general treasurer of said State, and sheriff for said 



Rep. No. 546. 777 

county of Providence, which said nneetings and assemblies were not called, 
held, or assembled in the manner, for the purposes, at the times, and by the 
freemen by law prescribed, nor by virtue of any law of the said State reg- 
ulating the calling of town or v/ard meetings of the freemen of the several 
towns of the said State, or of the city of Providence, any prescribed form 
or forms of calling said town or ward meetings, being by accident or mis- 
take omitted or overlooked, with the intent to overthrow and subvert the 
true, lawful, and rightful government of said State, and to set up and es- 
tablish a false and pretended government therein, against the form of the 
statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity 
of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Burrington Anthony, not regarding the duty of his allegiance 
to the said State, bnt falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace 
of the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true and lawful government 
of the said State, and to set up and establish a false and pretended govern- 
ment in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteenth day of April in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at the city of 
Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, with force and arms did 
unlawfuliy and knowingly suffer and permit his name to be used as a can- 
didate for the ministerial office of sheriff' of the aforesaid county of Provi- 
d»;nce, in the said S?ate, in and under a certain usurped and pretended gov- 
ernment, to be set up and established m and over the said State, to which 
said office he, the said Bnrrington Anthony, then and there falsely claimed 
that he might be elorti^d, chosen, and appointed by virtue of a certain false 
and pr-^tendtd eleciion Jbereafter to be held and made in the said State 
on a certain day, to wit, on the said eighteenth day of April, in the year of 
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at certain illegal and 
void meetino-s and assemblies of several freemen, inhabitants and residents 
of the said f^lU'to, thereafter, to wit, on the said eighteenth day of April, in 
the year oi ova- Lord one thonsand eight hundred and forty-two, to be held 
and assembled in the several towns of the said county of Providence, and 
in the several wards * f the said city of Providence, amongst other things^ 
for the election oi certait. State officers for the said State, to wit, for the 
election of governor, lieutenant sfovernor, senators, attorney general, and 
general treasurer, and sherili' of said county of Providence ; which said 
meetings and assemblies were not to be calJed, assembled, or held in the 
manner, for t!ie purposes, at the tunes, and by the freemen by law pre- 
scribed, nor by virtue of any law of the said State regulating the calling 
of town or ward meetino;s of the f)eemen of the several towns of the said 
State or of the city of Providence, any prescribed form or forms of calling 
said town or ward meetings being by accident or mistake omitted or over- 
looked, against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and 
against the peace and dignity of the State. 

Preferred by — 

ALBERT C. GREENE, 

Attorney General. 

A true bill : 

George C. Ballon, /ore/na/i Obhrey Jenne 

Joseph Robinson Horatio N. Waterman 

Samuel M. Taber William H. Andrews 



778 Rep. No. 546. 

John Harris Lewis W. Davis 

Nehemiah Scarborough Jonathan Harris 

Joseph W. Davis _ . Caleb Allen 

Henry S. Hazard Nathaniel Spauldinj 

Thomas Bowen Caleb Hathaway 

Lyman W. Perkins Ibaac Field 
Spencer Pease 



A true copy — Attest : 
Copy, 6:c., 85 cents — paid. 



W. PAINE, Jr., Clerk. 
W. PAINE, Jr., Clerk. 



No. 218 a. 

Indictment vs. Hezekiah Willard. 

Providence, sc. 

At the supreme judicial court of tlie State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, liolden at Providence, within and for the county of Provi- 
dence, on the third Mottday of September, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred ai>d forty-two : 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Providence, upon their oaths 
present: That Hezekiah Willard of the city of Providence, in the aforesaid 
county of Providence, merchant, being an inhabitant of and resident within 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being under 
the protection of the laws of said State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not weigh- 
ing tbe duty of his said allegiance, but wickedly and traitorously devising 
and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, move, 
and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, and to 
subvert and alter the legislature, rule, and government of the said State, 
and to usurp the sovereign power thereof, and to set up and establish a cer- 
tain usuri>ed and pretended government in the place of (he true and right- 
ful govern aient of the said State, on the third day of May, in the year of 
our Lord ono. thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at the city of Provi- 
dence, in ih«' siforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and traitorously 
with force and arms did, with divers other false traitors, whose names are 
unknown to tiie said jurors, conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to stir up, 
move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, and 
to subvert and alter the legislature, rule, and government of the said State, 
and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up and estab- 
lish a certain usurped and pretended government in tha place and stead of 
the true, lawful, and rightful government of the said Stats ; and, to fulfil, 
perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and wicked treason and treasona- 
ble compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said Hezekiah Willard, 
did, on the third day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 



Rep. No. 546. 779 

Itundred and fortylvvo, with force and arms, at the city of Providence 
aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Providence, within the territorial Hmits 
of the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, as the same 
are no\v actnally held and enjoyed, not being duly elected thereto accord- 
ing to the laws of the said State, and under a pretended constitution of gov- 
ernment for the said State, maliciously and traitorously assume to exercise 
the legislative functions of senator of the said State, in a pretended General 
Assernbly of the said State, then and there held, contrary to the duty of his 
said allegiance and fidelity, against the form of the statute in such case made 
and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That the said Hezekiah Willard, being an inhabitant of and residing within 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being un- 
der the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Prov- 
idence Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not 
weighing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously 
devising and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, 
move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war, against the said State, 
and to subvert and alter the legislature, rule, and government of the said 
State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up and 
establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place of the 
true and rightful government of the said Slate, on the third day of May, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at the city 
of Providence, in the aforssaid county of Providence, maliciously and trai- 
torously, with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whose 
names are unknown to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, compass, imagine, 
and intend to stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war 
against the said State, antl to subvert and alter the legislature, rule, and 
government of the said State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said 
State, and to set up and establish a certain usurped and pretended govern- 
ment in the pluce and stead of the true, lawful, and rightful government of 
the said State ; i.nd, to fulfil, perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and 
wicked treason and treasonable compassings and unaofi nations aforesaid, he, 
the said Hezekiah Will.ird, on the said third day of May, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, with force and arms, at 
the city of Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, within the 
territorial limits of the said State, as the same are now actually held and 
enjoyed, not being duly elected thereto according to the laws of the said 
State, and under a pretended constitution of government for the said Stale, 
and being, with divers other false traitors, to the jurors aforesaid unknown, 
then and there assembled and met together as a pretended General Assem- 
bly of said State, did maliciously and traitorously assume to exercise the 
legislative functions of a senator of the said State, in the said pretended 
General Assembly of the said State, then and there held, contrary to the 
duty of his said allegiance and fidelity, against the form of the statute in 
such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the 
State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That the said Hezekiah VViUard, being an inhabitant of and residing within 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being un- 
der the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Provi- 



780 Rep. No. 546. 

dence Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, noi 
weighing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously de- 
vising and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, 
move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, 
and to subvert and alter the legislature, rule, and government of the said 
State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up and 
establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place of the 
true and rightful government of the said State, on the fourth day of May, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and lorty-hvo, at the 
city of Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and 
traitorously, with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whose 
names are unknown to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, compass, imagine, and 
intend to stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war, against 
the said State, and to subvert and alter the legislature, rule, and government 
of the said State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and 
to set up and establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the 
place and stead of the true, lawful, and rightful government of the said 
State ; and, to fulfil, perfect, and bring to effect his mosi; evil and wicked 
treason and treasonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said 
Hezekiah Willard,on the said fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and forty-two, with force and arms, at the city ot 
Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, within the territorial 
limits of the said State, as the same are now actually held and enjoyed, with 
divers other false traitors, to the jurors aforesaid unknown, being then and 
there assembled and met together, did then and there, not being duly elected 
thereto, according to the laws of the said State, maliciously and traitorously 
assume to exercise the legislative functions of senator of the said State, in a 
pretended General Assembly of the said Stnte, then and there held, contrary 
to the duty of his said allegiance and fidelity, against the form of the stat- 
ute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of 
the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Hezekiah Willard, being an inhabitant of and residing within 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being un- 
der the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Prov- 
idence Plantations, and owintr allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not 
weighing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously de- 
vising and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, 
move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war, against the said State, and 
to subvert and alter the legislature, rule, and government of the said State, 
and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up and estab- 
lish a certain usurped and pretended governm'ent in the place of the true 
and rightful government of the said State, on the third day of May, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at the city of 
Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and traitor- 
ously, with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whose names 
are unknown to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, compass, imagine, and intend 
to stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the 
said State, and to subvert and alter the legislature, rule, and government of 
the said State, and to usurp the soven-ign power of the said State, and to 
set up and establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the 



Kep. No. 546. ~ 781 

place and stead of the true, lawful, and rightful governnfient of the said 
State; and, to fulfil, perfect, and bring to efiect his most evil and wicked 
treason and treasonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said 
Hezekiah Willard, on the said third day of May, in the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, with force and arms, at the said 
city of Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, within the ter- 
ritorial limits of the said State, rs the same are now actually held and en- 
joyed, not being duly elected thereto according to the laws of (he said State, 
and under a pretended constitution of governmeiit for the said State, and 
being, with divers other false traitors to the jurors aforesaid unknown, then 
and there assembled and met together as a General Assembly of the said 
State, did then and there maliciously and traitoroutjly assume to exercise 
the legislative functions of senator of the said State, in the said pretended 
General Assembly of the said Stale, and, as such member, did then and 
there vote for the passage of divers pretended acts and laws for the said 
State, contrary to the duly of his said allegiance and fidelity, against the form 
of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and 
dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Hezekiah Willard, being an inhabitant ot and residing within 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being un- 
der the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not 
weighing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously 
devising and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir 
op, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war agamst the said State, 
and to subvert and alter the legislature, rule, and government of the said 
State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up and 
establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place of the 
true and rightful government of the said State, on the third day of May, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at the 
city of Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and 
traitorously, with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whose 
names are unknown to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, compass, imagine, and 
intend to stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the 
said State, and to subvert and alter the legislature, rule, and government offhe 
said State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up 
and establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place and 
stead of the true, lawful,.; and ri^jhtful government of (he said State; and, 
to fulfil, perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and wicked treason and 
treasonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said Hezekiah 
Willard, on the said third day of May, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand eight hundred and forty-two, with force and arms, at the city of Provi- 
dence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, within the territorial limits 
of the said State, as the same are now actually held and enjoyed, not being 
duly elected thereto according to the laws of the said State, did, under a 
pretended constitution of government for the said State, maliciously and 
traitorously meet and assemble, with divers other false traitors, to the jurors 
aforesaid unknown, i'or the purpose of exercising the legislative functions 
cf senator of the said State in a pretended General Assembly of the said 
tState then and there held, contrary to the duty of his said allegiance and 



782 



Rep. No. 546. 



fidelity, against the form of the statute in such case made and provided^^ 
and against the peace and dignity of the State. 
Preferred by — 

ALBERT C. GREENE, 

Attorney General, 
A true copy — Attest : 

W. PAINE, Jr., Clerk. 



A true bill : 

Geo. C. BaWon, foreman 
Joseph Robinson 
Samuel M. Taber 
Nehemiah 
John Harris 
Joseph W. Davis 
Henry S. Hazard 
Thomas Bovven 
Lyman W. Perkins 
Spencer Pease 



Scarborough 



Obhrey Jenne 
Horatio N. Waterman 
William H. Andrews 
Lewis W. Davis 
Jonathan Harris 
Caleb Allen 
Nathaniel Spaulding 
Caleb Hathaway 
Isaac Field. 



No. 219. 
Indictment vs. William P. Dean, and certificate of imprisonvnent. 

Washington, sc. 

At the supreme judicial court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, holden at South Kingstown, within and for the county of 
Washington, on the first Monday of November, in the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and forty two: 

The grand jurors of the Strte of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Washington, upon their oaths 
present : — That William P. Dean, of the city of Providence, in the county 
of Providence, gentleman, being an inhabitant of and residing within the 
said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being under the 
protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not weigh- 
ing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously devising 
and intending the peace of the said State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations to disturb, and to stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebel- 
lion, and war against the said State, on the seventeenth day of May, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty two, at the city of 
Providence, in the county of Providence, with force and arms unlawfully, 
fiilsely, maliciously, and traitorously did conspire, compass, imagine, and in- 
tend to raise and levy war, insurrection, and rebellion against the said State ; 
and in order to perfect, fulfil, and bring to eflJect the said compassings, ima- 
ginations, and intents of him, the said William P. Dean, he, the said William 
P. Dean afterwards, to wit, on the said seventeenth day of May, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eigHt hundred and forty-two, at the city of Pfov^ 



Rep. No. 546. 783 

idence aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Providence, with a great muhi- 
tude of persons, whose names are at present to the jurors aforesaid unknown, 
to a great number, to wit, to the number of three hundred persons and up- 
wards, armed and arrayed in a warhke manner, that is to say, with guns, 
muskets, swords, pistols, dirks, and other warhke weapons, as well offensive 
as defensive, being then and there unlawfully, maliciously, ani traitorously 
assembled and gathered together, did falsely and traitorously assemble and 
gather themselves together against the said State, and then and there, with 
force and arms, did falsely and traitorously, and in a warlike and hostile 
manner, array and dispose themselves against the said State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations ; and then and there, that is to say, on the day 
and year aforesaid, at the city of Providence aforesaid, in the aforesaid 
county of Providence, within the said State, in pursuance of their traitorous 
intentions and purposes aforesaid, he, the said William P. Dean, with the 
said persons so as aforesaid traitorously assembled, and armed and arrayed 
in manner aforesaid, most wickedly, maliciously, and traitorously did or- 
dain, prepare, and levy war against the said State of Rhode Island and Prov- 
idence Plantations, contrary to their duty of allegiance and fidelity, against 
the form of the statute in such ease made and provided, and against the 
peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said William P. t)ean, being an inhabitant of and residing within 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being under 
the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not weigh- 
ing the duty of his said allegiatjce, and wickedly and traitorously devising 
and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, move, 
and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, on the 
18th day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
forty-two, at the city of Providence aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of 
Providence, with force and arms, unlawfully, falsely, maliciously, and trai- 
torously did conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to raise and levy public 
war, insurrection, and rebellion against the said State ; and in order to perfect, 
fulfil, and bring to effect the said compassings, imaginations, and inteats of 
him, the said William P. Dean, he, the said William P. Dean afterwards, to 
wit, on the said eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand eight hundred and forty-two, at the city of Providence aforesaid, in the 
aforesaid county of Providence, with a great multitude of other persons^ 
whose names are at present to the jurors aforesaid unknown, to a great num- 
ber, to wit, to the number of three hundred other persons, and upwards, 
armed and arrayed in a warlike manner, that is to say, with guns, rauskets^ 
swords, pistols, dirks, and other warlike weapons, as well offensive as defen- 
sive, being then and there unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously assem- 
bled and gathered together, did falsely and traitorously assemble and gather 
themselves together against the said State, and then and there, with force 
and arms, did falsely and traitorously, and in a warlike and hostile manner, 
array and dispose themselves against the said State ; and then and there, 
that is to say, on the day and year last aforesaid, at the city of Providence 
aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Providence, in pursuance of their trai- 
torous intentions and purposes aforesaid, he, the said William P. T'ean, with 
the said other persons so as aforesaid traitorously assembled and armed 
and arrayed in maimer aforesaid, most wickedly, maliciously, and traitor- 



784 Rep. No. 546. 

ously did ordain, prepare, and levy public war against (he said State, con- 
trary to the duty of the allegiance ot the said William P. Dean, against the 
form of the statnte in such case made and provided, and against the peace 
and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said William P. Dean, being nn inhabitant of and residing within 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being un- 
der the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not 
weigliing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously de- 
vising and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, 
move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, on 
the twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and forty two, at Glocester, in the aforesaid county of Providence, 
with force and arms, unlawfully, falsely, maliciously, and traitorously did 
conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to raise and levy war, insurrection, 
and rebellion against the said State ; and in order to perfect, fulfil, and bring to 
effect the said compassings, imaginations, and intents of him, the said Wil- 
liam P. Dean, he, the said William P. Dean, afterwards, to wit, on the said 
twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and forty-two, at Glocester aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Prov- 
idence, with a great multitude of other persons, whose names are at present 
to the jurors aforesaid unknown, to a great number, to wit, to the number 
of five hundred other persons, and upwards, armed and arrayed in a warlike 
manner, that is to say, with guns, muskets, swords, pistols, dirks, and other 
warlike weapons, as well offensive as defensive, being then and there un- 
lawfully, maliciously, and traitorously assembled and gathered together, 
did falsely and traitorously assemble and gather themselves together against 
the said State, and then and there, with force and arms, did falsely and trai- 
torously, and in a warlike and hostile manner, array and dispose themselves 
against the said State; and then and there, that is to say, on the day and 
year last aforesaid, at Glocester aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Provi- 
dence, in pursuance of their traitorous intentions and purposes aforesaid, he, 
the said William P. Dean, with the said other persons so as aforesaid trai- 
torously assembled and armed, and arrayed in manner aforesaid, most wick- 
edly, maliciously, and traitorously did ordain, prepare, and levy war against 
the said State, contrary to the duty of the allegiance of the said William P. 
Dean, against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and 
against the peace and dignity of the State, 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said William P. Dean, being an inhabitant of and residing within 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being under 
the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not weigh- 
ing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously devising 
and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, move, 
and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, on the 
twenty-seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-two, at Glocester aforesaid, in the aforesaid coursiy of 
Providence, with force and arms, unlawfully, falsely, maliciously, and trai- 
torously did conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to raise and levy public 
war. it:isurre3tionj and rebellion against the said State ; and in order to per- 



Rep. No. 546. 



785 



feet, fulfil, and bring to effect the said compassings, imaginations, and in- 
tents of him, the said Wilham P. Dean, he, the said William P. Dean, after- 
wards, to wit, on the said twenty-seventh day of June, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at Glocester aforesaid, in 
the aforesaid county of Providence, wilii a great multitude of other persons, 
whose names are at present to the jurors aforesaid unknown, to a great num- 
ber, to wit, to the number of five hundred other persons, and upwards, 
armed and arrayed in a warhke manner, that is to say, with guns, muskets, 
swords, pistols, dirks, and other warlike weapons, as well offensive as defen- 
sive, being then and there unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously assem- 
bled and gathered together, did falsely and traitorously assemble and gather 
themselves together against the said State, and then and there, with force 
and arms, did falsely and traitorously, and in a warlike and hostile manner, 
array and dispose themselves against the said Slate ; and then and there, 
that is to say, on the day and year last aforesaid, at Glocester aforesaid, in 
the aforesaid county of Providence, in pursuance of their traitorous inten- 
tions and purposes aforesaid, he, the said William P. Dean, with the said 
other persons so as aforesaid traitorously assembled, and armed and arrayed 
in manner aforesaid, most wickedly, maliciously, and traitorously did ordain, 
prepare, and levy public war against the said State, contrary to the duty of 
the allegiance of the said William P. Dean, against the form of the statute 
in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the 
State. 

Preferred by 

ALBERT C. GREENE, 

Attorney General. 



A true bill : 

Joseph Cross {of G*) for€7na}i 
Bradford Clarke 
Eben Sherman 
Asiier Palmer 
Wait R. Clarke 
Georo;e Sweet 
Luke Clarke, jr. 
Augustus Tucker 



James Tillinghast 
James Whitehorn 
Rouse H. Lillibridge 
William T. Nichols 
David B. Knight 
William Champlin 
Samuel Rodman 
Christopher C. Lewis, jr. 



Washington, sc. 

Clerk's Of FiCE Supreme Judicial Court, 

3Iarch 3, 1843. 
The foregoing I certify to be a true copy of the indictment, the State vs. 
William P. Dean, as appears on file in said office. 

Witness, POWELL HELME, Clerk. 



W 



State of Rhode Island, dec, 
Jailer^ s Office^ South Kingstown., April 6, 1844. 



ASHINGTONjSC 



I certify that William P. Dean was confined in this jail from August 
30th to December 30th, 1842, on a mittimus at the suit of said State, 
50 



786 Rep. No 546. 

charged in said mittirrlns with treason against the State of Rhode Island. 
and levying war against the same, on complaint of William P. Blodget be- 
fore Henry L. Bowen, justice of the peace. 

1 also certify that the said William P. Dean was confined in this jail 
from the 7th to the 23d of November, 1843, on a mittimus at the suit of 
the State of Khode Island, &c., from the supreme court, having been in- 
dicted by the grand jurors within and for the body of the county of Wash- 
ington on the above said complaint — for treason against said State of Rhode 
Island, <fcc.. and levying war against the same. 

J. S. SHERMAN, Jailer. 

Fees 20 cents. — Received pay of John Babcock. 

J. S. SHERMAN, Jailer. 



No. 220. 
Indictment vs. Benjamin Arnold. 

Providence, sc. 

At the supreme judicial court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, holden at Providence, within and for the county of Provi- 
dence, on the tFiird Monday of September, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and forty-two : 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Providence, upon their oaths 
present: That Benjamin Arnold, of the city of Providence, in the aforesaid 
county of Providence, grocer, being an inhabitant of, and residing within, 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being under 
the protection of the laws of said State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not weigh- 
ing the duty of his said allegiance, but wickedly and traitorously devising 
and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, move, 
and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, and to 
subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the said State, and 
to usurp the sovereign power thereof, and to set up and establish a certain 
usurped and pretended government in the place of the true and rightful 
government of the said State, on the third day of May, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at the said'city of Provi- 
dence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and traitorously, 
with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whose names are 
unknown to the said jurors, conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to stir 
up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, 
and to subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the said 
State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up and 
establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place and 
stead of the true, lawful, and rightful government of the said State; and 
to fulfil, perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and wicked treason and 
treasonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said Benjamin 
Arnold, did, on the said third day of May, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and forty-two, with force and arms, at the city of 
Providence aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Providence, within the ter- 



Rep. No. 546. 787 

ritorial limits of the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, as the same are now actiially held and enjoyed, not being duly elect- 
ed thereto accordino: to the laws of the said State, and under a pretended 
constitution of government for the said State, maliciously and traitoroush,- 
assume to exercise the ieyislative functions of member of the House of 
Representatives from the said city of Providence, in a pretended General 
Assembly of said State, then and there held contrary to the duty of his said 
allegiance and fidelity, against the form of the statute in such case made 
and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That ihesaid Benjamin Arnold, being an inhabitant of, and residing within, 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and bemg under 
the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not 
weighing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously de- 
vising and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, 
move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, and 
to subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the said State, 
and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up and es- 
tablish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place of the 
true and righttul government of the said State, on the third day of May, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at tlie 
city of Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and 
traitorously, with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whor.!' 
names are unknown to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, compass, i magi Hir, 
and intend to stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war 
against the said State, and to subvert and alter the legislature rule and gov- 
ernment of the said State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said 
State, and to set up and establish a certain usurped and pretended govern- 
ment in the place and stead of the true, lawful, and rightful government of 
the said State ; and, to fulfi!, perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and 
wicked treason and treasonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, 
the said Benjamin Arnold, on the said third day of May, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at the said city of Provi- 
dence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, within the territorial limits of 
the said State, as the same are now actually held and enjoyed, not being duly 
elected thereto according to die laws of the said State, and under a pretended 
constitution of government for the said State, and being with divers other 
false traitors, to the jurors aforesaid unknown, then and there assembled 
and met together as a pretended General Assembly of said State, did mali- 
ciously and traitorously assume to exercise the legislative functions of 
member of the House of Representatives from said city of Providence, m 
the said pretended General Assembly of the said State then and there held, 
contrary to the duty of his said allegiance and fidelity, against the form of 
tlie statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dig- 
nity of the State. 

And ihe jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Benjamin Arnold, being an inhabitant of, and residing within, 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being 
under the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and ProT/- 
idence Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not 



788 Rep. No. 546. 

weighing the duty of his said allegiance, and wir.kedly and traitorously de- 
vising and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, 
move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, and 
to subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the said State, 
and to usurp the sovereign power of the said Stcite, and to set up and establish 
a certain usurped and pretended government in the place of the true and 
rightful government of the said State, on the fourth day of May, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty two, at the city of Provi- 
dence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and traitorously, 
with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whose names are 
unknown to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to 
stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said 
State, and to subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the 
said State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up 
and establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place and 
stead of the true, lawful, and rightful government of the said State; and 
to fulfil, perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and wicked treason and 
treasonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said Benjamin 
Arnold, on the said fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and forty two, with force and arms, at the said city of Provi- 
dence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, within the territorial limits of 
the said State, as the same are now actually held and enjoyed, with divers 
other false traitors, to the jurors aforesaid unknown, being then and there 
assembled and met loj.:ether, did then and there, not being duly elected 
thereto according to the laws of the said State, maliciously and traitorously 
assume to exercise the legislative functions of member of the House of 
Representatives from the said city of Providence, in a pretended General 
Assembly of the said State then and there held, contrary to the duty of his 
said allegiance and fidelity, against the form of the statute in such case made 
and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Benjamin Arnold, being an inhabitant of, and residing within, 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being under 
the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not weigh- 
ing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously devising 
and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, move, 
and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, and to sub- 
vert and alter the legislature rule and government of the said State, and to 
usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set up and establish a 
certain usurped and pretended government in the place of the true and 
rightful government of the said State, on the third day of May, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, at the city of Provi- 
dence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and traitorously, 
with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whose names are 
unknown to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to 
stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said 
State, and to subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the 
said State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set np 
and establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place and 
stead of the true, lawful, and rightful government of the said State ; and to 



Rep. No. 546. 789 

tulfil, perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and wicked treason and trea- 
sonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said Benjamin 
Arnold, on the said third day of May, in the year of onr Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-two, with force and arms, at the said city o( Provi- 
dence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, within the territorial limits of 
the said State, as the same are now actually held and enjoyed, not being 
duly elected thereto according to the laws of the said State, and nnder a pre- 
tended constitution of government for the said State, and being, with divers 
other false traitors, to the jnrors aforesaid unknown, then and there assem- 
bled and met together as a General Assembly of the said State, did then and 
there maliciously and traitorously assume to exercise the legislative fnnc- 
tions of member of the House of Representatives from the said city of Provi- 
dence in the said pretended General Assembly of the said State, and, as such 
member, did then and there vote for the passage of divers pretended acts 
and laws for the said State, contrary to the duty of his said allegiance and 
fidelity, against the form of the statnte in snch case made and provided, and 
against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurois afores'aid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That the said Benjamin Arnold, being an inhabitant of and residing withm 
the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and being under 
the protection of the laws of the said State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, and owing allegiance and fidelity to the said State, not weigh- 
ing the duty of his said allegiance, and wickedly and traitorously devising 
and intending the peace of the said State to disturb, and to stir up, move, 
and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said State, and to 
subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the said State, and 
to usurp the sovereiofn power of the said State, and to set up and establish a 
certain usurped and pretended government in the place of the true and 
rightful government of the said State, on the third day of May, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty two, at the city of Provi- 
dence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, maliciously and traitorously, 
with force and arms, did, with divers other false traitors, whose names are 
unknown to the jurors aforesaid, conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to 
stir up, move, and excite insurrection, rebellion, and war against the said 
State, and to subvert and alter the legislature rule and government of the 
said State, and to usurp the sovereign power of the said State, and to set 
up and establish a certain usurped and pretended government in the place 
and stead of the true, lawful, and rightful government of the said State ; 
and to fulfil, perfect, and bring to effect his most evil and wicked treason 
and treasonable compassings and imaginations aforesaid, he, the said Ben- 
jamin Arnold, on the said third day of May, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and forty two, with force and arms, at the city of 
Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, within the territorial 
limits of the said State, as the same are now actually held and enjoyed, not 
being duly elected thereto according to the laws of the said State, did, under 
a pretended constitution of government for the said State, maliciously and 
traitorously meet and assemble with divers other false traitors, to the jurors 
aforesaid unknown, for the purpose of exercising the legislative functions 
of member of the House of Representatives from the said city of Providence, 
m a pretended General Assembly of the said State then and there held, 
contrary to the duty of his said allegiance and fidelity, against the form of 



im 



Rep. No. 546, 



the statute in snch case made and provided, and against the peace and dig- 
nity of the State. 

Preferred by — 



A true copy : — Attest^ 

A true bill : 

Geo. C. BaWou, foret7iai^ 
Jonathan Harris 
Samuel M. Taber 
Caleb Allen 
Obhrey Jenne 
Lewis W. Davis 
Lyman W. Perkins 
William H. Andrews 
Horatio N. Waterman; 
Spencer Pease 



ALBERT C. GREENE, 

Attorney General. 

W. PAINE, Jr., Clerk. 



John Harris 
Nathaniel Spaulding 
Joseph Robinson 
Henry S. Hazard 
Nehemiah Scarborough 
Joseph W. Davis 
Caleb Hathaway 
Isaac Field 
Thomas Bowen. 



No. 221. 
Indictment vs. Charles H. Campbell and Andrew Thompson, 

Bristol, sc. 

At the supreme judicial court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence 
PlaiUations, holden at Bristol, within and for the county of Bristol,, on 
the second Monday of September, in the year of our liOrd one thousand 
eight hundred and forty two : 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Bristol, upon their oaths 
present : That Charles H. Campbell of Barringtnn, in the aforesaid county of 
Bristol, cordwainer, and Andrew Thompson, of the city of Providence, in 
tue county of Providence, housewright, on the eighteenth day of June, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, with force 
and arms, at Warren, in the aforesaid county of Bristol, a certain building 
erected for public use, to wit, for the use of an engine-house, for the use of 
the inhabitants of the said town of Warren, and belonging to, and the 
property of, the said town of Warren, and situate in said town, and ever 
Iiereby called and known as engine-house No. 1, in the night time, to 
wit, about the hour of twelve in the night of the same day, did break and 
enter with intent the goods and chattels of the said State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, to wit, two bra^s cannons, feloniously to steal, 
take, and carry away, against the form of the statute in such case made 
and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaihs aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Charles H. Campbell and Andrew Thompson on the eighteenth 
day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
two, with force and arms, at Warren aforesaid, in the aforesaid county oi 
Bristol, a certain building occupied for a public purpose, to wit, for the pur- 



Rep. No. 546. 791 

pose of an engine house for the said town of Warren, and belonging to, 
and the property of, the said town of Warren, and situate in the said town 
of Warren, and ever hereby called engine-house No. 1, in the night 
time, to wit, about the hour of twelve in the night of the same day, did 
break and enter with intent the goods and chattels of the said State of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations feloniously to steal, take, and 
carry away, ajjainst the form of the statute in said case made and provided, 
and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Charles H. Campbell and Andrew Thompson, on the eighteenth 
day of June, in the year of our l.iOrd one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
two, with force and arms, at Warren aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of 
Bristol, a certain building erected for public use, to wit, for the use of an 
engine house for the said town of Warren, and to hold and shelter one of 
the fire-engines of said town, and belonging to, and the property of, the 
said town, and situate in tlie said town, in the night time, to wit, about the 
hour of twelve in the night of the same day, did break and enter vcith in- 
tent the goods and chattels of the Warren artillery feloniously to steal, take, 
and carry away, ag;tinst the form of the statute in such case made and 
provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That the said Charles H.Campbell and Andrew Thompson, on the eighteenth 
day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
two, with force and arms, at Warren, in the aforesaid county of Bristol, a 
certain building occupied for a public purpose, to wit, for the purpose of an 
engine-house, and to hold and shelter one of the fire engines of the said 
town of Warren, and belonging to, and the property of, the said town, and 
situate in the said town, in the night time, to wit, about the hour of twelve 
in the night of the same day, did break and enter with the intent the goods 
and chattels of the Warren artillery to steal, take, and carry away, against the 
form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace 
and dignity of the Slate. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Charles H. Campbell and Andrew Thompson, on the eighteenth 
day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
two, with force and arms, at Warren aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of 
Bristol, a certain building erected for a public use, to wit, for the use of a 
hearse-house, and to hold and shelter the hearse of the said town of War- 
ren, and belonging to, and the property of, the said town, and situate in 
said town, in the night time, to wit, about tlie hour of twelve in the night 
of the same day, did break and enter virith intent the goods and chattels of 
the Warren artillery, a military company established and incorporated by 
the General Assembly of the said State, to wit, two brass cannons, feloni- 
ously to steal, take, and carry away, against the form of the statute in such 
case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That the said Charles H. Campbell and Andrew Thompson, on the eighteenth 
day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
two, with force and arms, at Warren aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of 
Bristol, a certain building occupied for a public purpose, to wit, for the pur- 
pose of a hearse-house, and to hold and shelter the hearse of the said 
town of Warren, and belonging to, and the property of, th\3 said town, and 



792 Rep. No. 546. 

Fituate within the said town, in the night time, to wit, about the hour of 
twelve on the niiiht of the same daj'', did break and enter, with the intent 
the goods and chattels of the Warren artillery, a military company estab- 
lished and incorporated by the General Assembly of the said State, to wit, 
two brass cannons, feloniously to steal, take, and carry away, against the 
form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace 
and dignity of the State, 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Charles H. Campbell and Andrew Thompson, on the eighteenth 
day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
two, with force and arms, at Warren aforesaid, and in the aforesaid county 
of Bristol, a certain building erected for public use, and occupied for a pub- 
lic purpose, to wit, for the use and purpose of a hearse house, to hold and 
shelter a hearse of the said town of Warren, and belonging to, and the 
property of, the said town, and situate in the said town, in the night time, 
to wit, about the hour of twelve in the night of the same day, did break 
and enter, with intent the goods and chattels of the Warren artillery, a 
military corporation, feloniously to steal, take, and carry away, against the 
form of the statute in such case made and provided, m\d against the peace 
and dignity of the State. 

Preferred by— ' ALBERT C. GREENE, 

-«. Attorney General. 

The foregoing is a true copy from the original. Attest : 

WM. THROOP, 
Clerk of the supreme court 

J or the county of Bristol. 

April 6, 1844. 



No. 222. 
Indictment vs. Joseph Gavit. 

"WASHINGTON; SC. 

At the supreme judicial court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations holden at South Kingstown, within and for the county of 
Washington, on the last Monday of May, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and forty two, by adjournment from the second 
Monday of May, in said year, by act of the General Assembly of this 
State : 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 
and in and for the body of the county of Washington, upon their oaths 
present: — That Joseph Gavit, of Charlestown, in said county of Washing- 
ton, husbandman, alias gentleman, being moved and seduced by the insti- 
gation of the devil, wickedly devising and intending the subversion and 
overthrow of the government of this State, on the third day of May, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty two, not being 
duly elected thereto according to the laws of this State, and under a pre- 
tended constitution of government for this State, with force and arms, un- 
lawfully, maliciously, and traitorously, did assemble at Providence, in the 



Rep. No. 546. 793 

county of Providence and said State of Rhode Island, with divers other 
persons to the jurors unknown, for the purpose of exercising legislative 
functions, and with like force and arms maliciously and traitorously did 
ussjime to exercise, and did exercise, the functio7is of the office of mamher 
of the House of Representatives, within the territorial limits of this State, 
as the same are now held and enjoyed ; and did, together with the persons 
aforesaid to the jurors unknown, assuming to be the legislature of this 
State, usurp the sovereign power of this State, and commit the crime of 
treason agahist this State. 

And so the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do say that the 
said Joseph Gavit aforesaid, in the manner and form aforesaid, unlawfully, 
maliciously, and traitorously, did assume to exercise, and did exercise, the 
functions of the office of member of the House of Representatives, and did 
commit the crime of treason against this State, against the form of the 
statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity 
of the Stale. 



Preferred by 



A true bill 



NATHAN F. DIXON, 

Attorney General pro tern. 



Reynolds Hoxie, jr. John Barber 

William C. Tefit Solomon Sprague 

Amos J. Dawley Abial T. Browning 
John Chapman . James W. Anthony 

Bovvdoin Hazard John Nichols, jr. 

Albert Spink Robert D. Brown. 
David C. Tefft 

Witness sworn, — Samuel Currey. 

Third day. May term, 1842, supreme judicial court, Washington county. 
The within defendant, Joseph Gavit, arraigned to the within indictment 
and pleaded "not guilty." Continued. 

P. HELMR, Clerk. 

Fourth day, November term, 1842. Continued on motion of defendant. 

P. HELME, Clerk. 

I will prosecute this indictment no further. 

JOS. M. BLAKE, 

Attorney General, 

State of Rhode Island, (fcc, Washington, sc. 

Clerk'' s Office, Supreme Court at South Kingstown, April 5, 1844. 

1 certify the preceding to be a true copy of the indictment, the State vs. 
Joseph Gavit, as appears on file in said office. 

Witness: POWELL HELME, Clerk. 

50 cents paid by J. Babcock. 



794 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 223. 
Indictmenl vs. Sylvester Himes. 

Washington, sc. 

At the supreme judicial court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, holden at South Kingstown, within and for the county of 
Washington, on the last Monday of May, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and forty-two, by adjournment from the second 
Monday of May in said year, by act of the General Assembly of this 
State: 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Washington, upon their 
oaths present : That Sylvester Himes, of North Kingstown, in said county of 
Washington, husbandman, alias gentleman, being moved and seduced by 
the instigation of the devil, wickedly devising and intending the subversion 
and overthrow of the government of this State, on the third day of May, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, not be- 
ing duly elected thereto according to the laws of this State, and under a- 
pretended constitution of government for this State, with force and arms 
unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously did assemble at Providence, in 
the county of Providence and said State of Rhode Island, with divers 
other persons to the jurors unknown, for the purpose of exercising legis- 
lative functions, and with like force and arms maliciously and traitorously 
did assume to exercise., and did exercise, the functions of the office of mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives within the territorial limits of this 
State, as the same are now held and enjoyed; and did, together with the 
persons aforesaid to the jurors unknown, assuming to be the legislature of 
this State, usurp the sovereign power of this State, and commit the crime 
of treason against this State. 

And so the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do say that the 
said Sylvester Himes aforesaid, in the manner and form aforesaid, unlaw- 
fully, maliciously, and traitorously did assume to exercise, and did exer- 
cise, the functions of the office of member of the House of Representatives, 
and did commit the crime of treason against this Slate, against the form of 
the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dig- 
nity of the State. 



Preferred by — 



A true bill 



NATHAN F. DIXON, 

Attorney General j)ro tern. 



Reynolds Hoxsie. jr. John Barber 

William C. Tefft Solomon Sprague 

Amos J. Dawley Abial T. Browning 

John Chapman James W. Anthony 

Bowdoin Hazard John Nichols, jr. 

Albert Spink Robert D. Brown. 
David C. Tefft 

Witness sworn, — Samuel Currey. 



Rep. No. 546. 795 

Third day, May term, 1S42, supreme judicial court Washington county. — 
The within defendant, Sylvester Himes, arraigned to the within indictment 
and pleaded " not guilty." Continued. 

Witness : 

P. HELME, Clerk. 

Fourth day, November term, 1842. — Continued on motion of defendant. 

P. HELME, Clerk. 

I will prosecute this indictment no further. 

JOSEPH M. BLAKE, 

Attorney General. 

State of Rhode Lsland, &o., Washington^ sc. 

Clerk's Office^ Supreme Court, South Kingsfoivn, April 5, 1844. 

The preceding 1 certify to be a true copy of the indictment, State vs. Syl- 
vester Himes, as appears on file in said office. 
Witness : 

POWELL HELME, Clerk. 

Fifty cents paid by J. Babcock. 



No. 224. 
Indictment vs. David Parmenter. 

Providence, sc. 

At the supreme judicial court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, holden at Providence, within and for the county of Provi- 
dence, on the third Monday of September, m the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and forty two : 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Providence, upon their oaths 
present: — That David Parmenter, of the city of Providence, in the afore- 
said county of Providence, cordvvainer, not regarding the duty of his alle- 
giance to the said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving 
the peace of the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and 
rightful government of the said Slate, and to set up nnd establish a ft^lse, 
pretended, and usurped government in the place and stead thereof, on the 
eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and forty two, with firce and arms, at the said city of Providence, in 
the aforesaid county of Providence, did act as moderator of a certain illegal 
and void meeting of divers freemen, inhabitants and residents of the said 
State, then held at the said city of Providence, in the fifth ward thereof, for 
the purpose, amongst other things, of electing certain State officers for the 
said State, to wit, for the election of governor, lieutenant governor, senators, 
attorney general, and general treasurer ; which said meeting was not called 
or held in the manner, for the purposes, at the times, and by the freemen, 
by law prescribed, nor by virtue of any law of the said State regulating the 



796 Rep. No. 546. 

calling of town or ward meetings of the freemen of the several towns of the 
said State and of the city of Providence ; any prescribed form or forms of 
calHng said town or ward meetings being, by accident or mistake, omitted 
or overlooked, against the forms of the statnte in snch case made and pro- 
vided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said David Parmenter, not regarding the duty of his allegiance 
to the said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace 
of the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful 
government of the said State, and to set up and estaijlish a false, usurped, 
and pretended government in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteenth 
day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
forty two, with force and arms, at the city of Providence, in the aforesaid 
county of Providence, did act as warden of a certain illegal and void ward 
meeting of divers freemen, inhabitants and residents of the said State, then 
held at the said city of Providence, and within the fifth ward of the said 
city, for the purpose, amongst other things, of electing certain State officers 
for the said State, to wit, for the election of certain pretended members of 
the House of Representatives from the said city of Providence to a pre- 
tended General Assembly of the said State ; which said meeting was not 
called or held in the manner, for the purposes, at the times, and by the 
freemen, by law prescribed, nor by virtue of any law of the said State 
regulating the calling of town or ward meetings of the freemen of the 
several towns of the said State and of the city of Providence; any prescribed 
form or forms of calling said town or ward meetings being, by accident or 
mistake, oinitted or overlooked, against the form of the statute in such case 
made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State, 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That the said David Parmenter, not regarding the duty of his allegiance 
to the said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace 
of the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful 
government of the said State, and to set up and establish a certain false, 
usurped, and pretended government in the place and stead thereof, on the 
eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
and forty-two, with force and arms at the said city of Providence, in the 
aforesaid county of Providence, did act as warden of a certain illegal and 
void ward meeting of divers of the freemen, inhabitants and residents of 
the fifth ward of the said city of Providence, ihen held at the said city of 
Providence, and within the limits of the fifth ward of said city of Provi- 
dence, for the election, amongst other things, of certain pretended State 
officers for the said State, to wit, f)r the election of governor, lieutenant- 
governor, senators, attorney general, and general treasurer, and members 
of the House of Representatives from the said city of Providence to a cer- 
tain pretended General Assembly thereafter to be held, which said meeting 
was not called or held in the manner, for the purposes, at the times, and by 
the freemen by law prescribed, nor by virtue of any law of the said State 
regulating the calling of town or ward meetings of the freemen of the 
several towns of the said State or of the city of Providence ; any prescribed 
form or forms of calling said town or ward meetings being, by accident or 
mistake, omitted or overlooked, against the form of the statute in such case 
made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State, 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 



Rep. No 546. 



797 



That the said David Parmenter, not regarding the duty of his allegiance 
to the said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace 
of the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful 
government of the said State, and to set up and establish a c rtain false, 
usurped, and pretended government in the place and stead thereof, on the 
eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and forty two, with force and arms at the said city of Providence, in 
the aforesaid county of Providence, did receive votes for the election of 
certain State officers of the said State, to wit, for the election of governor, 
lieutenant-governor, senators, attorney general, and general treasurer, against 
the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the 
peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said David Parmenter, not regarding the duty of his allegiance 
to the said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace 
of the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful 
government of the said State, and to set up and establish a certain false, 
usurped, and pretended government in the place and stead thereof, on the 
eighteenth day of Ai)ril, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and forty-two, with force and arms at the city of Providence, in the 
aforesaid county of Providence, did receive votes for the election of certain 
State otticers for the said State, to wit, for the election of certain pretended 
members of the House of Representatives from the said city of Providence, 
in a pretended General Assembly of the said State, against the form of the 
statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity 
of the State. 

Preferred bj''— 

ALBERT C. GREENE, 

Attorney GeneraL 



A true bill : 

George C. Ballou,/ore/;^a?^ 
Samuel M. Taber 
Nehemiah Scarborough 
Joseph W. Davis 
Joseph Robinson 
Henry S. Hazard 
Thomas Bowen 
Lyman W. Perkins 
Spencer Pease 
Obhrey Jenne 

A true copy — attest : 
^l 00 paid. 



Horatio N. Waterman 
William H. Andrews 
Lewis W. Davis 
Jonathan Harris 
John Harris 
Caleb Allen 
Nathaniel Spaulding 
Isaac Field 
Caleb Hathaway 



W. PAINE, Jr., Clerk. 



W. PAINE, Jr., Clerk. 



798 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 225. 

Indictment vs. George S. Nichols. 

Washington, sc. 

At the supreme judicial court of the State of Rhode Ishmd and Providence 
Plantations, holden at South Kingstown, within and for the county of 
Washuigton, on the first Monday of November, in the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and forty-two : 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Providence, [Washington,] 
upon their oaths present : That George S. Nichols, of North Kingstown, in 
the aforesaid county of Washington, yeoman, alias trader, not regarding his 
duty of allegiance to the said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully con- 
triving the peace of the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, 
and rightful government of the said State, and to set up and establish a false, 
usurped, and pretended government in the place and stead thereof, on the 
eighteenthdayof April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
and forty-two, with force and arms, at said North Kingstown, ui the afore- 
said county of Washington, did act as moderator of a centim illegal and void 
meeting of divers of the freemen, inhabitants and residents of the said State, 
then held at said North Kingstown, for the purpose, amongst other things, 
of electing certain State officers for the said State, to wit: for the election of 
governor, lieutenant governor, senators, attorney general, and general treas- 
urer, and members of the House of Representatives from said town of North 
Kingstown to a certain pretended General Assembly for the said State, there- 
after to be held ; which said meeting was not called or held in the manner, 
for the purposes, at the times, and by the freemen by law prescribed, nor by 
virtue of any law of the said State regulating the callit)g of town or ward 
meetings of the freemen of the several towns of the said State, or of the city 
of Providence, any prescribed form or forms of calling said town or ward 
meetings being, by accident or mistake, omitted or overlooked ; against the 
form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace 
and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said George S. Nichols, not regarding the duties of his allegiance 
to the said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace 
of the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful gov- 
ernment of the said State, and to set up and establish a false, usurped, and 
pretended government in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteenth day 
of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, 
with force and arms, at said North Kingstown, in the aforesaid county of 
Washington, did act as tnoderator of a certain illegal and void town meet- 
ing of divers of the freemen, inhabitants and residents of the said town of 
North Kingstown, then held at said North Kingstown, for the purpose, 
amongst other things, of electing certain State officers for the said State, 
to wit, for the election of governor, lieutenant governor, senators, attorney 
general, and general treasurer, and members of the House of Representatives 
from the said town of North Kingstown to a pretended General Assembly 
of the said State thereafter to be held ; which said meeting was not called 
or held in the manner, for the purposes, and at the times, and by the free- 



Rep. No. 546. 799 

rnen by law prescribed, nor by virtue of any law of the said State regu. 
lating the calling of town or ward meetings of the freemen of the several 
towns of the said State or of the city of Providence, any prescribed form or 
forms of calhng said town or ward meetings being, by accident or mistake, 
omitted or overlooked ; against the form of the statute in such case made 
and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths atoresaid, do further present: 
That the said George S. Nichols, not regarding the duty of his allegiance to 
the said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace of 
the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful gov- 
ernment of the said State, and to set up and establish a false, pretended, 
and usurpejd government in the place and stead thereof, on tlie eighteenth 
day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
two, with force and arms, at said North Kingstown, in the aforesaid county 
of Washington, did receive votes for the election of certain State officers 
for the said State, to wit, for the election of governor, lieutenant governor, 
senators, attorney general, and general treasurer, against the form of the 
statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity 
of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said George S. Nichols, not regarding his duty of allegiance to the 
said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace of the 
said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful govern- 
ment of the said State, and to set up and establish a false, usurped, and pre- 
tended government in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteenth day of 
April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, 
with force and arms, at North Kingstown, in the aforesaid county of Wash- 
ington, did receive votes for the election of members of the House of Rep- 
resentatives from the said town of North Kingstown in a pretended General 
Assembly of the said State thereafter to be held ; against the form of the 
statute in such case made and provided, and against tlie peace and dignity 
of the State. 



Preferred by- 



A true bill 



ALBERT C. GREENE, 

Attorney General. 



Joseph Cross, (of G.,) foreman Wait R. Clarke 

Bradford Clarke George Sweet 

Eben Sherman Asher Palmer 

James Tillinghast James Whitehorn 

William Champlin David B. Knight 

liUke Clarke, jr. Rouse H. Lillibridge 

William T. Nichols Samuel Rodman 

Augustus 'I'ucker Gary D. Slocum. 



Washington, ss : 

Clerk's Office, Supreme Judicial Court, 

March 4, 1843. 

I certify the foregoing to be a true copy as appears on file in said office. 
Witness: 

POWELL HELME, Clerk. 



800 Rep. No. 546. 

No. 226. 
Indictment vs. Martin Lnther, and report of trial. 

Bristol, sc. 

At the supreme court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantd' 
lions, holden at Bristol, within and for the county of Bristol, on the second 
Monday of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and forty-three : 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Bristol, upon their oaths pre- 
sent: That Martin Luther, of Warren, in the aforesaid county of Bristol, 
cordwainer, alias yeoman, alias gentleman, not regarding the duty of his 
allegiance to the said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving 
the peace of said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and right- 
ful government of the said State, and to set up and establish a false, pre- 
tended, and usurped government in the place and stead thereof, on the 
eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and forty-two, with force and arms, at Warren aforesaid, in the afore- 
said county of Bristol, did act as moderator of a certain illegal and void 
meeting of divers freemen, inhabitants and residents of the said State, then 
held at said Warren, for the purpose, among other things, of electing cer- 
tain State officers for the said State, to wit, for the election of governor, lieu- 
tenant governor, secretary, senators, attorney general, and general treasurer; 
which said meeting was not called nor held in the manner, for the purposes, 
at the times, and by the freemen by law prescribed, nor by virtue of any 
law of the said State regulating the calling of town meetings of the freemen 
of the several towns of the said State — any prescribed form of calling said 
town meetings being, by accident or mistake, omitted or overlooked ; against 
the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the 
peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That the said Martin Luther, not regarding the duty of his allegiance to the 
said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace of said 
State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful government 
of the said State, and to set up and establish a false, usurped, and pretended 
government in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteenth day of 
April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, 
with force and arms, at Warren aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Bris- 
tol, did act as moderator of a certain illegal and void meeting of divers 
freemen, inhabitants and residents of the said State, then held at said War- 
ren, for the purpose, among other things, of electing certain officers of the 
said State, to wit, for the election of certain pretended representatives from 
said town of Warren, in a pretended General Assembly of said State ; which 
said meeting was not called nor held in the manner, for the purposes, at the 
times, and by the freemen by law prescribed, nor by virtue of any law of 
the said State regulating the calling of town meetings of the freemen of the 
several towns of the said State — any prescribed form of calling said town 
meetings being, by accident or mistake, omitted or overlooked ; against the 
form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace 
and dignity of the State. 



Rep. No. 546. 801 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That the said Martin Luther, not regardinof the duty of his aUegiance to the 
said State, but falsely, mahciously, and wilfully contriving the peace of said 
State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful government of 
the said State, and to set up and establish a certain false, usurped, and pre- 
tended government in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteenth day of 
April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, 
with force and arms, at Warren aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Bristol, 
did receive votes for the election of certain State officers for the said State, 
to wit, for the election of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary, attorney 
general, and general treasurer, against the form of the statute in such case 
made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That the said Martin Luther, not regarding the duty of his allegiance to the 
said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace of said 
State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful government 
of said Slate, and to set up and establish a false, usurped, and pretended 
government in the plnce and stead thereof, on the eighteenth day of April, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, with 
force and arms, at Warren aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Bristol, did 
receive votes for the election of certain State officers for the State, to wit, 
for the election of certain pretended members of the House of Representa- 
tiviis from said town of Warren, in a pretended Gt neral Assembly of said 
State, against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and 
against the peace and dignity of the Slate. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon tlieir oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That tlie said Martin Luther, not regarding the duty of his allegiance to the 
said State, but falsely, wilfully, and maliciously contriving the peace of said 
State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful government of 
the said Stale, and to set up and establisli a certain false, usurped, and pre- 
tended government in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteenth day of 
April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, 
with force and arms, at Warren aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Bristol, 
did act as moderator of a certain illegal, void, and pretended town meeting 
of divers of the freemen, inhabitants, and residents of the said town of War- 
ren, then and there held, for the election of certain pretended State officers 
for the said State, to wit, for the election of governor, lieutenant governor, 
senators, attorney general, and general treasurer, and members of the House 
of Representatives from the said town of Warren, to a certain pretended 
General Assembly thereafter to be held ; which said meeting was not called 
or held in the manner, for the purposes, at the times, and by the freemen by 
law prescribed, nor by virtue of any law of tlie said State prescribing the 
form or forms of calling town meetings of the freemen of the several towns 
of the said State — any prescribed form or forms of calling said town meet- 
ings being, by accident or mistake, omitted or overlooked; against the form 
of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and 
dignity of the State. 

Preferred by — 

JOS. M. BLAKE, At tor7uy Getter al. 

51 



802 Rep. No. 546. 

State of Rhode Island, &,c., ) 
Comity of Bristol. \ 

Clerk's Office Supreme Court, 

for the aforesaid county, April 8, 1844. 

1 certify the foregoing to be a true copy from the original in said office. 
Attest : 

WM. THROOP, Clerk. 



State of Rhode Island, (fee. 
County of Bristol, 

Supreme Cowt, September term, A. D. 1843. 

Indictfnent — The State vs. Martin Luther. 

Third day — arraigned on the indictment, and pleaded not guilty. 
Fourth day— continued on affidavit of defendant. 

March term, A.D. 1844. 

Second day — the defendant arraigned and put to plead ; and, after having 
the indictment read, persisting in ins former plea of not guilty, the following 
named jurors were empannelled and engaged to try the issue joined, viz : 

George Pearce, (foreman,) Anthony Chase, Elijah Gray, Sullivan Mar- 
tin, William Manchester, Lewis B. Smith, Samuel Wright, jr., .lames T, 
Freeborn, Nathaniel W. Sanders, Albert JN. Humphrey, James Smith, Jona- 
than Nooning. 

And after The pleas of the attorney general in behalf of the State, and 
the defendant in his own defence, the jury, after consultation, returned into 
court with the following verdict : "We find the defendant guilty in manner 
and form as charged in the indictment." 

[Defendant recommended by the jury to the mercy of the court.] 

And on the same day said defendant was sentenced by the court as fol- 
lows : 

" The sentence of the court is, that the said Martin Luther pay as a fine 
to, and for the use of, the State, the sum of five hundred dollars ; that he 
be imprisoned in the State's jail in the county of Bristol, for the term of six 
months from and after this twelfth day of March, A. D. 1844 ; that he pay- 
all cost of prosecution and conviction, and stand committed until sentence 
be performed in all its parts." 

Bristol, sc. 

Clerk's Office, StJPREME Court, April 9, 1844, 
I certify the foregoing to be a true copy from the records in this office. 
Attest ; 

WILLIAM THROOP, Clerks 



Rep. No. 546. 808 

HEPORT OF THE TRIAL OF MARTIN LUTHER. 

^iate of Rhode Island vs. Martin Luther, for misdemeanor. 

Supreme Court, Bristol county, 

Tuesday afternoon, March 12, 1844. 

The jury empannelled to try this indictment were — from Bristol, .lames 
T. Freeborn, Jonathan Nooning, WiUiam Manchester, George Pearce, Eh- 
Jah Gray, and James Smith ; from Warren, Anthony Chase, Nathaniel VV. 
Sanders, and Samuel Wright, jr. ; from Barringlon, Albert N. Humphrey, 
Lewis B. Smith, and Sullivan Martin. 

Blake, attorney general, reads the indictment. Mr. Luther is charged 
with acting as moderator of a town meeting in Warren, on Monday, the 
18th of April, 1842, and receiving votes polled for officers under the people's 
constitution. 

Blake reads act of March, 1842, section 1. Calls as witnesses — 

John S. Munroe — who, being sworn, says he saw votes given in, and 
Luther act as moderator on the day aforesaid. 

Elias Magoun, (who acted as a spy,) testified that when he came into the 
room, defendant seemed to stop. He (Magoun) went there as a magistrate, 
to see that tlie laws were not violated. 

Williaui H. Driscoll. — leather received the votes. Saw two votes for 
different officers put in by one person ; one was for governor, and one for 
sheriff. The voter was not a freeholder. No other person but Luther 
claimed to act as moderator. 

James Coffin, — Attended the meeting on the ISth of April, 1842, and 
saw one person vote. Does not kijow whether he was a freeholder or not. 
Luther received the vote, and acted as moderator. He said, " Walk up. 
gentlemen, the polls are open." 

Joseph M. Smith. — Knows nothing about the case. 

George Easterbrooks. — Voted, and Luther received his vote, acting as 
moderator. 

Benjamin M. Bosworth. — All persons qualified under the people's con- 
stitution voted. Mr. Luther was chosen and acted as moderator. He re- 
ceived my vote and those of others. 

Blake reads the certificate of the town clerk of the April town meeting 
under the charter, setting forth that no others were held. 

Mr.B. also reads from Digest of 1822, act relating to April town meetings. 

There was cross-examination of witnesses on the part of Mr. Luther, 
and he was without counsel. He called no witnesses in his behalf; and, 
when called to say if he had any defence to make, he rose and said : 

" I conceive that the law under whicli I am indicted was null and void ; 
in fact, a constitution had been adopted, and the law was in violation of it, 
and the constitution of the United States." 

The court said that he must offer his evidence, if he had any. 

Mr. Luther. — I can only offer the report of the committee of the conven- 
tion, who counted the votes upon the people's constitution. 

The court — Offer any evidence you have, and we will act on it. In 
another case, evidence of this kind has been ruled out. But we cannot act 
on a naked proposition. 

Mr. Luther. — 1 know the report only as printed. 1 have it not with me, 
I did the particular acts charged. I do not deny them. In the same situa- 



804 Rep. No. 546. 

tion, I would do them again. 1 only deny that I acted in any way illegalfi- 
or contrary to law. 

Blake, attorney general, made a short address to the jury, on their duty 
to render a verdict according to law, and to take the law exclusively from 
the court. 

Durfee, Ch. J., charged the jury that the law, under which the de- 
tendaiit was indicted, was a very good and proper law, and was made to 
preserve our State institutions. There cannot be two distinct Stale organ- 
izations. They must necessarily produce civil war. The act was intended 
to prevent the first steps. If it had been regarded, these difficulties would 
never have occurred. (Judge reads the preamble to the act.) Is it not a 
laudable object to prevent meetings under the pretended people's constitu- 
tion ? The defendant is guilty, if the evidence satisfies you that he did 
the acts alleged. In the opinion of this court, this act is a constitutional 
and binding law. 

The jury retired at 4 o'clock ; and at a quarter before 5 returned, to in- 
quire when the act was passed upon which the indictment was founded. 
Being informed by the court, they again withdrew. At half-past five they 
came in, and, being called, returned a verdict of guilty, with a written 
recommendation, signed by all the jurors, to the mercy of the court. 

The verdict having been recorded, Mr. Blake moved the court that the 
defendant be now called up, and that sentence be pronounced against him. 

Durfee, Ch. J. — Does the defendant ask for any delay? 

Mr. JjUther. — No ; 1 have no wish for any delay about it. This time is 
as good as any. 

Durfee, CJh. J. — Sentence shall be immediately drawn up. 

Chief Justice. — We impose upon the defendant the least punishment that 
the law will allow. If he would have any mitigation of the sentence, he 
must go to the General Assembly, taking the recommendation of the jury 
with him. The sentence was then read by the clerk : 

"That the said Martin Luther pay to the State a fine of five hundred 
dollars, and be imprisoned for the term of six months." 

Mr. Luther was then taken to Bristol jail, conformably with his sentence. 

The jury that tried Mr. Luther was composed of eleven Algerines and 
one democrat — James Smith, of Bristol. 



No. 227. 



Indictment vs. B. M. Bosworth, and report of trial. 

Bristol, sc. 

At the supreme judicial court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, holden at Bristol, within and for the county of Bristol, on 
the second xMonday of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-two: 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Bristol, upon Iheir oaths, 
present : That Benjamin M. Bosworth, of Warren, in the aforesaid county of 
Bristol, machine maker, not regarding the duty of his allegiance to the said 



Rep. No. 546. 805 

State, bat felsely, maliciously, and wilfully contrivino^ the peace of said 
State to disturb, and to subvert the government thertof, and to set up and 
estabhsh a false and pretended government in the place and stead thereof, 
on the eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-two, at said Warren, in the county aforesaid, with force 
and arms did combine and confederate with divers other evil-disposed per- 
sons to the jurors aforesaid unknown, to set up and establish a certain 
nsurped and pretended government in the place and stead of the true, hiw- 
ful, and rightful government of the said State; and to fulfil, perfect, and 
bring to effect his said false, malicious, and wilful design, he, the said Ben- 
jamin M. Bosworth, on the said eighteenth day of April, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty two, at Warren aforesaid, in 
the aforesaid county of Bristol, with force and arms, did act as clerk of a 
certain illegal and void meeting and assembly of divers freemen, inhabit- 
ants and residents of the said State then and at Warren aforesaid held 
and assembled, amongst other things, for the election of certain State 
officers, to wit, for the election of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney 
general, and general treasurer; which said meeting and assembly was not 
called, held, or assembled in the manner, for the purposes, at the times, and 
by the freemen by law prescribed, nor by virtue of any law of the said 
State rejrulatino- the calling assemblies, or holding' of town meetings of the 
freemen of the several towns of the said State; any prescribed form or forms 
for the calling of said town meetings being, by accident or mistake, omitted 
or overlooked, vi^ith the intent to overthrow and subvert the true, lawful, 
and rightful government of the said State, and to set up and establish a 
false and pretended government therein, against the form of the statute in 
such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of tl)e 
State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Benjamin M. Bosworth, not regarding the duty of his alle- 
giance to the said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wiltully contriving 
the peace of said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and right- 
ful government of the said State, and to set up and establish a false atid pre- 
tended government in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteenth day 
of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
two, at Warren aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Bristol, with force and 
arms, did record votes for the election of certain pretended State officers for 
the said State, to wit, for the election of governor, lieutenant governor, sew- 
ators, attorney general, and general treasurer, against the form of the stat- 
ute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of 
the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present : 
That the said Benjamin M. Bosworth, not regarding the duty of his alle- 
giance to the said State, but fiilsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving 
the peace of the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and 
rightful government of the said Stute, and to set up and establish a certain 
false, usurjied, and pretended government in the place and stead thereof on 
the eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and forty two, at Warren aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of 
Bristol, with force and arms, did receive votes for the election of certain pre- 
tended State officers for the said State, to wit, for the election of governor, 
lieatenant governor, senatv'rs, attorney general, and general treasurer, 



806 Rep. No. 546\ 

against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and agairisC 
the peace and dignity of tlie State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Benjamin M. Bosworth, not regarding the duty of his alle- 
giance to the said State, but lalsely, mahciousiy, and wilfully contriving 
the peace of the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and 
nofhtful government of the said State, and to set up and establish a certain 
false and pretended government in tiie place and stead thereof, did, at War- 
ren aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Bristol, with force and arms, on 
the eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-two, record votes for the election of certain pretended 
State officers for the said State, to wit, for the election of certain pretended 
members of the House of Representatives from the said town of Warren, 
in a pretended Genera! Assembly of said State, against the form of tlie 
statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity 
of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, on their onths aforesaid, do further present : That 
(he said Benjamin M. Bosworth, not regardins: the duty of his allegiance to 
the said State, but falsely, mahciousiy, and wilfully contriving the peace of 
the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful^ and rightful gov- 
ernment of the said State, and to set up and establish a certain false, 
usurped, and pretended government in the place and stead thereof, on the 
eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and forty two, with force and arms, at Warren aforesaid, in the afore- 
said county of Bristol, did act as clerk of a certain illegal, void, and pre- 
u^.iided town meeting of divers of the freemen, inhabitants and residents of 
the said town of Warren, then and there held, amongst other things, for the 
election of certain State officers for the said State, to wit, for the election of 
certain pretended members of the House of Representatives from the said 
town of Warren., in the General Assembly of said State*, which said meet^- 
jn.of was not called or held in the manner, for the purposes, at the times, and 
[iy the freemen, by law prescribed, nor by virtue of any law of the said 
lol-dte regulating the calling of town meetings in the several tov^ns of the 
said State, any prescribed form or forms for the calling of said town meet- 
ings, being by accident or mistake omitted or overlooked, against the form 
of the statute in such case made and provided,^ and against the peace and 
dignity of the State. 

Preferred by — 

ALBERT C. GREENE, 

Attorney GeueroL 



State 6f Rhode Island, &c., 
County of Bristol, 

Clerk's Office Supreme Court, 

for the comity aforesaid, April 8, 1844. 
I, William Throop, clerk of said court, do hereby certify that at the Sep- 
tember term of said court, Iield at Bristol, in said county, on the second 
Monday of said month, A. D. 1842, and on the fifth day of the term, Ben- 
jamiti i\L Bosworth aforenamed was arraigned on the indictment afoie- 



Rep. No. 546. 807 

written, and put to plead, and pleaded not guilty ; and on the eighth day of 
the term the indictment was continued on the affidavit of the said Bos- 
worth ; and on the fourth day of the March term of said court A. D. 1843, 
the same was contituied on motion of defendant ; and on the second day of 
the September term of said court A. D. 1843, said indictment was further 
continued ; and on the seventh day o{ the March term of said court A. D. 
1844, (held by adjonrnment April 4th, A. D. 1844,) the said Bosworth was 
arraigned on said indictment, and waiving the reading the indictment, and 
persisting in his former plea of not guihty. And the following named ju- 
rors were empannelled and engaged to try the issue joined, viz., George 
Pearce, (foreman,) James T. Freeborn, Jonathan Nooning, William Man- 
chester, Elijah Gray, James Smith, Anthony Chase. Nathaniel W. Sanders, 
Samuel Wright, jr., Albert N. Humphrey, Lewis B. Smith, Sullivan 
Martin ; and on the same day the said jury' returned the following verdict : 

" We find the defendant guilty, in manner and form as charged in the 
indictment." 

And the prisoner was recommended by the jury to the mercy of the 
court. 

Sentence postponed to the next teni) of the court. And I further certify 
that the foregoing six pages contain a true copy from the records in said 
office. 

Attest : 

WM. THROOP, Clerk. 



Rrpnrt of the trials of Benjamin M. Bosworth and Wdmarlli Heath. 

Supreme Judicial Court. — Bristol county. — March term, 1844. (By adjournment.) 

The case. State vs. Benjamin M. Bosworth, for acting as clerk of a town 
meeting in Warren, held under the people's constitution, was called Levi 
Salisbury appeared for defendant, and moved a continuance, founded on 
affidavit, settuig forth that a question vital to the issue under said indict- 
ment, and which would be raised on behalf of defendant at the trial thereof, 
is, whether the constitution said to have been adopted on the 27th, 28lh, 
and 29tli days of December, 1841, was, at the time the several supposed 
acts of the defendant are alleged to have been committed, the fiuidamental 
law and constitution of this State ; and that said question is involved, and 
must be decided in the trial of the case of Martin Luther vs. Luther M. 
Borden and others, now pending in the Supreme Court of the United States 
at Washington, and expected to be tried at the next term thereof. 

Mr. Salisbury said that the decision of the Luther case at Washington, if 
in favor of the plaiiuift', would be decisive of this case, and a conviction 
here would be wrong. 

The Court overruled the motion. Judge Durfee said : We do not recog- 
nise the jurisdiction of that court over this question. It is a question entirely 
within the jurisdiction of this court. Whatever constitution this court 
recogni.ses, is binding upon (hem. 

Judire Staples said the Supreme Court of the United States must decide 
in favor of the constitution recognised by the supreme court of this State. 
This State is a sovereign and independent State ; and while he remained 



808 Rep. No. 546. 

on the bench, he should maintain that they had no right to decide in fa- 
vor of any other constitution. 

SaHsbury — If this decision is correct, I don't see as there was any use in 
carrying that case to Washington. 

Chief Justice — Nor 1, either. 

On motion of attorney cfeneral, defendant was arraigned, and persisted 
in his plea of not guilty. 

Counsel for defendant objected to the jurors from the town of Warren, 
on the ground that tlie jury-box had not been examined the last year as re- 
quired by law, and stated that evidence would be presented of the fict. 

The court decided that they could not look behind the regular return of 
the town clerk. If there had been any irregularity, the town council 
were liable, and defendant could pursue them. ' 

The attorney general read the indictment, and opened the case in a few 
remarks laudatory of the Algerine law, and the prudence and foresight of 
the General Assembly in passing it ; and proceeded to call the witnesses. 

William H. Drisci>ll, sworn — Was present at a town meeting in Warren, 
on the 18th April, 1842, and saw a person vote ; saw defendant sitting at a 
table, and writing. Don't know what he wrote. Thought defendant was 
clerk of the meeting. 

James Coffni, sworn — Was present at the town meeting on the 18th of 
April ; remained there fifteen or twenty minutes ; saw a person vote; thought 
defendant recorded it ; saw him write; did not see what he wrote; defend- 
ant sat near the moderator; fifteen to twenty persons were present; believes 
there were notices put up calling the meeting ; "f/isrew/e/«6er" about any 
name being signed to the notices; did not vote — hope not; was not a Dorr- 
ite, and hoped he never should be. 

George Easterbrooks, sworn — Was present and voted at a town meeting 
on the 18th April, 1842. Voted for State officers. Saw defendant sitting 
at a table with two or three otiiers. One person writing — not defendant. 
Did not see any person record votes. Saw a list of votes afterwards, sup- 
posed in defendant's hand-writing, as I had heard he was clerk of the 
meeting. Was at the meeting three limes in the course of the day. Was 
not a voter under the old charter. 

William H. DriscoU recalled — Heard defendant say to the attorney gen- 
eral, before he was indicted, '-You need not keep DriscoU here ; let him go 
about his business : I admit all the facts." I had not then been before the 
grand jury. Supposed he referred to the charges preferred against him, 
as they were conversing on that suhject. 

Elias Magoun, sworn — Was present at the town meeting on the 18th 
April, 1842; Luther was moderator ; defendant was clerk, if there was any 
clerk. No person voted while I was there. Defendant has told me since, 
he was clerk ; and if I did not believe it, he would show me the book and 
records. Was a. magistrate — justice of the peace; felt it a solemn duty 
to go and see if the laws were violated. Should not have attended, were I 
not a magistrate ; did not immediately issue warrants against these men; 
did not see the book and records. 

John S. Munro, sworn — Was present at the meeting on the ISth April, 
1842, and voted for general and State officers ; the moderator received my 
vote; cannot say who acted as clerk ; have never heard defendant say he 
acted as clerk ; was there three times in the course of the day ; at otie time, 
saw a number sittins: at the desk. 



Rep. No. 546. 809 

Joseph M. Smith, sworn— Heard defendant tell Magonn he acted as clerk 
of the town meeting on the 18th April, 1842, and tf he would go to his 
house he would show him the records. This was said in the course of con- 
versation between them in my shop. Believe he was in earnest when he 
said he acted as clerk. 1 advised Magoun to go and see the records. 

The attorney general read a certificate from Samuel Randall, town clerk 
of the town of Warren, setting forth that no town meeting had been called 
to be held on the 18th April, 1842, under the charter ; which closed the 
testimony. 

Counsel for defendant rose, and, after remarking upon the character of 
the charge against defendant, said that it was no fault of the defendant 
that this indictment was still pending here. The General Assembly had 
conferred discretionary power on the governor and attorney general, to 
nol. pros, these indictments on application. Such application has been 
made. If the General Assembly acted in good faith, they intended this 
should be a mode of disposing of all these prosecutions; but the defend- 
ant is here on trial, not tlirough any obstinf^cy of his own, but solely by the 
will of one man. 

The court here interposed, and told the counsel he must confine him- 
self to the issue. 

Counsel for defendant then briefly reviewed the testimony, and was pro- 
ceeding to argue against the validity of tlie law of pains and penalties, inas- 
much as it was in derogation of the fundamental principles of American 
liberty, when he was again stopped by the court, and told that the jury 
had notlimg to do with questions of law. They must take the law from 
the court. 

Counsel for defendant — This is contrary to the understandmg of the bar, 
and what I had supposed has been, until recently, the opinion of this court. 

Court — The jury must decide according to the evidence, and the law as 
we give it to them. If we give them the wrong law, we are responsible. 

The counsel for defendant here closed his remarks by saying to the 
jury, that the case was wholly in their hands; and whatever their decision 
was, and upon whatever reasons founded, no power on earth could call 
them to account. 

The attorney general briefly closed the case. He reviewed the evidence, 
which he deemed full and explicit, and the jury must return a verdict of 
guilty on that evidence. 

The court read the law of pains and penalties to the jury, and instructed 
that that was the law in the case ; if the evidence was sufficient to convince 
them that he was guilty of the act charged, they must return a verdict of 
guilty. 

The jury retired to their room, and the court took a recess for about one 
hour. 

The jury, after being out about one hour and a half, returned into court 
with a verdict of guilty and recommending the prisoner to mercy. 



On the meeting of (he court after the recess, the jury being still out on 
the case of Bosworlh, the court ordered a venire to issue for a second jury. 
The venire was served among the bystanders and returned, and the jurors 
called — all in about ten minutes— when it was found they were all Algerines, 



810 Rep. No. 546. 

as follows : Hezekiah Bosworth, (foreman,) George G. Hazard, James Coffin, 
Suchet Maiiran — of Warren ; Nathaniel Coggeshall, Benjamin Tilley, 
Mason W. Pearce, John Fletcher, George Littlefield, Amos T. Gorham, 
Horace Peck, Charles Pales — of Bristol. 

The case, State vs. Wilmarth Heath, charged with acting as moderator 
of a town meeting held under the people's constitution in the town of Bar- 
rington, was called. 

Mr. Salisbury, for defendant, presented an affidavit for a continuance, 
on the ground that, owing to ill health, defendant had not been able to 
procure the counsel he desired. 

The court overruled it, and the defendant was arraigned, and pleaded 
not guilty. 

Objection was made to one of the jurors, (Suchet Mauran, of Warren.) on 
the ground that he arrested and committed defendant in 1842, under mar- 
tial law. The juror (in 1S42 a resident of Barrington) replied that he held 
no prejudice against defendant, but considered him a good neighbor. 

Two witnesses, Thomas R. Allen and Nathaniel C. Smith, were called 
to the stand, who testified that" the defendant officiated as moderator of a 
town meeting in Barrington, on the 18th of April, 1S42, and received votes 
for State officers under people's consiitution. 

No cross-examination of witnesses. 

The attorney general read a certificate from Ebenezer Tiffany, town 
clerk of the town of Barrington, setting forth that no town njeeting had 
l)een called to be held on the 18th April, 1842, under the charter ; whicfi 
closed the testimony. 

Mr. Salisbury remarked, tliat on this evidence, and under the ruling of 
the court in the other case, he deemed it useless to argue this case to the jury. 
He was not disposed to waste time ; and, being so permitted by the defend- 
ant, he left the case with the court. 

The attorney general made a few remarks on the testimony. 

The court briefly charged the jury with the law, and they retired. A^ter 
being out about ten minutes, they returned into court with a verdict of 
GUILTY, and recommending the prisoner to mercy. 

The sentence, in both cases, was postponed till the ni^xt term, on affi- 
davit — in Bosworth's case, on account of sickness in his family ; and in 
Heath's, on account of his own ill health. 



No. 228. 
Indict7nent vs. Wilmarth Heath, and report of trial, (supra.) 

Bristol, sc. 

At the supreme judicial court of the State of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations, holden at Bristol, within and for the county of Bristol, 
on the second Monday of September, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand eight hundred and forty-two : 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Bristol, upon their oaths 
present: That Wilmarth Heath, of Barrington, in the aforesaid county of 



Rep. No. 546. 811 

Bristol, yeoman, not reo:ardit)g the duty of allegiance to the said State, but 
falsely, mahcionsly, and wilt'iilly contriving the peace of the said State to 
disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful government of said 
State, and to set up and estabhsh a false and pretended and usurped govern- 
ment in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteenth day of April, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty two, with force 
and arms, at said Barrington, in the aforesaid county of Bristol, did act as 
moderator of a certain illegal and void meetmg of divers freemen, inhabit- 
ants and residents of the said State, then held at said Barrington. for the 
purpose, amongst o her things, of electing certain State officers for the said 
State, to wit, for llie election of governor, lieutenant governor, senators, 
attorney general, and general treasurer; which said meeting was not called 
or lield in the manner, for the purposes, at the time, and by the freemen, 
by law prescribed, nor by virtue of any law of the said State regulating 
the callino" of town meeting's of the freemen of the several towns of the 
said State; any prescribed form of calling town meetings being, by accident 
or mistake, omitted or overlooked, against the form of the statute in such 
case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oatlis aforesaid, do further present : 
That the said Wilmarth Heath, not regarding the duty of his allegiance to 
the said State, and feilsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace of 
the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful gov- 
ernment of the said State, and to set up and establish a fcdse, usurped, and 
pretended government in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteeiuh day 
of April, m the year of our Lord one thousand eigJit hundred and forty two, 
with ft)rce and arms, at said Barrington, in the aforesaid county of Bristol, 
did act a^ moderator of a certain illegal and void meetino- of divers free- 
men, inhabitants and residents of the said State, then held at said Barring- 
ton, for the purpose, amongst other things, of electing certain State officers 
for the said State, to wit, for the election of certain pretended members of 
the House of Representatives from said town of Barrington, in a preiended 
General Assembly of the said State; which said meeting was not called or 
field in the manner, for the purposes, at the times, and by the freemen by 
law prescril)ed, nor by virtue of any law of the said State regulating the 
caMing of town meetings of the freemen of the several towns of the said 
State ; any prescribed form or forms of calling town meetings being, by 
accident or mistake, omitted or overlooked, against the form of the statute 
in such case made and provided, and against the peace atad dignity of the 
State. 

Af d the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, further present : That 
the said Wilmarth Heath, not regarding the duty of his allegiance to the 
said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace of 
said Stale to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful govern- 
ment of tlie said State, and to set up and establish a certain false, usurped, 
and pretended government in the place and sti^ad thereof, on the eighteenth 
day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
forty two. with force and arms, at said Barrington, in theaforesaid conniy 
of Bristol, did receive votes lor the election of certain State officers for the 
said State, to wit, for the election of governor, lieutenant governor, sena- 
tors, attorney general, and general treasurer, against the form of the statute 
in ^uch case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the 
Stale. 



812 Rep. No. 546. 

And the jurors oforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Wilmarth Heath, not regarding the diUy of his allegiance to 
tlie said State, hiU falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace of 
the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful gov- 
ernment of the said State, and to set up and establish a false, usurped, and 
pretended government in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteenth day 
of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
two, with force and arms, at said Harrington, in the aforesaid county of 
Bristol, did receive votes for the election of certain State officers for the said 
State, to wit, for the election of certain pretended members of the House of 
Representatives from said town of Barrington, in a pretended General As- 
sembly of the said State, against the form of the statute in such cuse made 
and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Wilmarth Heath, not regarding the duty of his allegiance to 
the said State, but falsely, maliciously, and wilfully contriving the peace of 
the said State to disturb, and to subvert the true, lawful, and rightful gov- 
ernment of the said Slate, and to set up and establish a certain false, usurped, 
and pretended government in the place and stead thereof, on the eighteenth 
day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
forty two, with force and arms, at said Barrington, in the aforesaid county 
ol Bristol, did act as moderator of a certain illegal void and pretended town 
meeting of divers of the freemen, inhabitants and residents of the said 
town of Barrington, then and there held for the election of certain pre- 
tended State officers for [he said State, to wit, for the election of governor, 
lieutenant governor, senators, attorney general, general treasurer, and mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives from the said town of Barrington, to 
a certain pretended General Assembly hereafter to be held, which said 
meeting was not called or held in the manner, for the purposes, at the times, 
and by the freemen by law prescribed, nor by virtue of any law of the 
said State prescribing the form or forms of calling town meetings of the 
freemen of the several towns of the said State ; any prescribed form or 
forms of calling said town meetinos being, by accident or mistake, omitted 
or overlooked, against the form of the statute in such case made and pro- 
vided, and against the peace and dignity of the State. 

Preferred by — 

ALBERT C. GREENE, 

Atlortiey General. 



State of Rhode Island, &c., 
Bristol Counti/, 



sc. 



Cleric's Office Supreme Court, 
in the oforcsaid count i/, April 8, 1844. 
1 certify the foregoing to be a true copy from the original in said office. 
Attest : 

VVM. THROOP, Clerk. 



Kep. No. 546. 813 

State of Rhode Island, &c. 



sc 
County of Bristol, 

Supreme judicial court, September term, A. D. 1S42. Indictment— the 
State vs. Wilmarth Heath. 

Fifth day of the term, the defendant was arraigned, and pleaded " not 
guilty" to the indictment. 

Eighth day, continued on affidavit of the defendant. 

March term, A. D. 1843. Second day, continued on motion of defendant. 

September term, A. D. 1843, Second day, continued. 

March term, A. D. 1844. Seventh day, defendant arraigned and put to 
plead ; and, waiving the reading of the indictment, and persisting in his 
former plea of "not guilty," the following named jurors were sworn and 
empannelled to try the issue joined, viz : 

Hezekiah Bosworth, (foreman.) Benjamin Tilley. John Fletcher, George 
G. Hazard, George Littlefield, Horace Peck, Charles Fales, Mason W. 
Pearce, James Cotfin, Sachet Mauran, Amos T. Gorham, Nathaniel ('og- 
geshall ; and, on the same day, the said jury returned the following verdict: 

" We find the defendant guilty in manner and form as charged in the 
indictment. .Tury recommend the prisoner to mercy." 

Sentence postponed to the next term of the court. 



Bristol, sc. 

Clerk's Office, Supreme Court, 

April 9, 1844, 

l' certify the foregoing to be a true copy from the records in this office. 
Attest : 

WM. THROOP, Clerk. 



No. 229. 



Cert^cnte of the clerk of the court in Providence county^ Rhode Island^ 
sJiowing the number of persons indicted in that county ; and ccrtificale of 
the jailer of the commitment of Otis Holmes. 

THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. 

Providence, ss : 

Clerk's Office Supreme Court, 

April 3, A. D. 1844. 

1, Walter Paine, jr., clerk of said court for said county of Providence, do 
hereby certify, that at the September term of said court A. D. 1842, the fol- 
lowing indictments were returned into court as true bills by the grand in- 
quest of said State within and for the body of said county of Providence, viz ; 



814 Rep. No. 546. 

Against Andreio Essex, of Cranston, yeoman, for accepting the office of 
justice of the peace in said town of Cranstun, having been elected thereto 
on the 18th day of April, A. D. 1842, under the (so called) people's consti- 
tution. 

Against Charles A. Slocum, yeoman, of Glocester, for acting as moderator 
of a town meeting held in said Glocester on the 18th day of April. A. D. 
1842, under the said people's constitution. 

Against Burringion Anthony, of Providence, gentleman, alias esquire, for 
signifying his acceptance of the ministerial office of sheriff of the aforesaid 
county of Providence, to which office he had been elected by the people un- 
der the (so called) people's constitution on the 18lh day of April, 1842. 

Against Franklin Cooky, of Providence, stone cutter, and against Benja- 
min Arnold, of Providence, grocer, for treason, for accepting the offices of 
representatives of said city of Providence under said constitution, to which 
offices they were elected on said 18th day of April, 1842. 

Against Clovis H. Bowefi, of Glocester, esquire, for acting as clerk of a 
certain illegal town meeting holden at said Glocester on the 18th day of 
April, under the said people's constitution. 

Against Hezckiah Willard, of Providence, merchant, for treason ; he hav- 
ing accepted the office of senator from said city of Providence, to which 
he was elected under said constitution, April I8th, 1842. 

Against William H. ^SV/^VA, of Providence, esquire, for treason ; he having 
accepted the office of secretary of state under said constitution, to which 
office he was elected on the 18th day of April. 1842, under said constitution. 

Against David Parmenter, of Providence, cordwainer, for acting as a 
moderator of a certain illegal town meeting holden at said Providence on 
the 18th day of April, 1842, under said people's constitution. 

I further certify, that, at the March term of said court, A. D. 1843, the 
grand inquest of said State, within and for the body of said county of Prov- 
idence, did return as a true bill an indictment against Charles S. Sanders, 
of Smithneld, in said county, painter, for treason committed on the 17th 
day of May, A. D. 1842, by levying war against the State. 

All which defendants have been arraigned, and are now under recogni- 
zance, with sureties, for their appearance whenever said indictments (all of 
which are now pending in said court) shall be called for trial. 

Attest': WALTER PAINE, Jr., Clerk. 



Otis Hohnes was committed to Providence county jail, June 26, 18^2, by 
order of the governor and council ; July 29, 1842, was discharged by or- 
der of the governor ; and the same day committed to said jail by virtue of 
a mittimus signed by Henry L. Bowen, esquire, and left with the jailer, on 
which warrant he was detained in said jail until August 24, 1842, on which 
day he was dehvered to the supreme judicial court, then sitting in Newport, 
on a writ of habeas corpus, as appears on record in criminal jail-book " C " 
of Providence county jail. 

THOMAS CLEVELAND, Jailer. 

Providence, April 1, 1844. 



Rep. No. 546. 815 

No. 230. 

Certificate of the keeper of the jail in Bristol county^ Rhode Island, show- 
ing the number of persons committed, who were connected with the suf- 
frage movements. 

I, Bennett J. Monro, keeper of the jail in the county of Bristol, and State 
of Rhode Island, do certify, that Stafford Healy and Loranus A. Braytoti 
were committed to this jail June 29th, 1842, by order from JohnT. Childs, 
lieutenant 4th regiment R. I. militia, commanding at Warren; and that 
they were both discliarged July 9th, 1842, by order of Governor King, 
having previously been examined before commissioners appointed by the 
legislature for that purpose. 

Also, that Hiram Chappell, Andrew Thompson, Charles A. Campbell, 
David M. G. Hamilton, Caleb Bradley, and Wm, T. Olney, were brought 
from Providence, and committed to this jail July 20th, 1842, as prisoners 
of war, and remained as such until July 25th, 1842, when they were re- 
leased as prisoners of war by order of Governor Kincj, and were the same 
day arrested on warrants, and, after an examination, were again committed 
to take their trials before the supreme judicial court ; the said Chappell, Ol- 
ney, Bradley, and Hamilton being charged with treason against the State, 
and the said Campbell and Thompson charged wiih breaking into a build- 
ing in the town of Warren, with intent to commit larceny. That the said 
Thompson was admitted to bail before a magistrate, August 13th, 1842, 
The said Campbell was admitted to bail September 19th, 1842, he having 
been previously indicted by the grand jury. The said Chappell was dis- 
charged September I7th, 1842, by order of court, the grand jury failing to 
find a bill against him. The said Hamilton was admitted to bail Novem- 
ber 10(h, 1842, by the supreme court, in consequence of sickness. The 
said Wm. T. Olney was discharged April 20th, 1843, by order of the gov- 
ernor and council. The said Caleb Bradley was discharged May lOth, 
1843, also by order of the governor and council. 

All of which appears of record in this office. 
Attest : 

BENNETT J. MONRO, Jailer. 

Bristol County Jail, April 2, 1844. 



No. 231. 

Statement of William J. Miller, showing the direction of Chief Justice 
Dwfee to the jailer of Bristol county not to furnish certificates of com* 
mitnient. 

^' I, William J. Miller, of Bristolj State of Rhode Island, say : That on last 
week I applied to the jailer of Bristol county for a copy from the records in 
his possession of all persons committed to jail in said county during the 
year 1842, connected with the suffrage movements in this State, and was 
told that he would furnish me with it as soon as he could make it out. 
The latter part of the week an adjourned term of the supreme court was 
held in Bristol, and the high sheriff of the county having learned that the 



816 Rep. No. 546. 

jailer had had such application made to him, made complaint to the cosirt, 
who decided that the jailer need not furnisli said copy. The ]ano-nas[e of 
the chief justice was: " We don't give any opinion as a court, but we think 
you (to the jailer) need not furnish any papers to send to Washington." 
The foregoing I overheard in the court-room ; and was afterwards inform- 
ed by the jailer that he could not furnish me with the papers I had applied 
for, and gave as the reason what the court said. 

WILLIAM J. MILLER. 



No. 232. 



An act in addition to, and in am^endtnent of, an act entitled " An act in 
relation to offences against the sovereign power of the State,''^ passed by 
the General Assembly, January session, 1 843. 

Be it e?iacted by the General Assembly as follows : 

Section L All town, ward, or other meetings of the electors, inhabitants, 
or residents of this State, or of any portion of the same, for the election of 
any person or persons to any office or offices, place or places whatsoever, 
to which the people of this State may by law elect, called or held in any 
town of this State, or in the city of Providence, except in the manner, for 
the purposes, at the times, and by the electors by law prescribed, are illegal 
and void ; and such meetings, and also all meetings of persons other than 
those authorized by law, calling themselves, when collected, or claiming to 
be the General Assembly of this State, or either house thereof, are hereby 
declared to be riotous, tumultuous, and treasonable assemblies; and the 
commander-in chief, the sheriff of any county, or any deputy sheriff, any 
justice of the court of common pleas m any county, the mayor of the city 
of Providence, -or, in his absence, the board of aldermen of said city, are 
hereby authorized and required to command such assemblies, or any of 
them, to disperse; and if they dn not forthwith obey said command, then, 
by the civil posse, or if they deem it necessary, by calling out and using 
for that purpose the whole or any portion of the military force of this State 
within their respective jurisdictions, that they, or either of them, may deem 
sufficient therefor, to disperse sucfi assemblies, or any of them, within their 
jurisdictions; and all such officers, and all military officers in this State, 
and persons under their command, are hereby directed to govern themselves 
accordingly. 

Sec. 2. All moderators, wardens, or clerks, or persons acting as such, in 
any such illegal town, ward, or other meetings, hereafter held, shall be pun- 
ished as is provided in the first section of the act to which this is in amend- 
ment, for the punishment of the moderators, wardens, clerks, or persons 
acting as such, therein mentioned. 

Sec. 3. Any candidate for any such office, who shall signify that he will 
accept the same, if elected thereto by virtue of any such pretended elections 
in any such meetings, or shall knowingly suffer or permit his name to be 
used as the name of a candidate therefor, shall be punished as is provided 
for the candidates mentioned in the second section of the act to which this 
is in amendment. 

Sec. 4. Any person or persons, except such as arc duly elected thereto 



Rep No. 546. 817 

according: to the laws of this State, who shall, under a pretended consti- 
tution of government for this State, or otherwise, assume to exercise the 
functions of any legislative office or place whatsoever, to which the people 
of this Slate may by law elect, or shall meet with others for the purpose of 
exercising the functions of any such office or place, shall be punished as is 
provided in the third section of the act to which this is in amendment, for 
the punishment of the persons therein mentioned. 



No. 232 a. 

An act ill. amendment of on act entitled '■'■ An act to prevent 'routs, riots, 
and tumultuous assemblies, and the evil consequences thereof. ^^ 

Be U enacted by the General Assembly as folloiDs : 

The act to which this is in amendment, is hereby so far amended as that 
if, in the making or attempting to make proclamation, as mentioned in said 
act, the persons assembled in manner therein specified do not forthwith dis- 
perse themselves, they are to be dealt with as is in said act provided ; and 
that so much of said act as requires the delay of an hour after making or 
attempting to make proclamation as aforesaid, is hereby repealed.- 



No. 233. 



Laics relating to the military, passed by the General Assembly, May ses- 
sion, 1842. 

AN ACT establishing a military company by the name of the Warren Artilleiy, in the town 
of Warren, and county of Bristol. 

Whereas the preservation of the United States depends in time of war, 
under God upon the military skill and discipline of the inhabitants : and, 
whereas a number of them in the town of Warren, and county of Bristol, 
have mutually agreed, for the public good, to form themselves into a com- 
pany by the name of the Warren Artillery, in the town of Warren, and 
county of Bristol ; and by their respectful petition prayed this Assembly to 
grant to them a charter of incorporation, with such privileges, and under 
such restrictions and limitations, as this Assembly should think proper : 

Wherefore this Assembly, in order to give all due encouragement to so 
laudable a design and so noble a disposition, have ordained, constituted, and 
granted, and by these presents do ordain, constitute, and grant, that Charles 
Collins, Charles Smith, and William B. Snell, together with such others as 
have already joined them, or shall hereafter be added to them, not exceeding 
the number of one hundred, exclusive of officers, be, and they are hereby 
declared to be, a military company in the fourth regiment of militia, by the 
name of the Warren Artillery; and by that name shall have perpetual suc- 
cession, and shall have and enjoy all rights, powers, and privileges in this 
grant hereafter mentioned. 

First. It is granted unto this company, that they, or the greater part of 
52 



Sl8 Rep. No. 546. 

them, shall and may once in every year, that is to say on the third Monday 
in April, meet and assemble themselves together in some convenient place 
by them appointed, then and there to choose their own officers, to wit : one 
captain, four lieutenants, one quartermaster, and all other officers necessary 
for the training, disciplining, and well ordering the affairs of said company; 
at which election no officer shall be chosen but by the greater number of 
votes then present; the captain, lieutenants, and quartermaster to be ap- 
proved of by the governor and senate for the time being, and to be com- 
missioned by the governor under the seal of the State, and to be duly en- 
gaged like the officers of the militia. 

Secondly. The said company shall have liberty to meet and exercise 
themselves on such days and as often as they shall think proper, but shall 
be obliged to meet four times in every year for drilling, training, and field 
duty, upon penalty of paying to and for the use of said company the follow- 
ing fines, to wit: the captain, lieutenants, and quartermaster, each six dol- 
lars, the non commissioned officers and privates each three dollars for every 
day's neglect, to be levied by warrants of distress directed to the quartermas- 
ter from the colonel, or other commanding officer of said company for the 
time beiuff. 

Thirdly. The said company, or the greater part of them, shall have pow- 
er to make such rules and orders among themselves as they shall think ne- 
cessary to promote the end of their establishment, but which shall be con- 
sistent with this grant; and to lay and levy such fines and forfeitures upon 
any of their own company, for the breach of any such rules and orders, as 
they shall think proper, so that the same shall not exceed six dollars for any 
one offence ; and shall have full power to levy the same, as aforesaid, by war- 
rant of distress directed to the quartermaster from the commanding officer 
for the time being. 

Fourthly. All those who shall be duly enlisted in said company, so long 
as they continue therein shall be exempted from bearing arms or doing mil- 
itary duty (watching and warding excepted) in the several companies or 
training bands in whose district they respectively belong. 

Fiftkly. If any commissioned officer or officers of said company shall be 
disapproved by the governor and senate, or shall remove out of the county 
of Bristol, or shall be taken away by death, or shall resign, in either of those 
cases the captain of said company, or some commissioned officer for the 
time being, shall call said company together as soon as conveniently may 
be, and choose another or others in place of such officer or officers so inca- 
pacitated to serve as aforesaid, in the manner hereinbefore directed for the 
election of officers of said company. 

Sixthly. It is further granted, that the captain of said company shall have 
full power, by warrant or commission under his hand and seal, to authorize 
all officers who shall be duly elected by said company, under the rank of 
quartermaster, to act in the rank or station to which they shall be respect- 
ively elected. 

Seventhly. It is further granted, that the officers of the said company, 
when called into actual service with the miliiia, shall take rank according to 
their commissions. 

Eighthly. This charter shall be forever subject to all future acts of this 
General Assembly, in amendment or repeal thereof, or in anywise affecting 
the same. 



Sep. No. 546. 819 

AN ACT in amendment of an act entitled " An act to incorporate the First Light Infantry- 
Company in the second regiment ol uiiiiiia." 

Be it enacted by the Cren-eral Assembly as follows : 

Section 1. Section first of the act entitled " An act to incorporate the 
First Lic^ht Infantry Company in the second regiment of miUtia" is hereby- 
amended, so that there may be hereafter enrolled not exceeding two hun- 
dred men, exclusive of officers. 

Sec. 2. All the corporate and other rights of said company, which may 
have become affected by reason of their having more men on their roll than 
by the charter was allowed, are hereby confirmed to the same extent as if 
they had not exceeded tlie number hmited them by said charter. 



AN ACT to authorise the establishment of volunteer police companies in the city of Provi- 
dence. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as folloiDs : 

Section 1. The inhabitants of the city of Providence, or any portion of 
ihem, are hereby authorized to unite and form themselves into volunteer 
police companies, not exceeding fifty men in each company, to be com- 
manded by one captain and two lieutenants, who shall be appointed and 
commissioned by the governor. Said companies may severally elect a clerk, 
and a proper number of non commissioned officers. Said companies shall 
be designated in numerical order by the governor, and shall arm and equip 
themselves in such manner as they may deem proper. The officers of said 
€ompanies shall severally hold and exercise their offices therein, until others 
are appointed in their places. 

Sec. 2. Said companies may keep watch and ward in said city, under the 
general direction of the mayor or aldermen thereof; and shall be liable to be 
called out for the prevention or suppression of any tumult, riot, or mob in 
said city, by the authority and in the manner prescribed by the act entitled 
"An act to prevent routs, riots, and tumultuous assemblies, and the evil con- 
sequences thereof;^' and may be also called out by the authority and in the 
manner provided in and by the sixty-first section of the act entitled " An act 
to regulate the militia." 



No. 234. 



■Laws relating to the ntilitary, passed by the General Assembly^ June 

session^ 1842. 

AN ACT to incorporate the Wakefield Cadets, 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as folloics : 

Section I. George Whitford, John B. Dockray, William P. Dockray, 
Edwin A. Peckham, William H. Hazard, William R. Noyes, W. W. Avery, 
and VViUiam C. Watson, all of South Kingstown, in the county of Wash- 
ington, their associates and such others as may hereafter be added unto 
them, not less than twenty five and not exceeding one hundred men, ex- 



820 ' Rep. No. 546. 

elusive of officers, are hereby created and made a body politic and cor|io- 
rate, by the name of the "Wakefield Cadets," in the eleventh regiment of 
militia ; and by that name shall and may have a common seal and per- 
petual succession, and shall and may enjoy all the rights, powers, and 
privileges hereinafter mentioned. 

Skc. 2. Said company, or the greater number of them, shall and may, 
once in every year, that is to say on the first Monday of April, meet and 
assemble together in some place by them appointed, then and there to 
choose their officers, to wit: one captain, three lieutenants, one ensign, and 
one quartermaster, who shall, by virtue of his office, be clerk of said com- 
pany ; and also such non commissioned officers as shall be necessary for 
the training, discipiiningy and well-ordering said company. At such meet- 
ing no officer shall be cliosen except by a majority of the votes then present; 
and the captain, lieutenants, and ensign so as aforesaid chosen, shall be 
approved of by the governor and senate for the time being, and shall be 
commissioned and engaged in the same manner as the militia officers in 
this State : Provided^ That nothing herein contained shall be construed to 
exempt any officer from military duty, unless he shall have actually served 
as a commissioned officer for the term of five years. 

Sec. 3. Said company shall be obliged to meet at least twice in each 
year, for military exercise, to wit : on tlie first Monday of April, and on the 
first Monday of September; and that for neglecting to appear at such 
meetings, neglecting to equip, refusal to obey any lawful order, or for un- 
officer-like or unsoldier like conduct, the officers and privates of said com- 
pany shall be subject to the same fines and penalties, to be collected and 
enforced in the same manner as by the existing militia law of this State. 

Sec. 4. The said company, or the greater number of them, shall have 
power to make such rules and by laws for such company as they shall 
deem necessary for the promotion of their object; and to impose such fines 
and forfeitures for the breach thereof as they shall think proper : Provided, 
That no fine for any one offence shall exceed the sum of five dollars ; and 
said company shall have fiill power to levy and collect the fines they shall 
so impose, by a warrant of distress from the captain or other superior officer 
of said company for the time being, directed to the clerk or either of the 
sergeants of said company. 

Sec. 5. All the members of said company, so long as they shall remain 
such, shall be exempted from bearing arms or doing military duty in the 
several companies or train bands within the districts in which they respec- 
tively live. 

Sec. 6. If any commivssioned officer or officers of said company shall be 
disapproved of by the governor and senate, or shall remove out of the 
limits of said regiment, or shall resign or decease, or his or their place or 
places become otherwise vacant, then, and in either of those cases, the 
captain of said company, or other superior officer for the time being, shall, 
by warrant, call a special meeting of said company as soon as conveniently 
may be, in order to choose another or other oflicers in the stead of those 
whose places have thus become vacant ; said warrant to be served by some 
member of said company, by reading the same to the members of said com- 
pany, or by leaving a copy of the same at their last and usual place of 
abode, at least four days before the time for such special meeting. 

Sec. 7. When said company shall be reduced to less than twenty five 



Rep, No, 546. 821 

members, exclusive of officers, this act of incorporation shall be null and 
void, and the said company extinct. 

Sec. 8. George Whitford shall be captain ; John B. Dockray first, Wil- 
!ian) P. Dockray second, Tennant T, Stedman, third lieutenant; Edwin 
A. Peckham ensign of said company until the next election: and com- 
«iissioned accordingly. 



AN ACT to authorize llie establishment of volunteer companies in the several towns of this 
State and in the city of Providence. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows : 

Section t. The inhabitants of the several towns in this State and of 
the city of Providence, or any portion of them, are hereby authorized to 
form themselves into volunteer conipanies, to be commanded by one ca{»- 
tain, and not less than two, nor more than three lieutenants, who shall be 
appointed and commissioned by the governor. Said companies may seve- 
rally elect a clerk and a proper number of noncommissioned officers, and 
shall be designated in numerical order by the governor, and may equip 
themselves, or shall be equipped by him, at the expense of the State, in 
such manner as he shall deem proper. The officers of said companies 
shall b ' elected for one year on the last Monday of April in each year, and 
shall hold and exercise their offices for one year, and until others are ap- 
pointed in their places. 

Sec. 2. The commissions heretofore issued by the governor to the offi- 
cers of the several volunteer companies established under the recommenda- 
tion of the governor and council, and also under the act entitled "An act 
to authorize the establishment of volunteer police companies in the city of 
Providence," are hereby approved and confirmed; and the commanding 
officers of the several volunteer com|)aiiies already established as aforesaid. 
or to be established under or by virtue of this act, shall determine their 
relative rank by lot, although their commissions may be of diflferent dates; 
and their companies shall take post with them when on parade. 

Sec. 3. Said companies may keep watch and ward m the city of Provi- 
dence under the general direction of the mayor and aldermen of said city, 
and elsewhere under the general direction of the several town councils of 
the several towns in this State; and shall be liable to be called out for the 
prevention or suppression of any tumult, riot, or mob, in said city or town 
of this State, by the authority and in the manner prescribed by the act en- 
titled " An act to prevent routs, riots, and tumultuous assemblies, and tlie 
evil consequences thereof," and any acts in addition to or amendment of the 
same; and may also be called out by the authority and in the manner pro- 
vided in and by the sixty-first section of the act entitled "An act to regu- 
late the militia." 

Sec. 4. The commissioned officers of the several chartered and volun- 
teer companies of the city of Providence, are hereby empowered to form 
said companies into a regiment, to be called " the City Regiment;" and the 
governor, by and with the advice of the senate, is hereby empowered to 
grant commissions to such proper officers as the said commissioned officers 
aiay elect or designate to command them ; the colonel and other officers 



822 Rep. No. 546. 

of said regiment to hold their commissions until others are appointed in 
their places. 

Sec. 5. The act entitled "An act to authorize the establishment of vol- 
unteer police companies in the city of Providence," is hereby repealed \ 
all things heretofore done in conformity thereto being hereby validated, 
confirmed, and continued in force, in the same manner as if said act ha'd 
not been repealed. 



AN ACT in amendment of an act entitled " An act to incorporate the independent company 
of cadets in the town of Providence." 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as foliates : 

Said company^ now known by the name and style of the National Cadets, 
is hereby allowed to enroll men to any number not exceeding two hundred, 
exclusive of officers ; and any act of this Assembly is hereby repealed, so far 
as it§ provisions are inconsistent herewith. 



AN ACT in amendment of " An act establishing a military independent company by the 
name of the Train of Artillery in the town and county of Bristol. "^ 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 

The act to which this is in amendment is hereby amended, so that said 
company shall hereafter consist of a number not exceeding two hundred^ 
inclusive of offi,cers. 



AN ACT in amendment of an act entitled " An act for establishing a military company by 
the name of ibe United Company of the Train of Artillery in the tuwn of Providence." 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 

Section 1. The first section of said act is so far amended, as that the 
officers chosen by said company shall be one captain and four lieutenants^ 
who shall be commissioned accordingly; and such other non commissioned 
officers as shall be necessary to the training, disci{)lining, and well-ordering 
of said company. 

Sec. 2. The fifth section of said act is hereby repealed. 

Sec. 3. Said company shall be attached to the regiment in the city of 
Providence ; and the officers of said company shall hereafter take rank and 
station in the same manner as the officers of other companies. 

Voted and resolved^ That the sum of one thousand dollars be appropriated 
to build an armory and furnish equipments for the Kentish Guards; and 
that said sum be expended under the direction of Ezra Pollard and the 
colonel of said company, who are hereby authorized to draw on the general 
treasurer for said sura, for the purposes aforesaid i Provided hoioever. That 
if said company is ever dissolved, the State shall be entitled to an equitable 
proportion of the value or proceeds of said armory, corresponding to the 
amount contributed ; and that the sum hereby contributed be paid in sijs 
months from the date hereoL 



Rep. No. 546. 823 

AN ACT to annul the charters of certain military companies. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 

The charter of the independent company called the United Independent 
Volunteers, and the charter of the First Light Infantry Company iti the 
fifteenth regiment of militia, are hereby repealed, and declared null and 
void. 

Resolved., That the governor be, and he hereby is, authorized to fill any 
vacancies which may now exist, or which may hereafter happen in the 
militia of this State, and to commission the persons appointed ; and also, in 
his discretion, to approve and commission any officers tfow or hereafter 
elected by any of the chartered companies of this State. 

Resolved., That the governor be, and he is hereby, authorized to appoint 
a special commissary general of the State, and also a surgeon general ; and 
that said commissary general and surgeon general be, and they are hereby, 
authorized severally to appoint so many assistants as they, in their discretion, 
may think necessary for the ptiblic service. 

Resolved, That the adjutant general and the quartermaster general be, 
and they are hereby, authorized severally to appoint so many assistants as 
they may deem tiie public service requires, with the rank of captain. 

Upon the petition of the Warren Artillery for an appropriation of seven 
hundred dollars for the purpose of aiding said company in building an 
armory: Voted and resolved, That the prayer thereof be granted, and that 
the sum of seven hundred dollars i^ hereby appropriated for that purpose, 
under the direction of Alfred Bosworth and Captain Samuel Pearce, who 
are authorized to draw on the general treasurer for that sum; and it is 
hereby declared that said armory, when erected, shall be and remain per- 
sonal property : Provided however, That if said company is ever dissolved, 
the State shall be entitled to an equitable proportion of the value or proceeds 
of the armory corresponding to the amount contributed, and that the sum 
hereby allowed be paid in six months from the date hereof. 

Upon the petition of the First Light Infantry of Providence for grant of 
money : Voted und resolved. That the prayer of said petition be so far 
granted as to appropriate for the use of said compai^y the sum of twelve 
hundred dollars, to be paid by the general treasurer to the order of William 
W. Brown. 

Provided, That if said company is ever dissolved, the State shall be en- 
titled to an equittible proportion of the value of the proceeds of the armory 
corresponding to the amount contributed ; and that the sum hereby allowed 
be paid in six months from the date hereof 

Upon the petition of the Bristol Train of Artillery for an appropriation 
to build an armory: Voted and resolved, That the prayer of said petition 
be granted, and that the sum of five hundred dollars, in addition to the sum 
of two hundred dollars heretofore granted, is hereby appropriated for the 
purpose of building an armory,, under the direction of Byron Diman, Wil- 
liam R. Taylor, and Jacob Babbitt, jr., who are hereby authorized to draw 



824 Rep. No. 546. 

on the general treasurer for that amount ; and it is hereby declared that 
said armory, when erected, shall be and remain personal property : Pro- 
vided, That if said company is ever dissolved, the State shall be entitled 
to an equitable proportion of the value or proceeds of the armory corres- 
ponding to the amount contributed ; and that the sum hereby contributed 
be paid in six months from the date hereof. 



No. 235. 



Laws relating to the military, passed by the General Assembly, October 

session, 1842. 

AN ACT to incorporate the Sea Fencibles. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly, as follows: 

Section 1. Nathaniel S. Mauran, Thomas Pearce, William P. Blodget, 
Truman W. Foster, William G. Mereweather, and William Cameron, all 
of the city atjd county of Providence, their associates, and such others as 
may hereafter be added unto them, not exceeding one hundred men. ex- 
clusive of officers, are hereby created and made a body politic and corpo- 
rate, by the name of the Sea Fencibles in the second regiment of militia ; 
and by that name shall and may have a common seal and perpetual suc- 
cession, and shall enjoy all the rights, powers, and privileges hereinafter 
mentioned. 

Sec. 2. Said company, or the greater number of them, shall and may 
once in every year, that is to say on the third Monday of April, meet and 
assemble together in some place by them appointed, then and there to 
choose their officers, to wit, one captain, three lieutenants, and one quarter- 
master, and one ensign, and also such non-commissioned officers as shall 
be necessary for the framing, disciplining, and well-ordering of said com- 
pany. At such meeting no officer shall be chosen, except by a majority 
of the votes present ; and the captain, lieutenants, quartermaster, and en- 
sign so chosen, shall be approved of by the governor and senate for the 
time being, and shall be commissioned by the governor, under the seal of 
the State, and be duly engaged like the officers of the miliiia. 

Sec. 3. Said company shall have liberty to meet and exercise themselves 
on such days and as often as they shall think proper, but shall meet four 
limes in every year for training, drilling, and field duty; and for neglect- 
ing to ajipear at such meetings, neglecting to equip, refusal to obey any 
lawful order, or for unofficer-like or unsoldier like conduct, the officers and 
privates of said company shall be subject to the same fines and penalties, to 
be collected and enforced in the same manner, as by the militia law of this 
State for the time being ; said fines to be to and for the use of said company. 

Sec. 4, Said company, or the greater number of them, shall have power 
to make such rules and by laws consistent with this gratit as they shall 
dtein necessary for the promotion of their welfare, and to impose such fines 
and forfeitures for the breach thereof as they shall deem proper, so that the 
same shall not exceed five dollars for any one offence, and shall have full 
power to levy and collect the same by warrant of distress from the captain or 
other superior officer of said company for the time being, directed to the 
quartermaster or either of the sergeants of said company. 



Rep. No. 546. 825 

Sf.c. 5. If any commissioned officer or officers of said company shall 
be disapproved by the governor and senate, or shall remove out of the 
county of Providence, or sliall resign or decease, or his or their place or 
places become otherwise vacant, in either of these cases the captain of said 
company, or other superior officer for the time being, shall, by warrant, call 
a special meeting of said company as soon as conveniently may be, to 
choose another or other officers instead of those whose places have thus be- 
come vacant, in the manner before directed ; said warrant to be served by 
some member of the company, by reading of the same to the members of 
said company, or by leaving a copy of the same at their last and usual place 
of abode, at least four days before the time of said special meeting. 

Sbc. 6. All the members of said company, so long as they continue such, 
shall be exempted from bearing arms or doing military duty in the several 
companies or train bands within the districts in which they respectively 
live. 

Sec. 7. The captain of said company shall have full power and authority, 
,by warrant or commission under his hand and seal, to authorize all officers 
which shall be duly elected by said company, under the rank of quarter- 
master, to act in the rank or station to which they shall be respectively 
elected. 

Skc. 8. The officers of said company shall take rank in the regiment ac- 
cording to their commissions. 

Skc. 9. Whenever the company shall be reduced to less than thirty 
members, this act shall become null and void. 

Skc. 10, The officers now holding commissions in said company shall 
continue as such until the next annual meeting. 

Sec. 11. This act shall be subject to all future acts of the General As- 
sembly in amendment or repeal thereof, or in anywise affecting the same. 



AN ACT to incorporate the company of Woonsocket Guards , in the sixth regiment of militia.' 

Whereas the preservation of this State, in timesof war and of public dan- 
ger, depends, under Divine protection, upon the patriotism and military 
skill of its inhabitants: and whereas a nutnber of the inhabitants of the 
village of Woonsocket and vicinity, in the towns of Smithfield and Cum- 
berland, viz: Arnold 13riggs, William H. Andrews, John Allen, John Allen, 
jr., Joseph Briggs, Thomas F. Mason, Jackson P. Mowry, Seth H. Vose, 
William H. Passmore, Jesse Gould, John Passmore, Arunah Grant, Wil- 
liam J. Holder, Stephen S. Waterman, ''J'iiomas Conlin, Lyman Cooke, 
Eugene Martin, Cyrus Arnold, jr., Sidney S. Paul, Edward H. Sprague, 
Charles H. Stone, Wilson B. Kobbins, Mowry Aldrich, Smith W. Paine, 
George F. Verry, Sullivan Ballon, Jacob Hicks, Charles L. Fisher, Willard 
Ballon, Henry G. Ballon, Nelson Chase, John Moore, Nathan Verry, Hiram 
Burnett, Henry Thayer, Darwin T. Briggs, James Robinson, Edwin S. 
Hull, William O. Bisbee, John Mowry, Noah L. Peck, William O. Mason, 
George Taft, and Enoch Whipple, have petitioned this General Assembly, 
setting forth that they have organized and formed themselves into a military 
body of infantry, and have petitioned for a charter of incorporation : 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows : 

Section 1. The said petitioners, and such others as shall be hereafter 



826 Rep. No. 546. 

added unto them, not exceeding^ one hundred men, exclusive of officers, be, 
and they are hereby, created a body corporate and pohtic, by the name of 
the Woonsovket Guards, in the sixth regiment of the miUtia of this State ; 
and by that name shall and may have a common seal and perpetual suc- 
cession, and shall and may have and enjoy all the rights, powers, and priv- 
ileges hereinafter mentioned. 

Sect. 2. The said company shall and may, once in every year — that is 
to say, on the third Monday in April — meet and assemble themselves to- 
gether, in some place by them or by their superior officer appointed, then 
and there to choose their officers, to wit : one captain, four lieutenants, and 
such non commissioned officers as shall be necessary for the disciplining and 
well ordering of said company; at which election no officer shall be chosen, 
but by the greater number of the votes there present. The captain and 
lieutei;ants to be approved of by the governor and senate for the time be- 
ing, and to be commissioned and engaged m the same manner as the other 
militia officers in the State. 

Sect. 3. The said company shall and may meet for exercise at least, 
four times in every year, upon the penalty of paying, for tFie use of the 
company, the following fines, viz: the captahi, for every neglect, eight 
dollars; the lieutenants, each, six dollars; and the non-commissioned 
officers and privates, each, three dollars ; the same to be collected in the 
manner prescribed by law for collecting fines in other militia companies. 
And said company shall have liberty to meet and exercise upon such other 
days, and as often as they shall deem necessary, and shall be subject to the 
orders and directions of the commandant or other field officers of the sixth 
regiment, and shall at all times be considered as attached to said regiment. 

Sect. 4. The said company, or the majority of its members, shall have 
power to make such rules, by laws, and regulations among themselves, as they 
shall deem necessary to promote the design of their establishment; and to 
lay such fines and forfeitures upon any of its members, for the breach of 
any such rules, by-laws, and orders, as they sliall think proper : providing 
the same does not exceed six dollars for any one offence. And they shall 
also have full power to levy the fines and forfeitures which they shall so 
impose, by a warrant of distress from the captain or other superior officer 
for the time being, directed to the clerk, or either of the sergeants of said 
company. 

Sect. 5, All the members of said company, so lon^ as they shall con- 
tinue therein, shall be exempted from bearing arms, or doing military duty 
in the several companies, or train bands, in the districts in which they 
respectively live. 

Sect. 6. Jf any commissioned officer or officers of the said company 
shall be disapproved of by the governor and senate, or shall resign, or 
shall decease, then, and in either of these cases, the captain of said com- 
pany, or other superior officer for the time being, shall, by warrant, call a 
special meeting of the same, as soon as conveniently may be, in order to 
choose. another, or others, to fill the offices vacated as aforesaid, in the man- 
ner liereinbefore directed for the election of officers of said company. 

Sect. 7. If any action or suit shall be commenced for any matter or 
thing done by virtue of this act, the defendant may plead the general issue, 
and give this act in evidence. 

Sect. 8. Whenever the said company shall be reduced to less than thirty 



Rep. No. 546. 827 

members, excluding officers, this act of incorporation sliall become null 
and void. 

Sect. 9. The following named members shall be, and they hereby are, 
appointed the officprs of said company, to hold their respective offices until 
the last Monday of April next, and to be commissioned accordingly, viz: 
Arnold BrigiJ:s, captain ; VVilham H. Passmore, first heutenant ; Sidney S. 
Paul, second lieutenant; Eugene Martin, third lieutenant; and Thomas 
F. Mason, fourth lieutenant. 

Sect. 10. This act shall be subject to all future acts of the General As- 
sembly in amendment or repeal thereof, or in anywise affecting the same. 



AN ACT establishing a company of light dragoons by the name of the Providence Horse 
Guards in the city o( Providence, 

Whereas the efficiency of infantry is greatly increased by the co opera- 
tion of horsemen ; and whereas a number of the inhabitants of the city of 
Providence, being deeply impressed with the necessity of such an addition 
to the present militia of the State, have mutually agreed to form themselves 
into a company, by the name of the Providence Horse Guards, in the city 
of Providence, and by their respectful petition have prayed this Assembly 
to grant to them a charter of incorporation, with such privileges and under 
such restrictions and limitations as this Assembly should think proper: 
Therefore, 

Be it enacted hy the General Assembly as foUnics : 

Skction 1. That Almon D. Hodges, George W. Hallett, Samuel G. Ar- 
nold, William W. Hoppin, John Giles, Moses B. Ives, John A. Wadsworth, 
and Thomas J. Stead, together with such others as are now or may hereaf- 
ter be associated with them, not exceeding the number of two hundred, ex- 
clusive ot officers, be, and they are hereby declared to be, a military com- 
pany in the second brigade of Rhode Island mihtia, by the name of the 
Providence Horse Guards, and by that name shall have perpetual succes- 
sion, and shall have and enjoy all rights, powers, and privileges, in this 
grant hereafter mentioned. 

Sec. 2. It is granted unto this company that they, or the greater part of 
them, shall and niay, once in every year— that is to say, on the third Mon- 
day of April — meet together in some convenient place by them appointed, 
then and there to choose their own officers, to wit: one captam, four 
lieutenants, one adjutant with the rank of lieutenant, and all other officers 
necessary for the training, disciplining, and well-ordering the affairs of said 
company; at which election, no officer shall be elected except by a major- 
ity of the votes of those present. The captain, lieutenants, and adjutant to 
be subject to the approval of the governor and senate for the time being, 
and to be commissioned by the governor under the seal of the State, and to 
be duly engaged like the officers of the militia. 

Si<:c. 3. The said company shall have liberty to meet and exercise them- 
selvt;s on such days and as often as they shall think proper ; but shall be 
obliged to meet four times in every year, for drilling, training, and field 
duty, upon the penalty of paying to and for the use of said company the 
following fines, to wit: the captain, lieutenants, and adjutant, each six dol- 
lars; the non-commissioned officers and privates, each, three dollars for 
every day's neglect; to be levied by warrants of distress directed to the ad- 



828 Rep. No. 546. 

* 

jutant from the captain or other commanding officer of said company for 
the time being-. 

Skc. 4. The said compaHy, or a majority of its members, shall have 
power from time to time lo make snch by-laws and regulations as they 
shall deem necessary, consistent with this grant ; and to impose, lor the use 
of said company, such fines and forfeitures upon its members, for the breach 
of any or all of such by laws and regulations as they shall deem proper, so 
that the fine or forfeiture shall not exceed six dollars lor any one offence ; 
and shall also have free power to levy such fines and forfeitures as may 
accrue as aforesaid, by warrants of distress directed to the adjutant from 
the commanding officer for the time being. 

Sec. 5. All members of said company, so long as they shall continue 
regularly enrolled, shall be exempted from bearing arms or doing military 
duty in the several companies or training bands in whose districts they may 
severally belong. 

Sec. 6. In case of the disapproval by the governor and senate of any 
commissioned officer or officers, or of his or their removal from the city of 
Providence, or of his or their death, or of his or their disability to hold said 
office or offices from any cause, the captain of said company, or the officer 
highest in rank for the time being, shall assemble said company as soon as 
convenient after said incapacity of such officer or officers is made known, 
for the purpose of electing another or others to supply the vacancy or va- 
cancies caused by the incapacity as aforesaid, in the manner hereinbefore 
described for the election of officers. 

Sec. 7. The captain legally elected of said company, is hereby fully em- 
powered, by warrant or commission under his hand and seal, to authorize 
all officers who shall be duly elected by said company, below the rank of 
adjutant, to act in the rank or station to which they shall be respectively 
elected. 

Sec. 8. This charter shall be forever subject to all future acts of this 
General Assembly in amendment or repeal thereof, or in anywise affecting 
the same. 

Sec. 9. Almon D. Hodges shall be captain ; George W. Hallett, first 
lieutenant; Samuel G. Arnold, second lieutenant; William Warner Hop- 
pin, third lieutenant; John Giles, fourth lieutenant; John A. Wadsworth, 
adjutant, until the next election. 

Sec. 10. Whenever said company shall be reduced to less than thirty 
members, this act shall become null and void. 

Whereas the preservation of this State from foreign foes in time of war, 
and from bad men and traitors in time of peace, depends, under Divine 
protection, upon the patriotism and military skill of its inhabitants ; and 
whereas a number of the citizens of the town of North Kingstown, viz: 
George B. Thomas, John R. Greene, George C. Sandford, and others, have 
petitioned this General Assembly, setting forth that they have formed them- 
selves into a military body, and prayed this General Assembly to grant 
them a charter of it] corporation : 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follotos : 

Section I. The said petitioners, and such others as may be hereafter 
added unto them, not exceeding eighty men, exclusive of commissioned 
officers, are hereby made a body corporate and politic, by the name of the 



Rep. No. 546. 829 

Wickford Pioneers ; and by that name shall and may have a common seal 
and perpetual succession, and shall and may have and enjoy all the rights, 
powers, and privileges hereinafter mentioned. 

F'irsi. It is granted unto said company, that they, or the greater number 
of them, shall and may once in every year — that is to say, on the first Mon- 
day of April — meet and assemble themselves together in some phice by them 
appointed, within the town of North Kingstown, then and there to choose 
their officers, to wit : one captain, three lieutenants, and one ensign, and 
such non commissioned officers as shall be necessary for the training, disci- 
plining, and well orderingof said company; at which election, no officer shall 
be chosen but by the greater number of votes then present : the captain, 
lieutenants, and ensign, to be a[)proved of by the governor and senate, and 
to be commissioned and engaged in the same manner as other militia offi- 
cers in this State. 

Seco7id. Said company shall be obliged to meet for exercise at least four 
times in every year — to wit, on the first Monday of April, the first Monday 
in June, the first Monday in Aujjust*, and the last Monday in September — 
with the power to substitute, by vote, the fourth day of July and the first 
Monday of October, for the first Monday in June and the last Monday in 
September, upon the penalty of paying to and for the use of the comj)any 
the following fines : the captain, (or each day's neglect, eight dollars ; the 
lieutenants and ensign, each, six dollars ; and the non commissioned officers 
and privates, each, four dollars; to be collected in the manner prescribed by 
law for collecting fines in other militia companies ; and shall have liberty 
to meet and exercise upon such other days, and as often as their command- 
ing officer shall, in his discretion, deem necessary. Said company shall be 
attached to the third brigade of militia. 

Third. The said company, or greater part of them, shall have power to 
make such rules, by laws, and ordinances among themselves, as they shall 
think necessary to promote the design of their establishment ; and to lay 
such fines and forfeitures upon any of their own company, for the breach 
of any such rules, by-laws, and orders, and for non eqinpment or non- 
attendance at any regular meeting of said company, when duly warned, so 
as the same do not exceed six dollars for any one offence; and they shall 
also have full power to levy fines and forfeitures they shall so impose, by 
warrant of distress from the captain, or other superior officer for the time 
being, directed to the sherift', his deputy, or either of the town sergeants or 
constables in the county of Washington; which warrant shall be served, 
executed, and returned in like manner as is by law provided for the serving, 
executing, and returning of warrants for the collection of military fines. 

Fourth. All members of said company, so long as they shall continue 
therein, shall be exempted from bearino- arms, or doing military duty in the 
several train-bands or companies in the districts in which they respectively 
live. 

Fifth. If- any commissioned officer or officers of said company shall be 
disapproved of by the governor and senate, or shall remove out of the 
limits of the county of Washington, or shall resign, or decease, then, and 
in either of those cases, the captain of said company, or other superior offi- 
cer for the time being, shall, by warrant, call a special meeting of said com- 
pany as soon as conveniently may be, in order to choose another or others 
in the place of such officer or officers so incapacitated to serve, as aforesaid, 
in manner hereinbefore directed for the election of officers of said company. 



830 Rep. No. 546. 

Sec. 2. When the said company shall be less than tvveJ3ty-five members, 
including officers, this act of incorporation shall be null and void, and the 
said company extinct. 

Sec. 3. The following gentlemen are appointed the officers of said com- 
pany, to hold their respective offices until the first Monday of April next, and 
that they be commissioned accordingly, viz : George B. Thomas, captain j 
John R. Greene, first lieutenant; George C. Sanlbrd, second lieutenant; 
William Sanford, third lieutenant ; and George W. Reynolds, ensign. 

Sec. 4. This charter shall be hereafter subject to all acts of the General 
Assembly, either in amendment or repeal thereof. 



AN ACT lo incorporate ihe Manville Light Infantry. 

Be it enucttd by the General Assembly as follows: 

Section 1. Daniel Hale, Stephen P. Irwin, Asa Dodge, Moses B. Almy, 
Samuel F. Man, all of Smithfield and Cumberland, in the county of Prov- 
idence, their associates, and such others as may hereafter be added unto 
them, not less than twenty five, nor more than one hundred men, are here- 
by created and made a body politic and corporate, by the name of the Man- 
ville Light Infantry in the second brigade of militia ; and by that name shall 
and may have a common seal and perpetual succession, and shall and may 
enjoy all the rights, powers, and privileges hereinafter mentioned. 

Sec. 2. Said company, or the greater number of them, shall, once in 
every year — that is to say, on the third Monday in April, annually— meet 
and assemble together in some place by them appointed, then and there to 
choose officers, to wit : one captain, three lieutenants, one quartermaster and 
commissary, who shall rank as lieutenant, one clerk, who shall also rank 
as lieutenant, and also such non-commissioned officers as shall be neces- 
sary for the training, disciplining, and well-ordering said company. At such 
meetings, no officer shall be chosen except by a majority of the votes then 
present; and the captain, lieutenants, quartermaster and commissary, so as 
aforesaid chosen, if approved by the governor and senate for the time being, 
shall be commissioned and engaged in the same manner as the militia offi- 
cers in this State : Provided^ That nothing herein contained shall be con- 
strued to exempt any officer from military duty, unless he shall have actu- 
ally served as a commissioned officer for the term of five years. 

Sec. 3. Said company shall be obliged to meet at such times as the mili- 
tia of the State may be required to meet by law for military exercise; and 
that for neglectins: to equip according to law provided for the militia, or the 
by-laws of said company, refusal to obey any lawful order, or for unoffi- 
cer-like or unsoldier like conduct, the officers and privates of said company 
shall be subject to the same fines and penalties, to be collected and enforced 
in the same manner, as may be provided by the militia law of this State for 
the time being. 

Sec. 4. The said company, or the greater number ot them, shall have 
power to make such rules and by-laws for said company as they shall deem 
necessary, and shall not be repugnant to law, for the promotion of their 
object; and to impose such tines and forfeitures for the breach thereof, as 
they shall think proper: Provided, That no fine, for any one offence, shall 
exceed the sum of five dollars ; and said company shall have full power to 



Rep. No. 546. 831 

levy and collect the fines they shall so impose, by a warrant of distress from 
the captain or other superior officer of said company for tlie time being, di- 
rected to the clerk or either of the sergeants of said company. 

Sec. 5. All the members of said company, so long as they shall remain 
such, shall be exempted from bearing arms or doing military duty in the 
several companies or train-bands within this State. 

Sec. 6. If any officer or officers of said company shall be disapproved of 
by the governor and senate, or if any one shall remove out of the limits of this 
State, or shall resign or decease, or his place become otherwise vacant, then, 
and in either of those cases, the captain of said company, or other superior 
officer for the time being, shall, by warrant, call a special meeting of said 
company as soon as conveniently may be, in order to choose another or 
other officers in the stead of those whose places have thus become vacant; 
said warrant to be served by some member of the company, by reading the 
same to the members of said company, or by leaving a copy of the same at 
their last and usual abode, at least four days before the time of sucli special 
meeting. 

Sec.^7. This act shall be forever subject to all future acts of the General 
Assembly, either in amendment or repeal thereof, or in anywise affecting 
the same. 

Sec. 8. Daniel Hale shall be captain ; Asa Dodge, first lieutenant ; Ste- 
phen P. Irwin, second lieutenant ; Moses B. Almy, third lieutenant; Saml. 
F. Man, quartermaster and commissary ; Joseph H. Streeter, clerk of said 
company, until the next election, and commissioned accordingly. 



AN ACT establishing a military company by the name of the Rhode Island Guards. 

Whereas the preservation of the United States depends in time of war, 
under God, upon the military skill and discipline of the inhabitants; and 
whereas a number of them in the towns of Warwick, Coventry, and Cran- 
ston, and counties of Kent and Providence, have mutually agreed, for the 
public good, to form themselves into a company by the name of the Rhode 
Island Guards; and by their respectful petition prayed this Assembly to 
grant to them a charter of incorporation, with such privileges, and under 
such restrictions and limitations as this Assembly should think proper: 
wherefore this Assembly, in order to give all due encouragement to so laud- 
able a design, and so noble a disposition, have ordained, constituted, and 
granted, and by these presents do ordain, constitute, and grant, that John 
C. Harris, Philip Greene, David Pike, Sierry B. Fenner, Daniel G. Chase, 
John B. Brayton, Cyrus Harris, (S. W.) together with such others as have 
already joined them, or shall hereafter be added to them, not exceeding the 
number of one hundred, exclusive of officers, be, and they are hereby, de- 
clared to be, a military company in the fourth brigade of militia, by the 
name of the Rhode Island Guards; and by that name shall have perpetual 
succession, and shall have and enjoy all rights, powers, and privileges in 
this grant hereafter mentioned. 

First. It is granted unto this company that they, or the greater number 
of them, shall and may once in every year— that is to say, oti the third Mon- 
day in April — meet and assemble themselves together in some convenient 
place by them appointed, and then and there to choose their officers, to wit : 



832 Rep. No. 546. 

one captain, four lieutenants, one quartermaster, and all other officers neces- 
sary lor the training, disciphning, and well oriering the affairs of said com- 
pany ; at which election, no officer shall be chosen but by the greater num- 
ber of votes then present. The capiain, lieutenants, and quartermaster, to be 
approved of by the governor and senate for the time being ; and to be 
commissioned by the governor, under the seal of the State, and duly en- 
gaged like the officers of the militia. 

Secondly. The said company shall have liberty to meet and exercise 
themselves on such days and as often as they shall think proper ; but shall 
be obliged to meet four times in every year for drilling, training, and field 
duty, upon penalty of paying to and for the use of said company the follow- 
ing fines, to wit: the captain, lieutenants, and quartermaster, each six dol- 
lars; the non-commissioned officers and privates, each two dollars for every 
day's neglect ; to be levied by warrant of distress directed to the quarter- 
master, from the captain or other commanding officer of said company for 
the time being. 

TUirdiy. The said company, or the greater part of them, shall liave 
power to make such rules and orders among themselves as they shall think 
necessary to promote the end of their establishment, but which shall be 
consistent with this grant; and to lay such fines and forfeitures upon any 
of their own company for the breach of any such rules and orders as they 
shall think proper, so that the same shall not exceed six dollars for any one 
offence ; and shall have full power to levy the same as aforesaid, by war- 
rant of distress directed to the quarterrHaster, from the commanding officer 
for the time being. 

Fourthly. All those who shall be duly enrolled in said company, so long 
as they shall continue therein, shall be exempted from bearing arms or do- 
ing military duty (watching and warding excepted) in the several compa- 
nies or train bands in whose district they respectively belong. 

Fifthly. If any comiiiissioned officer or officers shall be disapproved 
of by the governor and senate, or shall remove out of the counties of Kent 
and Providence, or shall die or resign, in either of those cases the captain of 
said company, or some commissioned officer for the time being, shall call 
said company together as soon as conveniently may be, and choose another, 
or others, in place of such officer or officers so incapacitated to serve as 
aforesaid, in the manner hereinbefore directed for the election of officers of 
said company. 

Sixthly. It is further granted, that the captain of said company shall 
have full power, by warrant or commission under his hand and seal, to au- 
thorize all officers who shall be duly elected by said company under the 
rank of quartermaster, to act in the rank or station to which they shall be 
respectively elected. 

Seventhly. It is further granted, that the officers of the said company, 
when called into actual service with the militia, shall take rank according 
to their commissions. 

Eighthly. This charter shall be forever subject to all future acts of 
this General Assembly in amendment or repeal thereof, or in anywise af- 
fecting the same. 

Ninthly. The officers now in commission in said company shall con- 
tinue as such until the next annual meeting. 



Rep. No. 546. 833 

Upon the petiiion of the committee on buildins: an armory in the town 
of Warren, for the Warren Artillery, praying for further appropriation of 
ei'Jihl hiiudred dollars for completing said armory — 

^Voted and resolved, That the prayer thereof be granted ; and that the 
?nm of eight hundred dollars is hereby appropriated tor that purpose, under 
the direction of Alfred Bosworth and Samuel Pearce, who are authorized 
to draw on the general treasurer for that sum; and it is hereby declared 
that said armory, when erected, shall be and remain personal property : 
Provided, That' if said company is ever dissolved, the State shall be enti- 
tled to an equitable proportion of the value or proceeds of the armory cor- 
responding to the amount contributed, and that the sum hereby allowed be 
paid in six months from the date hereof. 

Resolved, That the artillery company of the town of Newport be author- 
ized to draw on the general treasury for seven hundred dollars, to enable 
said company to pay off the debt incurred by them in building their armory. 



No. 236. 



Laivs relating to the riiiUtary, passed by the General Assembly, January 

session, 1843. 

AN ACT to incorporaie ihe company of Johnston Guards, in the fourteenth regiment of 

militia. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly asfoUoivs: 

Section I. George B. Randall, Maxon M.Ross, Zachariah French, Or- 
ren Li. Brown, their associates, and such others as may hereafter be added 
unto them, not exceeding one hundred men exclusive of officers, are here- 
by created and made a body politic and corporate by the name of the 
Jiilaislofi Guards, in the fourteenth regiment of militia ; and by that name 
shall and may have a common seal and perpetual succession, and shall 
enjoy all the rights, powers, and privileges hereinafter mentioned. 

Skc. 2. Said company, or the greater number of them, shall and may 
once in every year — that is to say, on the third Monday in April — meet 
and assemble together in some place by them appointed, then and there to 
choose their officers, to wit : one captain, three lieutenants, and one quar- 
termaster, and also such non commissioned officers as shall be necessary 
for the training, disciplining, and well-ordering of said company. At such 
meeting, no officer shall be chosen except by a majority of the votes pres- 
ent ; and the captain, lieutenants, and quartermaster so chosen, shall be 
approved by the governor and senate for the time being, and shall be com- 
missioned by the governor imder the seal of the State, and be duly engaged 
like the other officers of the militia. 

• Sec. 3. Said company shall have liberty to meet and exercise them- 
selves on such days and so often as they shall think proper, but shall meet 
four times in each year for training, drilling, and military duty; and, for 
neglecting to appear at such meetiiiLrs, neo;lecting to equip, refusal to obey 
any lawful order, or for nnofficer like or unsoldier like conduct, the officers, 
non-commissioned officers, ai;d privates of said company shall be subject; 
53 



834 Rep. No. 546. 

to the same fines and penalties, to be collected and enforced in the same 
manner as by the militia laws of this State for the time being ; siiid fines to 
be to and for the nse of said company. 

Sec. 4. Said company, or the greater part of (hem, shall have power to 
make such rules and by-laws, not inconsistent with this act or tiie laws of 
the State, as they may deem proper for the good of the company ; and to 
impose such fines and forfeitures for the breach thereof, as they shall deem 
proper, so that the same sliall not exceed five dollars for any one ofience ; 
and all fines and forfeitures shall be collected in the manner prescribed by 
law for collecting fines in the militia. 

Sec. 5. If any commissioned officer or officers of said company shall 
be disapproved by the governor and senate, or shall remove out of the 
county of Providence, or shall resign, or his or their place or places become, 
otherwise vacant, in either of these cases, the captain of said company, or 
other superior ofiicer for the time being, shall, by warrant, call a special 
meeting of said company, as soon as conveniently may be, to choose an- 
other or other officers to fill the place or places which have become vacant 
in the manner before directed ; said warrant to be served by some member 
of the company, by reading the same to the members thereof, or by leaving 
a copy of the same at their usual place of abode, at least four days before 
the time of such special meeting. 

Sec. 6. All the members of said company, so long as they continue 
such, shall be exempted from bearing arms or doing military duty in the 
several coujpanies in the districts in which they respectively live. 

Sec. 7. The captain of said company shall have full power and au- 
thority, by warrant or commission under his hand and sea!, to authorize 
all officers which shall be duly elected by said company, under the rank of 
quartermaster, to act in the rank or station to which they shall be respec- 
tively elected. 

Sec. 8. The officers of said company shall take rank in the regiment 
according to their commissions. 

Sec. 9. If any action or suit shall be commenced for any matter or 
thing done by virtue of this act, the defendant may plead the general issue, 
and give this act in evidence. 

Sec. 10. Whenever the said company shall be reduced to less than 
thirty members, excluding officers, this act shall become null and void. 

Sec. 1 1. The following named members are hereby appointed the 
officers of said company, to hold their respective offices until the first annual 
election, and to be commissioned accordingly, viz : Joseph S. Lockwood, 
captain; Benjamin A. Harris, first lieutenant; Orren L. Brown, second 
lieutenant ; George B. Randall, third lieutenant ; Caleb A. Harris, quarter- 
master. 

Sec. 12. This act shall forever be subject to all future acts of this Gen- 
eral Assembly in amendment or repeal thereof, or in anywise affecting the 
same. 



AN ACT establishing a compan}'' of cavalry by the name of the " Rhode Island Horse 
Guards," in the island of Rhode Island. 

Whereas the efficiency of infontry is greatly increased by the co-opera- 
tion of horsemen ; and whereas a number of the mhabitantsof the island of 
Rhode Island being deeply impressed with the necessity of sucli an addi- 



Rep. No. 546. 835 

tion to the present militia of the State, have mutually agreed to form them- 
selves into a company by the name of the Rhode Island Horse Guards^ in 
the island of Rliode Island, and, hy their respectful petition, have prayed 
the Assembly to grant to them a cliarter of incorporation, with such privi- 
leges, and underl:nch restrictions and limitations, as this Assembly should 
Ihink proper: therefore. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows : 

Section I. That Thomas G. Rogers, J. H. Gilliaf, Nathaniel Greene, 
T. C. Dunn, Joseph I. Bailey, John Vars, Seth Bateman, Joseph Thomas, 
Borden Chase, Thomas T. Sheffield, together with such others as now an; 
or may hereafter be associated with them, not exceeding the number of two 
hundred, exclusive of officers, be, and they are hereby declared to be, a 
military company in the first brigade of Rhode Island militia, by (he name 
ot the Rhode Island Horse Guards, and by that name shall have perpetual 
succession, and shall have and enjoy all rights, powers, and privileges in 
their grant hereafter mentioned. 

Sec. 2. It is granted unto this company that they, or the greater part of 
them, shall and may, once in every year — that is to say, on the third Mon- 
day of April — meet together m some convenient place by them appointed, 
then and there to choose their own officers, to wit : one captain, four lieu- 
tenants, one adjutant v^nth the rank of lieutenant, and all other officers neces- 
sary for the training, disciplining, and well ordering the affairs of said 
•company; at which election no officer shall be elected, except by a major- 
ity of the voles of those present. The captain, lieutenants, and adjutant, 
to be subject to the approval of tlie governor and 'senate for the time be- 
ing, and to be commissioned by the governor under the seal of the State, 
and to be duly engaged like the officers of the militia. 

Sec. 3. The said company shall have liberty to meet and exercise them- 
selves on such days and as often as they shall think proper, but shall Ik^ 
obliged to meet four times in every year for drilling, training, and field duty, 
upon the penalty of paying to and for the use of said company the follow- 
ing fines, to wit: the captain, six dollars; the lieutenants and adjutant, 
each four dollars ; the non commissioned officers and privates, each three 
dollars, for every day's neglect; to he levied by warrants of distress di- 
rected to the adjutant from the captain, or other commanding officer of 
said company for the time being. 

Sec. 4. The said company, or a majority of its members, shall have 
power from time to time to make such by laws and regulations as they shall 
deem necessary, consistent with this grant ; and to impose, for the use of said 
company, such fines and forfeitures upon its members, for the breach of any 
or all of such bylaws and regulations, as they shall deem proper, so that 
the fine or forfeiture shall not exceed six dollars for any one offence ; and 
shall also have free power to levy such fines and forfeiiures as may accrue 
as aforesaid, by warrants of distress directed to the adjutant from the com- 
manding officer for the time being. 

Sec. 5. All members of said company, so long as they shall continue 
regularly enrolled, shall be exempted from bearing arms or doing military 
duty ill the several companies or training bands in whose districts they 
may severally belong. 

Sec. (3. In case of the disapproval hy the governor and senate of any 
commissioned officer or officers, or of his or their removal from the island 



836 Rep. No. 546. 

of Rhode Island, or of his or their death, or of his or their disability to 
hold said office or offices from any cause, the captain of said company, or 
the officer highest in rank for the time being, shall assemble said company, 
as soon as convenient after said incapacity o1 such officer or officers is made 
known, for the purpose of electing another or others to supply the vacancy 
or vacancies caused by the incapacity as aforesaid, in the manner herein- 
before described for the election of officers. 

Sec. 7. The captain legally elected of said company is hereby fully em- 
pov/ered, by warrant or commission under his hand or seal, to authorize all 
officers who shall be duly elected by said company, below the rank of ad- 
jutant, to act in the rank or station to which they shall be respectively 
elected. 

Sec. 8. This charter shall be forever subject to all future acts of this 
General Assembly in amendment or repeal thereof, or in anywise affecting 
the same. 

Resolved, That the quartermaster general be a committee to furnish new 
carriages for the brass cannon of the Bristol train of artillery, and that he 
draw on the general treasurer for the expenses of the same. 



No. 237. 



First twenty-Jive sections of the existing militia law of Rhode Island, passed 

Jmie session, 1 843. 

AN ACT to regulate the militia. 
It is enacted by the Getieral Assembly as follows : 

Of the enrolled militia. 

Section 1. Every able-bodied white male citizen in this State, who is 
or who shall be of the age of eighteen years, and not exceeding the age of 
forty-five years, excepting persons absolutely exempted by the provisions of 
this act, and idiots, lunatics, common drunkards, paupers, vagabonds, and 
persons convicted of any infamous crime, shall be enrolled in the militia as 
hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 2. In addition to the persons exempted from military duty by the act 
of Congress, there shall also be exempted from the performance of such 
duty the following persons, to wit : All persons who have holden the office 
of governor or lieutenant governor; all persons who, after the last day of 
February, A. D. 1796, shall have holden any military commission or com- 
missions, or staff office, with the rank of an officer of the line, for the space 
of five years successively, and who shall have been engaged thereon accord- 
ing to law, and been honorably discharged ; and also all persons who shall 
have holden any such military commission or commissions, or staff office 
aforesaid, for a less term than five years, and who have been superseded 
without their consent. 

Sec. 3. -Persons of the following descriptions, as long as they shall re- 
main of said descriptions, shall be exempted from the performance of mili- 
tary duty, to wit : the justices and clerks of the supreme judicial court, the 
justices and clerks of the courts of common pleas, the secretary of state, the 



Rep. No. 546. 837 

fittorney general, \he general treasurer, the sheriff of each county, one ferry- 
man at each stated ferry, who usually navigates the boat, the keepers ot 
light-houses within this State, all settled or ordained ministers of the gos- 
pel, the president, professors, tutors, students, and steward of Brown Uni- 
versity, the town councils of the several towns, the mayor and aldermen of 
the city of Providence, town and city treasurers, town and city clerks, prac- 
tising physicians, practising surgeons, (not including the pupils of either,) 
precep'ors and ushers of academies and schools, and engine men : and pro- 
vided that no engine shall have more than twenty men, imless otherwise 
provided by special enactment ; the members of fire hook and ladder com- 
panies, and chartered fire hose companies ; all persons belonging to the So- 
ciety of Friends, commonly called (Quakers ; and the inhabitants of the towns 
of New Shoreham and Jamestown, and of the island of Prudence, and such 
others as shall make oath or affirmation that they are conscientiously scru- 
pulous against bearing arms ; vvliich fact shall appear to the commanding 
officer by certificate of the n)agiytrate before whom said oath or affirmation 
was given. _ 

Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the assessors of taxes in each town in this 
State, and of the city of Providence, annually to prepare a list or roll of all 
persons liable to be enrolled in the militia, as provided in the first section, 
together with all persons liable to do duty in case of invasion, insurrection, 
riot, and tumult, living wiihin their respective limits, whether such persons 
be or be not attached to any chartered or regimental comi»anies; and to 
place the same in the hands of the town clerk of such town, and of the said 
city of Providence ; and it shall be the duty of every such clerk to record 
such list or roll of names in a proper book of record, to be kept for that pur- 
pose in every town in this State, and in the city of Providence. Annual 
returns of the militia, thus enrolled, shall be transmitted to the adjutant 
general in the month of October in each and every year, by the clerks 
aforesaid, and by him to the President of the United States. It shall also 
be the duty of said assessors to assess upon the persons liable to be etirolled 
in the militia as aforesaid, except in the towns of New Shoreham and James- 
town, and that portion of the town of Portsmouth forming the island of Pru- 
dence, a tax of fit"iy cents each, ammally, distinguishing said tax in their as- 
sessment as a tax in conmiutation of military duty, which tax shall be col- 
lected with the State taxes, on property of said person, if any, and if none, 
then with the town taxes, if any, in the same manner as by law is provided 
for the collection of State and town taxes ; and if no property tax be assessed 
against him, then this tax shall he collected in manner aforesaid by itself. 
The several collectors of taxes shall be entitled to retain five per cent, of 
the amount of this tax so by them collected, in fiiU compensation for their 
services for collection ; and they are hereby required to keep by itself this 
tax iissessed and collected for militia duty, and to pay over the same to the 
general treasurer on or before the first day of J.muary in each year. No 
such tax shall be collected of any person who holds a military commission, 
or who shall produce a certificate from the commanding officer of a regi- 
mental company that he has been enrolled and done duty therein according 
to law for at least one day within a year preceding the assessment of said 
tax, or who, whether as a commissioned officer, non commissioned officer, 
or private, has, within the ter.ns of tliis act, been superseded or honorably 
discharged. 

Sec. 5. Every keeper of a tavern or boarding-house, and every master or 



838 Rep. No. 546. 

mistress of a fimily or dwelliiiff-honse, shall, npon application of the asses- 
sors of taxes of the town or city williin whicli such tavern or house is situ- . 
ated, or on application of any person acting under the direction and author- 
iiy of such assessors, give inlormation of the names of all persons residing" 
in such tavern or house liable to enrollment, or to do military duly. 

Sec. 6. If any non-commissioned officer or private shall become a pauper, 
vagabond, or common drunkard, or be convicted of any infamous crime, he 
shall be forthwith disenrolled from the militia. 

Of the active militia. 

Sec. 7. The active militia of this State shall consist and be composed of ; 
tlie several chartered corps now existing, who shall, within sixty days after 
the pass;ige of this act, voluntarily accept by vote the provisions of this act^ 
and communicate the same to the adjutant geuera!,, 'which acceptance shall i 
be irrevocable,) and of all military companies which may be hereafter char- j 
tered. Said companies shall be drilled and disciplined as battalions as well 
as conf^anies, and as the peace establishment of the State, and as nurseries 
of officers, shall be called regimental companies, or reduced regiments. The 
active militia shall, in all cases, be first ordered into service in case of war 
or invasion, or to prevent invasion, or to suppress insurrection, rioi, or tu- 
Uiult, or to aid civil officers in the execution of the laws of the State. 

Sec. 8. Whenever forty men shall have enrolled themselves as a corps of 
artillery or infantry, or thirty two men as a corps of cavalry, and have been 
nuiformed as hereinafter required, and it shall be made to appear to the 
General Assembly that they are desirous to serve the State as a portion of 
tiie military force thereof, they shall be entitled to a charter in conformiiy 
with the system by this act established : Provided, hojoever, That the num- 
boir of such companies shall not exceed thirty ; and that hereafter tfiey shall 
be formed in the proportio i of one regimental company to five hundred en- 
rolled militia in t!ie several towns or districts where such companies may 
1)6 located, including in such proportion the existing companies: And pro- 
vided, further, That every f^ucli regimental coiDpany may admit members to 
tlie number of five hundred, anything in the charters of said companies ta 
the confrory notwithstanding. 

Sec 9. Whenever any corps of the active militia hereafter chartered shall 
at any time be destitute of commissioned officers, and, having been twice or- 
•li^red to fill vacancies, shall neglect or refuse to fill them, or shall be reduced 
ro a less number than twenty privates in a corps of cavalry, or thirty in a 
'orps of inffintry or artillery, and remain so reduced for three months, such 
corps may be disbanded by the General Assembly. 

Organization. 

Sec. 10. The whole militia of this State shall be arranged in one divis- 
ion : the militia of the county of Newport shall form the first brigade ; the 
militia of the county of Providence the second ; the militia of the county 
of Washington tiie third ; the militia of the county of Kent the fourth ; and 
the militia of the county of Bristol the fifih brigade. 

Sec. U. The brigades shall consist of the several regimental companies 
or reduced reaiments, in their respective limits, n^w existing or hereafter to 
be raised. The said regimental companies or regiments shall be numbered 



Kep. No. 546. 889 

through tlie division, according to the dates of tlieir respective charters. In 
compensation for their services, every member of the active mihiia who shall 
be returned to tlie general treasurer, as hereinafter provided, as having done 
military duty four limes in the year next preceding the return in any regi- 
mental company in this State, sh ill be entuled to an equal proportional part 
of the tax (or militia duty, collected and paid into the general treasury as afore- 
said, not exceeding the sum of five dollars a year to each man. In the njonth 
of January of each year, the general treasurer shall apportion the sum re- 
ceived as a tax for militia duty, as aforesaid, amongst the active militia, and 
issue certificates to the members of the several regimental companies re- 
turned aS hereinafter provided, payable to their individual order, for their 
proportional part of the whole amount of s;iid tax by him received, not ex- 
ceeding five dollars per man, as aforesaid : Provided^ howijve)\ The members 
of no existing chartered company of this State, who shall not accept the 
provisions of this act and conform thereto, shall be entitled to receive the 
compensation aforesaid, 

St:c. 12. Every non-commissioned officer and soldier of any regimental 
company, who shall have done duty therein according to law fbrijie term 
ol seven years from the time of his enlistment, and shall have received an 
honorable discharge, shall not be compelled to do duly in the militia, ex- 
cept in time of war or invasion, or to prevent an invasion, or of insur- 
rection, riot, or tumult. Such discharge, upon the completion of the term 
of service a orcsaid, shall be given by the commanding otiicer of the brigade, 
upon the application of the commanding officer of the regiuiental company 
to which such private or non-commissioned officer may belong. 

How officered. 

Sec. 13. The officers and non commissioned officers of the militia shall 
be as follows, to wit : The governor for the time being shall be captain 
general and coinmander in chief; and he shall command, except u'hen the 
militia shall be called into the service of the United States; and he shall 
be entitled to appoint his own aids, with the rank of colonel. There shall 
be one major general, two aids of the major general with the rank of major, 
and a military secretary with the rank of captain ; one division inspector 
with the rank of lieutenant colonel ; one adjutant general with the rank of 
brigadier general ; one quartermaster general with the rank of brigadier 
general ; tiie adjutant general and the quartermaster general, with the assent 
of the commander in-cliief, to appoint a sulficient number of assistants with 
the rank of captain ; one commissary general with the rank of colonel ; one 
paymaster general with the rank of colonel ; one surgeon general, to appoint, 
witli the assent of the commander in chief, a sufficient number of assistants; 
one purveyor general of hospitals. To each brigade there shall be one 
brigadier general ; one aid, wuh the rank of captain ; one brigade inspector, 
who is also to serve as brigade major, with the rank of major ; one brigade 
qufutermaster, with the rank of captain. To each regimental company or 
regiment there shall be one colonel, one lieutenant colonel, one major, one 
adjutant with the rank of captain, one quartermaster, one paymaster, (the 
quartermaster and paymaster each with tlie rank of lieutenant,) one surgeon, 
one chaplain, one sergeant major and one sergeant quartermaster, one drum 
major, and one fife major, and the necessary number of non commissioned 
officers. In time of war or insurrection, when new levies are drauuhted into 



840 Rep. No. 546. 

said regimental companies or regiments, as hereinafter provided, to each 
company of infantry, light infantry, and riflemen, there shall be one caprain, 
one first lientenant, one second lieutenant, and one third lieutenant, five 
sergeants, and four corporals: to each company of artillery ihtre shall be 
one captain, one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, and one third lieu- 
tenant, five sergeants, four corporals, and three drivers; to each company 
of cavalry there shall be one captain, one first lieuteiiant, one second lieu- 
tenant, one tliird lieutenant, five sergeants, four corporals, one saddler, one 
farrier, and one or more trumpeters. 

Sec. 14. Whenever the office of major general, brigadier general, colonel, 
lieutenant colonel, major commandant, or captain, shall be vacant* or such 
officer be sick or absent, the officer next in rank shall command the division, 
brigade, regiment, battalion, or company, as the case may be. until the 
vacancy be supplied; and whenever the office of adjutant general and 
quartermaster general shall be vacant, the duties thereof shall be performed 
by the senior assistant adjutant and senior assistant quartermaster general, 
until the same be filled. 

Sec. t<j. Whenever a company belonging to a regiment or regimental 
company, filled up by draughts or levies, shall have neither commissioned nor 
non-commissioned officers, the commanding officer of the regiment to vvhicli 
such cotnpany belongs shall appoint suitable persons of said company ta 
be non commissioned officers ot the same ; and the senior non commis- 
sioned officer of a company without officers shall command tlie same, ex- 
cept upon parade, and except as provided in the following section. 

Sec. 16. Whenever any such company shall, from any cause, be with- 
out officers, the commanding officer of the regiment to which sifch company 
belongs may detail some officer of the staff, or of the line of the regiment, 
to train and discipline said conipany, until some officer shall be elected, or 
appointed by the commander in chief, as provided in the nineteenth section ; 
and sucli officer, so detailed, shall have the same power and authority, and 
l)e subject to the same liabilities, as if he were captain in said company, and 
he shall keep the records of the company. 

Of elections and appointments of commissioned and ?ton comniissioned 

officers. 

Sec. 17. The officers of the line and general staff of the inilitia shall be 
elected as follows, to wit: division inspector, adjutant general, quarter- 
master general, commissi ry general, paymaster general, surgeon general, 
purveyor general of hospitals, by tlie General Assembly ; the officers of 
regimental companies, as by their charier is or may be provided ; brigadier 
general, upon the nominations of the colonels, lieutenant colonels, and 
majors of their respective brigades, by the General Assembly; the major 
general, upon the nomination of the several brigadier generals, by the Gen- 
eral Assembly; brigade inspectors and briijade quartermasters by the. Gen- 
erid Assembly, upon the nomination of their respective brigade generals; or 
if there be no such nominations, or improper nominations, the above ofllces 
shall be filled by the General Assembly; aids to the comninnder-in chief 
shall be appointed by the commander-in chief; aids and milit.-iry secretary 
of the major general, by the major general ; aids to the brigadier generals, 
by the respective brigadier generals; adjutants, paymasters, quiirtermasters, 
and chaplains of regiments, by the respective colonels; surgeons and as- 



Rep. No. 546. 841 

sisfant suro;eons of regiments, by the respective colonels, with the approval 
of the surgeon genernl : Provided, however, 'V\\ixt tlie General Assembly 
shall, lor the year 1843, elect the major general and the brigadier generals, 
who shall hold their commissions imtil the first Tuesday of May, 1844, and 
until their successors are qualified to act: And provided furt/ier. That thn 
commander-in-chief shall issue commissions, agreeably to the provisions of 
this act, to all the officers of such chartered companies now existing, who 
may accept the provisions of this act as aforesaid. 

Sec. 18. Any person elected major general sliall be forthwith notified of 
his election by the secretary of state, and shall, within twenty days after 
such notice, signify to the secretary his acceptance of said office, or shall 
be considered as having declined. 

Skc. 19. Whenever any regimental company is filled up by draughts, or 
otherwise, to a regiment, it sliall consist of eight companies of sixty men 
each, and the commander-in chief shall have power to appoint a sufficient 
number of commissioned officers therefor from such regimental companies; 
and, in case of such filling up of regimental companies, the captains of the 
respective companies therein shall liave power to appoint a suffici^t num- 
ber of non-commissioned officers for their respective companies. 

Sf.c. 20. No officer, non-commissioned officer, or private shall be arrested 
on any civil process wfiile goinsf to, or returning from, or remaining at, any 
place at which he shall have been ordered to attend, for the election of any 
military officer, or the performance of any military duly. 

Of conirniasions. 

Sec. 21. All commissions fjr officers shall be signed by the commander- 
in-chief, and countersigned by the secretary of state, and shall be for the 
term of five years, except in case of regimental rompanies already chartered, 
who shall be governed as to the returns of their officers elected, and terms 
of the commissions of their officers, by their charters; warrants for regi- 
mental, staff, and non. commissioned officers, shall be signed and issued by 
the colonels of the regimental companies or the regiments respectively; 
and of non commissioned officers of companies, by the commander thereof. 

Sec. 22. All commissioned officers of the same grade shall take rank ac- 
cording to the respective dates of their commissions ; and when two or more 
of the same grade bear an equal date, their rank shall be determined by lot, 
to be drawn by them before the commanding officer of the division, brigade, 
regimental company or regiment, company or detachment, or the president 
of a court martial, as the case may be. The day of election or appointment 
of any officer shall be the date of his commission ; and whenever he shall 
be transferred to another corf)s or station of the same grade, the date of his 
original commission or appointment shall be the date of his commission : 
Provided, however, That the first commissions issued under this act to 
ofliceis of companies who shall, within sixty days from and after the rising 
of this General Assembly, voluntarily accept the provisions of the same, 
sliall, lor the purpose of rank and command, bear date on the same day. 

Sec. 23. Whenever any officer shall lose his commission, he shall be en- 
titled to a duplicate commission of the same grade and date, on his affidavit 
made before a justice of any court in tliis Slate, on application to the com- 
mander in chief. 



842 Rep. No. 546. 

Sec. 24. All commissions shall be delivered to tlie adjutant ffenerul. and 
by him to the persons for whom they are intended. 

Sec. 25. All brigade or field officers to whom commissions shall be sent 
or delivered by the adjutant general, shall signify to him their acceptance 
or refusal of such office, within thirty days after the receipt of the commis- 
sions. In case the person elected sliall refuse his commission, or neglect to 
return any answer, that office shall be deemed vacant, and a new election 
may take place. 



No. 238. 



State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 

la General Assembli/, January session, 1843. 

AN ACT to regulate the election of civil officers, and for other purposes. 

Be it eWlcted hy the General Assembly^ as follows : 

Section 1. The town councils of the several towns in this State, and 
the mayor and aldermen of the ciiy of Providence, shall be boards of can- 
vassers of voters m their respective towns and in said ciiy, as hereiuafler 
provided ; and the town clerks of tlie several towns, and the city clerk of 
said city, shall act as clerks of said botirds in their respective towns and 
said city. 

Sec. 2. If any person claims a right to vote on account of having done 
military duty in the militia, or in any chartered or le^rally authorized vol- 
unteer company, the proof thereof shall be a certificate from the colonel of 
the regiment, or the captain or commanding officer of the chartered or le- 
gally authorized volunteer conjpany. that he has, within the year next pre- 
ceding his claim, and on or before the 31st day of December of said yetir, 
been enrolled, and in what company, and that he has done duty therein for 
at least one day, and been equipped accordincr to law: Provided^ hoicever^ 
That for voting in the year 1843, the certificate must be, tliat in the year 
1842 such person has been enrolled, equipped, and done military duty ac- 
cording to law ; nnd that proof of the right to vote upon military service 
may be made by certificate of the commissioners on military claims, as pro- 
vided in article 2d, s ction 2d, of the constitution; and every colonel of 
a regiment, or captain or commanding officer of a cliartered or legally au- 
thorized volunteer company, who shall wilfully refuse to grant such cer- 
tificate to any person properly demanding and entitled to tlie same, or shall 
knowingly grant any such certificate to one not entitled thereto, shall, for 
each and every such offence, forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars. All 
certificates of military service performed in the year 1842, except cer- 
tificates issued by the commissioners on military claims, shall, to be effectual 
as proof of such service, bear date and be issued after the passage of this 
act: and all such certificates heretofore issued, except those issued by the 
commissioners on military claims, are hereby declared to be void and of 
no effect as proof of such service, for voting in any future election. Every 
colonel or commandant of a regiment, and every captain or comtnanding 
officer of a chartered or legally authorized volunteer company, shall, on or 
before the first Monday of March in the year 1843, and in every year 



Rep. No. 546. 843 

tliereafter, make riitiun, by him certified and sworn to before some judge or 
justice of the peace, of all persons, arranu^ing their names alphabetically, in 
his regiment or company, as the case may be, qualified to vote by military 
service as aforesaid, to the town councils of tlie several towtis in which 
such persons reside ; or if they reside in the city of Providence, to the mayor 
and aldermen of i;aid city ; and every colonel or commandant of a regiment, 
or captain or commanding ofiicer of a chartered or legally authorized vol- 
unteer company, who shall neglect or refuse t omake such return, or shall 
knowingly make a false or imperfect return, shall forfeit not less than twen- 
ty five, nor more than five hundred dollars. 

Sec. 3. The colonels or commandants of the several regiments shall have 
full power, and it shall be their duty, to require from the captains and oth- 
er officers and privates under their command, all such returns and evi- 
dence, undiiT oath or affirmation, as may be necessary to enable them to com- 
ply with the provisions of tlie constitution and of tliis act; and every cap- 
tain, or other officer or private, refusing to make such returns, or to give 
such evidence when thereunto duly required, or making false returns, or 
giviig filse evidence, shall forfeit not less tlian twenty five, nor niore than 
lliree hundred dollars. 

Sec. 4. All registry and other taxes shall be paid to the collector of taxes 
only : Provided, /loirever. That in case of a highway tax, where by law the 
same may be paid in labor or mor:ey to a surveyor of highways, the receipt 
of such surveyor of such payment shall be sufficient evidence thereof on 
settlement with the collectors. After the year 1843, no person who claims 
a right to vote Ujion the payment of a tax or taxes assessed for any other 
officer than mayor, aldermen, or common con ncilmen of the city of Provi- 
dence, or upon any other propo.^ition than one to impos(>. a tax, or for the 
expenditure of money in any town or city, sliall by the boards of canvass- 
ers be admitted to vote, unless upon the production of a certificate or cer- 
tificates from the collector or collectors of taxes of some towii or city in this 
Slate, that on or before the last day of December in the year next preceding 
he has paid such tax or taxes assessed for and within such year, at least to 
the amount of one dollar : Provid(ul^ however, That if he claims a riglit to 
vote upon the payment of a registry tax, such payment shall be certified as 
aforesaid by the collt^ctor of taxes of the town or city in which he resides 
and claims to vote : And provided (dso, That if his name has been registered 
for more tlian one year, two registry taxes for the two years next preceding 
the canvass having been assessed against him, and he claims the right to 
vote upon the payment of his registry tax, the certificate of the collector of 
such town or city must be produced before the canvassers, that on or before 
the last day of December next preceding the canvass he has paid such 
registry tax for each of the two years next preceding the time of voting, or 
that the same has been remitted by the town council or mayor and alder- 
men of the town or city in which he resides, in pursuance of the third 
section of the second article of the constitution. No person vi'-ho, at any 
time after the passage of this act, claims a right to vote upon the payment 
of a property tax, in the election of tlie said ciiy council of the city of 
Providence, or of any member of the same, or upon any pro|)osition to im- 
pose a tax, or for the expenditure of money in any town or city, shall in 
such case be admitted by the canvassers to vote, unless upon a certificate 
from the collector of taxes of such town or ciiy that he has, on or before the 
last day of December in the year next preceding, paid a tax assessed for and 



844 Rep. No 546. 

within such year, upon his property therein, valued at least at one hnndred 
and thirty four dollars. Any collector of taxes who shall wilfully refuse 
to grant such certificate to any person demanding the same, and legally 
entitled thereto, or shall grant such certificate to one not entitled thereto, 
shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars for each and every such offence. 

Sec. 5. Every town and city clerk of this State shall provide a suitable 
book for the registry of the names of all persons who, in order to vote, are 
required by the constitution to be registered ; which book shall be kept in 
the office of the town or city clerk, ibr the purpose of such registry only, 
and shall always be open to the inspection of any elector of such town or 
city ; and every town or city clerk in this State is hereby required to regis- 
ter in said book the name of every male inhabitant of the town or city, who 
shall demand such registry, and who shall declare that he is qualified by 
birlh. and is or will be within a year qualified by age and residence to vote 
in such town or city, together with the date of the registry ; and sliall also 
register therein the name of every such inhabitant demanded to be regis- 
tered by any elector of such town or city, who shall declare that sucti in- 
habitant is qualified by birth, and is or will be wiihin a year qualified by 
age and residence to vote therein ; in which case, besides the date of the 
registry, he shall also register, opposite the name of such inhabitant, the 
name of the elector demanding the same. Every town or city clerk who 
shall neglect to provide and keep such book, or who shall refuse, at all 
suitable times, to permit such inspection of the same, or who shall refuse 
or neglect to register the name of any person upon demand and declaration 
as aforesaid, or shall register a name without a date, or with a false date, 
shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars for each and every such off nee. 

Sec. 6. On or before the twentieth day of February in the year 184B, the 
clerks of every town and city of this State shall deliver to the assessors of 
taxes of their respective towns and cities a certified copy Irom the registry, 
al[)habetically arranged, of tlie names of all persons registered to vote in 
such town or city on or before the 30th day of December, 1842. On or 
before the 20th day of January in the year 1844, and in each year there- 
after, said clerks shall deliver to said assessors a like copy from their regis- 
try of the names of all persons registered in the town or city on or be- 
fore the last day of December in the year next preceding : and such as- 
sessors of taxes shall, on or before the first Monday in September in the 
year 1843, and in each year thereafter, assess upon every person whose 
name shall have been registered, as aforesaid, his property tax ; or, if he 
have no taxable property, or his taxes thereon do not amount to a dollar, then, 
as the case may be, a tax of one dollar, or such sum as with his other 
taxes shall amount to one dollar. On or before the first Monday in Octo- 
ber in the year 1843, and in each year thereafter, said assessors shall re- 
turn to the clerk's office of the town or city said copy of the registry by 
them duly certified, with the tax or taxes assessed against each person 
placed against his na'.ne thereon, distinguisliing whether said tax is a 
property or registry tax; and if a properly tax, whether said tax was as- 
sessed upon his property therein valued at least at 134 dollars ; which copy 
so returned, it shall be the duty of the town or city clerk to record and 
file. The copy of the rsgistry thus made out and returned shall contiiin 
the names of all the registered voters for the calendar year next succeed- 
ing. Every town or city clerk neglecting or refusing to deliver such cer- 
tified copy to the assessors as aforesaid, or wilfully delivering a false or 



Rep. No. 546. 845 

imperfect copy, shall forfeit the sum of three hundred dollars ; and if any 
assessors of taxes shall wholly neglect or refuse to make sucij assessments, 
each and every such assessor so neglecting or refusing shall forfeit the 
sum of one thousand dollars, and be liable to imprisonment for one year; 
and if any assessors shall wiU'ully neglect or refuse to assess as aforesaid 
any person registered as aforesaid, each and every assessor so neglecting 
or refusing shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars for each and every 
person whom he shall so neglect or refuse to asssess as aforesaid. 

Sec. 7. Every town or ward clerk, upon payment or tender of his legal 
fees, (which shall be the same for the ward clerks as for the town and 
city clerks,) shall furnisht o any person demanding the same a certified 
copy of any list of votes given in at any election. Every town or city 
clerk shall, upon like payment or tender, furnish to any person demand- 
ing the same a certified copy of any registration of voters, with the names 
of those who have paid taxes to him, and the amount of such taxes, and 
whether the same were paid on or before the last day of 13ecember next 
preceding; and shall also, upon ti]e request of any person and tender of 
legal fees, and without unreasonable delay, examine the records and cer- 
tify to the estate of any person or persons, and shall furnish copies of 
any instrument or writing which may be on record or on the files of 
his office. Every collector of taxes, or town or city treasurer, shall, upon 
like request and payment or tender, and without unreasonable delay, hir- 
nish to any elector a certified list of those who have paid to him State, 
town, and registry taxes, and the amounts and times of such payments; 
and shall grant certificates setting forth whether a certain person or per- 
sons have or have not paid to him such taxes, and, if paid, to what amount, 
and at what time ; and every town, city, or ward clerk, collector of taxes, 
town or city treasurer, who shall refuse or unreasonably delay to furnish 
such lists or certificates, upon payment or tender as aforesaid, shall, lor 
every such offence, forfeit not less than twenty-five, nor more than two 
hundred dollars. 

Sf.c. 8. On or before the 2.5th day of February in the year 1843; every 
town and city treasurer and collector of taxes, and on or before the first 
Monday of February in every year thereafter, every town and city collect- 
or of taxes in this State, shall furnish to the town clerks of their respective 
towns and cities, duly certified alphabetical lists of all persons registered on 
or before the 3Uth day of December in the year 1842 ; and on or before 
the last day of December next preceding in every year thereafier, in their 
respective towns and cities, who shall on or before that time in the year 1842 
have paid to such town or city treasurer their registry tax; or in each 
year thereafter, to such collector of taxes, their taxes assessed for and 
within said year preceding, together with the amount of the payment 
by each, specifying whether the tax was a registry tax, or a tax on prop- 
erty, and, if a property tax, whether assessed on property valued at least 
at one hundred and thirty-four dollars. On or before the first Monday of 
March in the year 1843, and every year thereafter, every town clerk in this 
State shall furnish to the town councils of their respective towns, and the 
city clerk of the city of Providence shall furnish to the mayor and alder- 
men of said city, a duly certified alphabetical list of all persons registered 
on or before the 30th day of December in the year 1842, and on or before 
the last day of December next preceding in every year thereafter, for the 
purpose of voting in such town or city ; placing opposite the name of every 



846 Rep. No. 546. 

person so registered, tiie amount of his assessed property tax for tlie year 
preceding; and whether the same was assessed on property in the said 
town or city vahied at least at one hundred and thirty four dollars, and of 
the registry tax, if any, by him paid, and whether said taxes were paid on 
or before the 30th day of December in the year 1842, and on or before the 
last day of December next preceding in every year thereafter; and, sepa- 
rately therefrom, correct alphal)etical lists of t'lje names of all persons enti- 
tled to vote under article second, section first, of the constitution : and 
every town and city clerk, and every town or city treasurer, who shall re- 
fuse or neglect to deliver such lists as aforesaid, within the time above lim- 
ited, or who shall wilfully deliver false or imperfect lists, shall forfeit not 
less than five hundred, nor more than one thousand dollars, or be impris- 
oned not less than six months, either, or both, at the discretion of the court 
who shall try such offender. 

Sec. 9. On or before the last day of February, in the year 1843, every 
town and city clerk in this State shall pay to the treasurer of such town 
or city all sums by him received as registry taxes as aforesaid : and any 
town or city clerk who shall neglect or refuse to make payment as aforesaid 
shall forfeit not less than one hundred, nor more than three thousand dol- 
lars, or be imprisoned not exceeding five years, or until he shall have paid 
over such money so by him received. 

Sec. lU. The town councils of the several towns in this State, and the 
mayor and aldermen of the city of Providence, shall, on or before the second 
Monday of March in the year 1843, and in every year thereafter, make out 
correct alphabetical lists of all persons qualified to vote generally, to wit : 
of all persons entitled to vote under article second, section first, of the con- 
stitution; and all persons entitled to vote by registry and payment of regis- 
try and other taxes or military services in their several towns and the sev- 
eral wards of said city of Providence ; and, separately from such lists, cor- 
rect alphabetical lists of all persons entitled to vote upon any proposition to 
impose a tax or expend money in their respective towns, and upon such 
proposition : and in the election of the city council of the city of Providence, 
in the several wards of said city, to wit: of all persons entitled to vote under 
article second, section first, of the constitution ; and all persons upon whose 
property m their several towns and in said city, valued at least at one hun- 
dred and thirty-four dollars, a tax or taxes have been assessed and paid, 
and within the year next preceding, and on or before the last day of De- 
cember therein; and shall cause such lists to be posted up in four or more 
public places in their respective towns, and one in each ward of the said 
city, and one in the town or city clerk's office which last lists shall be 
open to the examination of any elector of eiie town or city at all reasonable 
hours; and any person who shall take down, destroy, or deface such list 
or lists so posted up, shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars, or may be 
imprisoned three months. 

Sec. 11. On or before the third Monday of March in the year 1843, and 
in every year thereafter, the town councils of the several towns, and the 
mayor and aldermen of the city of Providence, shall be in session at some 
convenient place or places, for a reasonable time, in their respective towns 
and said city, for the purpose of correcting such lists; and the notice of the 
time or times and place or places of holding said sessions, shall be given 
by the town councils, and said mayor and aldermen, upon the lists posted 
up as aforesaid. The members of the town councils and town clerks of 



Rep. No. 546. 847 

liie several towns, and the mayor and aldermen and city clerk of the city 
of Providence, sliall be paid, by their respective towns and said city, one 
dollar each for every day's attendance in the discharge of their duties un- 
der this act; and said town and ciiy clerks shall, in addition, be paid legal 
lees for their recording and making out the several lists and returns in this 
act required. 

Sec. 12. At least ten days previous to the first Wednesday in April, said 
town councils and mayor and aldermen shall cause to be posted up, asafere- 
said, lists of persons entitled to vote in their respective towns and said city, 
so by them corrected as aforesaid, and shall, on the Monday preceding the, 
first Wednesday of April, hold a session for the purpose of further correct- 
ing said lists, which session shall be holden for at least two hours. Said 
board of canvassers shall also, at least two days previous to any election of 
Rej)resentatives to Congress, of electors of President and Vice President of 
the United States, or of town or city officers, hold a session for the purpose 
of furtlier correcting the town and ward lists of voters ; in which case, the 
lists need not be posted up as aforesaid, but notice of the time and place of 
such session shall be given for at least ten days previous thereto, by post- 
ing up notices thereof in four or more public places in every town, and 
one in each ward of llie city of Providence, and one in the town or city 
clerk's office ; or, instead of such notice, in one or more newspapers pub- 
lished in such town or city. The lists of voters, so corrected, shall be by 
said town councils, and mayor and aldermen, certified by their presiding 
officer, and on the same day delivered to the town clerks of their respective 
towns, and to t!ie city clerk of the city of Providence, to be delivered by 
said town clerks to the moderators of the several town meetings of their re- 
spective towns as soon as chosen ; and the city clerk of the city of Provi- 
dence shall, from the list of voters so corrected, make out separate lists of 
the voters in each ward of said city, and send such lists by him certified to 
the clerks of the respective wards, before the time fixed for the opening of 
the ward meetings. Any wilful neglect to hold the sessions, to post up the 
lists, or to deliver the same, as hereinbefore required, on the part of any 
town council, or of said mayor and aldermen, or town or city clerk, shall 
be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, to be forfeited by 
every member of the town council, and of said board of mayor and alder- 
men, and by every tou'n or city clerk so wilfully neglecting his duty afore- 
said. 

Sec. 13. Said town councils and mayor and aldermen shall have power, 
at their said sessions, to examine imder oath or affirmation any person pres- 
ent, and any other evidenc coffered, or that they deem necessary, respecting 
the right of any person to vote, and to decide upon the same ; and any per- 
son refusing to answer, or giving a false answer upon such examination, 
shall forfeit a sum not less than twenty five, nor more than three hundred 
dollars for such refusal, or for each false answer so given. 

Sec. 14. The town councils and mayor and aldermen, in case ihey shall 
have entered on said lists the names of all persons returned to them by said 
town or city clerks, shall not be held answerable for any omissions in said 
listSj nor for refusing to place in their list the name of any person omitted 
in the lists to them delivered as aforesaid ; unless at one of their said ses- 
sions they shall be furnished with sufficient evidence of such omission, and 
of the qualifications as a voter of the person omitted, and shall have been 
requested to insert hiy name on their list. 



848 Rep. Ko. 546. 

Sec. 15. The moderator or warden of any town or ward meetinj^ shall 
receive the votes of all persons whose names are upon the lists of voters 
so to him delivered and certified as aforesaid, and he shall reject the votes 
of all persons claiming: to vote whose names are not on said lists : Provided^ 
however, That nothing herein contained shall be constrned to im[)uir the 
right of either house of the General Assembly to judge of the elections of 
its own members, or of the grand committee to count legal, and refuse to 
count illegal votes : A7id provided further, That any person duly registered 
on or before the 30th day of December, 1842, may vote during the year 
1843 in any town or city in this State, being otherwise qualified by law, 
'though not on said town or ward list, who, in addition to a certificate from 
the town or city clerk of the town or city in which he resides and offers to 
vote, that he has thus been registered, shall produce to the moderator or 
warden a certificate or certificates from a collector or collectors of taxes in 
this State that he has paid a tax or taxes assessed upon his estate in this 
State, within a year of the time of voting, to the amount of one dollar : And 
provided further, That if any voter whose name is upon any ward list in 
the city of Providence shall have removed to another ward after the making 
out of the ward list, or if the name of any voter shall have been placed 
upon the wrong ward list, every such voter shall be admitted to vote in the 
ward in which he resides, upon producing the certificate of the city or of a 
v%'ard clerk that his name is upon another ward list, duly prepared for the 
election in which he claims to vote. The certificates mentioned in this 
section shall, with the votes, be returned by the several town and ward 
clerks to the officer or body by law provided to receive the votes ; and if 
any town, city, or ward clerk shall refuse to give such certificate to one 
entitled to*and demanding the same, he shall forfeit the sum of one hundred 
dollars for each and every offence, and, upon conviction, be ever after in- 
capacitated from voting for any officer, civil or military. 

Sfx'. 16. The present wardens and ward clerks of the city of Providence 
shall hold their offices until the second Wednesday of May next, and until 
others are elected and qualified to act in their places ; and said officers shall 
hereafter be elected on the second Wednesday of May in each year, instead 
of the third Wednesday of April, as is now by law provided. 

Sec. 17. If any person in any election shall fraudulently vote, not being 
qualified, or, having voted in one town or ward, shall vote in another lowii 
or ward, without having withdrawn the vote first given, he shall be fined 
one hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding twelve months; and 
no person, after conviction of such offence, shall ever after be permitted to 
exercise the privilege of voting for any civil or military officer. 

Sec. 18. In the election of general officers. Representatives to Congress, 
and electors of President and Vice President of the United States, and 
(when the vote is taken by ballot) in the election of senators and representa- 
tives to the General Assembly, the town meetings of the several towns shall 
be kept open for such voting during the whole time of voting for the day. 
Town and ward meetings for the election of general officers. Representa- 
tives to Congress, and electors of President and Vice President of the 
United States, shall be open at 10 o'clock, a. m., on the day of election ; 
and all town or ward meetings for such elections, in any town or city hav- 
ing five hundred electors or upward, shall be kept open at least until five 
o'clock, p. m., on said day; and in all towns having less than five hundred 
electors, shall be kept open at least until 3 o'clock p. m., on said day. 



^ 



Rep. No. 546. 849 

Sec. 19. Every moderator and warden hereafter elected shall, upon his 
election, and before he shall proceed to the execution of [lis duty, take the 
following oath or affirmation, to be administered to him by the town or 
ward clerk, or, in his absence, by some judge. or justice of the peace, in 

open town or ward meeting; "You, , having been chosen 

moderator of this town meeting, or v/arden of ward, in the city of 

, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you will faithfully and impar- 
tially perform the duties of your said office, and that you will support the 
constitution and laws of this State and the constitution of the United States: 
so help you God;" or "this affirmation you make and give upon the peril of 
the penalty of perjury," And the town or ward clerk shall thereupon enter 
upon his record that the oath or affirmation was in due form administered 
and taken. 

Sec. 20. If any moderator, warden, or person whose duty it is to receive 
votes, shall fraudulently receive any unlawful vote, or shall fraudulently re- 
ject the vote of any voter whose name is on the town or ward lists, he shall 
forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars for every offence; and, upon con- 
viction, shall be ever afterwards disqualified from voting. 

Sec. 21. If any person shall directly or indirectly give, or offer, or agree 
to give to any elector, or to any person for the benefit of any elector, any 
sum of money or other valuable consideration for the purpose of inducing 
such elector to give in his vote at any election in this State, or by way of 
reward for having voted; or if any person shall directly or indirectly ac- 
cept or receive, or offer or agree to accept or receive, any sum of money or 
other valuable consideration, or any promise, obligation, or security ior the 
payment or delivery of any sum of money, or other valuable consideration, 
as an inducement to give in his vote, such person so offending shall, upon 
conviction thereof, be fined the sum of five hundred dollars, or imprisoned 
not exceeding three months, or both, at the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 22. If senators and representatives to the General Assembly, or if 
Justices of the peace be voted for by ballot, the names of the candidates in 
any town or city voted for by any one elector, shall be written or printed on 
one ticket ; and in all such cases where the voting is by ballot, atid in the 
election of general officers. Representatives to Congress, and electors of 
President and Vice President of the United States, the christian and sur- 
name of the voter shall be written at length on the back of his vote. 

Sec. 23. In all elections the votes shall be received by the moderator or 
warden, and by no other person ; and the electors shall, one by one, in their 
own proper persons, deliver their votes to the moderator or warden, who 
shall forthwith publicly declare the name of the person voting, and shall 
cause his name to be checked on the town or ward lists. The town or ward 
clerks shall keep a fair register of the names of all persons voting for gen- 
eral officers, representatives to Congress, and electors of President and Vice 
President of the United Stales; and shall, before such voles are sealed up, 
carefully compare the votes with their lists so taken ; and on the copy of the 
hst which at each election is forwarded to the General Assembly, they shall 
certify the number of votes for each of the candidates. The original lists 
shall be kept in the town clerk's office. 

Sec. 24. In the city of Providence the ward clerks shall keep a fair regis- 
try of all persons voting for senator, representatives, and justices of the 
peace, and shall deliver a copy thereof with the votes to the city clerk. 

Sec. 25. Any town or ward clerk who shall neglect to keep the registry, 
54 



850 Rep. No. 546. 

and any moderator, warden, or town or ward clerk, who shall neglect to 
seal up and direct the votes, or to send the same with the lists as herein- 
before or by the constitution provided ; and any town or ward clerk who 
shall knowingly keep a false or imperfect registry, and every moderator or 
warden, town or ward clerk, who shall knowingly sea! up, direct, and send 
a part only of the votes, or with false or imperfect lists, shall be" lined not 
less than one hundred, nor more than three thousand dollars, or be im- 
prisoned not more than three years, either or both, at the discretion of the 
court who shall try such ofFeiider. 

Sec. 26. If any town or city clerk shall necessarily be absent from his 
office at any time within thirty days next preceding any meeting held for 
the election of any State or town officers, Kepresentatives to Congress, or 
electors of President and Vice President of tlie United States, it shall be his 
duty, and he shall have full power to appoint a deputy clerk, whose duty it 
shall be to attend the office during such absence, and perforin all the duties 
thereof; and if any town or city clerk shall refuse or wilfully nt^glect to ap- 
point a deputy as aforesaid, he shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars. 

Sec. 27. All business of the annual general election shall be done by the 
General Assembly in grand committee, and not in separate houses. 

Sec. 28. If any town or city clerk shall neglect or refuse to furnish any 
member of the Senate or House of Representatives elect with a proper cer- 
tificate of his election as soon as may be after his election, he shall be fined 
not less than fifty dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, or be im- 
prisoned not exceeding six months, either or both, at the discretion of the 
court trying such offender. 

Sec. 29. If any person elected senator or representative shall, at any time 
between his election and the expiration of his term, refuse to serve, and 
shall declare the same to the town or city clerk of the town or city for 
which he is elected, or shall die, resign, or remove out of said town or city, 
the town or city clerk shall forthwith issue his warrant for an election to 
fill such vacancy, unless a special election for that purpose shall be ordered 
by the house in which the .vacancy happens. 

Sec. 30. Every officer chosen by the General Assembly, and every mili- 
tary commission officer, shall be commissioned by the governor, and be- 
fore he enters on the duties of his office shall take an enjjaffement before a 
senator, judge, justice of the peace, public notary, town or city clerk, to 
support the constitution and laws of this State, and the constitiuion of the 
United States, and faithfully to discharge the duties of his office ; which 
shall be certified upon his commission by the person administering the en- 
gagement. 

Sec. 31. All officers of annual appointment, who shall not be re elected, 
or continued in office at the annual general election by the General Assem- 
bly, may continue to officiate for the space of twenty-four days after the 
first Tuesday of May, unless their successors are sooner qualified to act. 
All such officers who may be re elected, may continue to officiate for the 
same length of time, without taking any n<?w oath of office. 

Sec. 32. Justices of the peace chosen by any town or city, shall be chosen 
at the time of electing town or city officers, and shall hold their offices for 
one year; and the town or city clerk shall forthwith make return of the 
justices so chosen to the governor : if not re-elected, they .may coniinue to 
officiate for twenty-four days after the time of electing such officers in any 



Rep. No. 546. 851 

town or city ; and if re elected, may continue to officiate for the same 
number of days without taking any new oath of office. 

Skc. 33. Inthe city of Providence, the senator and representatives shall 
be chosen by ballot only ; the number of justices of the peace to be elected 
shall be fixed by the city council, and the voting therefor shall be conducted 
in all respects as is hereinbefore and by law prescribed for voting for sen- 
ators and representatives in said city. 

Sec. 34. All persons entitled to vote shall be'prot<ctel from arrest in 
civil cases on the days of election for the choice of State, city, or town 
officers, members of Congress, or electors of President and Vice President 
of the United States, and on the day preceding and the day following such 
election. 

Sec. 35. AH fines and forfeitures provided by this act shall be to and for 
the use of the State, and shall, together with all other punishments herein 
prescribed, be enforced by indictment in tlie supreme court : Provided 
always., That all complaints for the same shall be made within one year 
after such fines, forfeitures, and punishments have been incurred, and not 
afterwards. 

Sec. 3G. The secretary of state shall, at least ten days previous to the 
day of election of general officers, members of Congress, or electors of Pres- 
ident and Vice President of the United States, furnish each town and ward 
clerk with printed forms of returns, certificates, and directions proper to 
such elections, together with any advice he may deem necessary to secure 
proper returns. 

Skc. 37. The following acts are hereby repealed: " An act in relation v: 
the election of general officers," passed at May session, A. D. 1834; "An 
act revising the act entitled 'An act regulating the manner of admitting free- 
men, and directing the method of electing officers in this State,* passed at 
January session, A. D. 1836; and the several acts in addition to, or in 
amendment thereof ;" and all other acts so far as is inconsistent herewith : 
Provided^ That this repeal shall not be construed to revive any act, or part 
of an act, repealed by any of the acts mentioned in this section. 
True copy — witness; 

HENRY BOW EN, Secretary. 



No. 239. 



Speech of Thomas W. Dorr, on the rigid of the people of Rhode Island 
to form a constihition : delivered in the people's convention on the 18th 
day of November.) 1841. 

Article XIV, "of the adoption of the constitution," being before the con- 
vention for consideration, Mr. Ballon, of Cumberland, said he would ask 
the gentleman from Providence whether it was understood that a majority 
of the present qualified freeholders was deemed requisite for the adoption 
of the people's constitution. He expressed no such opinion for himself; 
but the question might be asked by others, and arose very naturally from 
a perusal of section first, which prescribes the mode of voting upon the ques- 
tion of adoption or rejection. This section provides that every person 
voting shall awswer upon his ticket whether he be a freeholder or not. 



, _ i.'s: 



— xcn»- 



1 £ ^ts ir 






" If: 



'li*: tjf 21 iTT^nKr , .:uji 

-;s:nuiini • -: - 



«m; irtiii: jk a^^oeac tf neo^ ject Ji In* lerrn'jrr 9t ai 









i E&e iKi 



854 Rep. No. 546. 

until such a majority shall hear and favorably respond to our appeafs to 
their sense of justice. 

Here, Mr. President, we might stop. The people are not on trial. The 
burden of proof does not rest upon them. They are not called upon to 
show cause to an arrogant minority why they have a right to go on and 
amend tlieir form of government, but it is for their opponents to show why 
they have not. Until they have done this, our cause stands unimpugned. 
But, lest the outcry of illegality and want of form in our proceedings, or 
!vny other merely technical objection, should be repeated and reiterated for 
the sake of an impression on any whose fears are supposed to be stronger 
than their judgments, let us cross over to the other side, inspect the ene- 
my's works and lines of defence, and see, if we may, what is the sirenyth 
of the protection which they throw around our decayed and anti-republican 
system of government. A brief examination is all that your time will per- 
mit; and I will endeavor not to exceed the Innits of your patience. What, 
ihen, is our system of government, and who have a right to change it? 

Our government is now nominally re[)ublican ; but it is in reality an 
oligarchy, or government of the few, through the gradual operation of an 
■xclusive landed system of qualifications for voters. I need not do more 
ihan remind you that the origin of this government was purely democratic. 
Our ancestors, the first settlers of Providence, two hundred and six years 
ago, incorporated themselves, by natural and equal suffrage, into a primi- 
tive democracy, or government of the whole people^ by the "major con- 
:-ent," but only in "civil things." Other settlements were made on tlie 
hdand of Rhode Island, and at Warwick; and it soon became an impor- 
tant object to define territorial boundaries, and to secure a permanent union 
of all portions of the territory under one domain. 

The several settlements that we have named became first united, and 
were first brought within one Jurisdiction, by the royal patent or charter of 
1643. Tliis charter is very short, and is very loose in its terms. It em 
braces a general power to establish such a government as should be agreed 
(in by the "voluntary consent of o//." In obtaining this consent, tliere 
was much difficulty ; and it was not till the year 1647 that a general gov- 
«rnment was agreed upon and established. In that year was the first Gen- 
eral Assembly convened in the town of Portsmouth. The government" 
thus established was dissolved in 1651, by another charier, obtained by 
f^addinsfton, constituting him governor, and which severed the islands of 
Rhode Island and Conanicut from their connexion with Providence and 
Warwick. Though Coddington's charter was soon vacated, a re union 
was not immediately effected, and did not finally and permanently take 
place till the year 1663, under the charter of Charles II, which still sub- 
sists as a part of the nominal constitution of this State. But, notwithstand- 
ing the disruption of the colony, the same principles which were estab- 
lished at the outset, were maintained throughout all the changes of the 
;j;overnment. The first assembly, in 1647, re affirmed the declaration made 
at Provid(Mice in 1636, and voted that the g-overnment should be a "de- 
mocracy," but only in civil matters, and without interference in religious 
concernments, which were left, for the first time in the history of the world, 
where they belonged— in the domain of the private judgment and con- 
science of every inhabitant. This principle of government by the major 
part of a pure democracy at first, and secondarily, for greater convenience,, 
by representatives freely chosen for a short period, runs like a golden 



Rep. No. 546. 855 

thread through all the institutions of onr St;ite. The charter of Charles II 
continued to tlie colonists the same power of local "government; and under 
ii (througli a series ol encroachments on political rights commenced in 1724 
by the establishment, for the first time, of a definite landed suffrage) down 
to the Revolution, a majority of the people ruled the State. The Revolu- 
tion was not needed to establish here the foundations of a democracy. 
They existed already, though the seeds of decay had been long before 
planted. 

We have, therefore, the important fact at the foundation of all our reason- 
ings, that tliis government was originally a government of the whole people ; 
was intended to be such by those who formed it, and procured its sanction 
from the mother country, and was such nominally, at least, until the hap- 
pening of the event which severed the connexion with that country, and 
led to the independence of the United States. If, therefore, in the further 
lapse of lime, this democratic republic, here set up by oui» ancestors, has be- 
come imj/aired, and the people have m any way lost the power of govern- 
ing it, or rather themselves, as it was always intended that they should, and 
they have in any way lost the right to remedy the defect, and to correct 
the departure from first principles, — it is very certain tliat the American 
Revolution, however valuable in its consequences in other respects, has in 
this particular placed them in a worse condition than they were before. 
Froviously to the occurrence of this event, in case of a usurpation of their 
rights, the people had an appeal to the King for a redress of grievances; 
and now that the power of the King has ceased, if the people have not 
succeeded to the right to redress their own grievances, they have exchanged 
one sovereign for a multitude, and are still, under a change of names, the 
subjects of new masters, rather than the citizens of a free republic. 

We come, then, in the next place, to ask how the people of this State could 
have lost at the Revolution the power of governing themselves. Have we 
been laboring under a mistake upon a point of such vital importance? Was 
it not the object of that Revolution to emancipate the people of the colonies 
from all foreign control, and to transfer to them the full and undivided 
right of self government? If so, then the only question remaining is, To 
whom did this residuary power, before vested in the King of England — this 
right of ultimate sovereignty — pass at the Revolution? It did not pass to 
the colonies, in a national sense; or to the provisional government of the 
colonies, which were independent of each other, and united only by the 
bond of amity which is created by treaty or league between independent 
nations; and our State governments are not the creatures of the General 
Government, but the reverse ; for the latt-r is the work of the States, or of 
the people of the States, The right of sovereignly must, therefore, have 
passed at the Revolution to the people of the colony of Rhode Island, or 
to a part of the people — to the many, or to the few. There is no third 
supposition in the case. If the ultimate sovereignty of this State, which 
involves the power to make and ordain forms of governments, passed over 
to any particular portion of the people less than the whole, there must have 
been at the time some disclaimer on the part of the residue of the people — 
some express surrender — some act of conveyance and investment, which 
constituted a grant in full of all the rights of sovereignty of the existing 
generation of men ; and we should then have to ask, what right has one 
generation to bind another in this manner; and what rights of government 
can one generation barter or give away; which their successors have not 



856 Rep. No. 546. 

the same right to reassnme? But no such disclaimer or surrender, or con- 
veyance or investment, ever took place. If it did, the evidence of it can 
be produced ; and our opponents are bound to produce it. They cannot 
infer it from the continuance of the old government in this State; for this 
does not necessarily disprove the existence of a sovereign power in the 
people, but only shows that it was not exercised. We are now speaking- 
of the power itself; and it would be just as reasonable to say that the peo- 
ple had at the Revolution and now liave no such power, as it would have 
been to have said, before the Revolution, that the King of England iiad no 
power to amend the charter, because he suffered.it to continue unchanged 
and unamended from 1663, when it was granted, to 1776. We ask then, 
again, with confidence, to whom did this sovereign power pass? And the re- 
ply must be — to the people, to the whole people, and not to any special or 
favored portion of the people. 

Sovereignty implies a corresponding duty of allegiance and fealty on the 
part of the subject. This must exist under every government. The peo- 
ple of this colony were the subjects of the King of England. All their 
political powers derived their sanction from his charter. 'I'heir democracy 
was such by the King's permission. In a self substituting democratic re- 
public, where the people at large are s )vereign, the oath of allegiance to the 
people is the oath to support their will as expressed in a constitution. Now, 
every subject in this colony, before the Revolution, sustained the relation 
which we have described to the grantor of the charter, who v/as the sov- 
ereign of the British realm. It matters not whether he was the absolute 
sovereign, or divided this sovereignty with the Parliament. The colonists 
were tke subjects of a foreign sovereignty in the aggregate, however di- 
vided or invested ; though the sole power of granting political charters 
belonged to the King. The colonists were all equally his subjects. There 
were but two classes of persons — the King on one side, and his subjects on 
the other. There was no graduation, as the theory of our opponents re- 
quires. The freeholders of the colony were not the sole subjects of the 
King, and those who owned no land the subjects of the freeholders ; but 
they were all equal before the head of the realm, and owed him a com- 
mon allegiance. We say, then, that those who were equal bef)re the 
sovereign, were equal to each other after he ceased to be such ; and 
that when the American States severed the political tie which bound 
them to Great Britain, all obligation to acknowledge fealty or allegiance 
to the monarch, or obedience to any form of government which he had 
established, was instantaneously dissolved ; and the people, all who were 
before subjects, became, in each State, free and sovereign. The whole peo- 
ple of each State, upon the happening of that momentous event, became 
equally tenants in common of the right of sovereio:nty ; and all equally en- 
tilled to a voice in directing what should be established as the fundamental 
rules of government, or, in other words, what should be the constitu- 
tion. The sovereignty of the King of England passed, therefore, not to the 
governor and company of Rhode Island, but to the people, who, freeholders 
and non freeholders, fought the battles of the Revolution, and to their de- 
scendants, who now stand in their places and claim their rights. These 
positions are neither new nor indefensible. It has been judicially, and by 
one of the earliest appointed judges of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, declared, that "the constitution is the work of the people themselves, 
in their original, sovereign, and unlimited capacity." The same learned 



Rep. No. 546. 857 

jndire, (Mr. Justice Patterson, in the case of Van Home vs. Dorrance, 2d 
Dallas's Reports, 304,) on the same occasion, described what was then un- 
derstood in this country by a constitution, and what we understand to be a 
constitution now. "A constitution," he says, "is the form of government 
dehneated by the mighty hand of the people, in which certain first princi- 
ples or fundamental laws are estabhshed." "It is." he adds, "certain and 
fixed ;" it contains " the permanent will of the people," being " the supreme 
law oi the land," being "paramount to the will of the legislature," and lia- 
ble only " to be revoked or altered by tliose who made it." Who, then, can 
reasonably doubt that the people retain their inherent right ("in their origi- 
nal, sovereign, and unhmited capacity,"') to establish a constitution, inas- 
much as thev never have made a surrender of it, either directly or indi- 
rectly? Whenever, therefore, the people shall see fit (as we believe they 
now do) to organize agovernn)ent under a constitution of their own making, 
we cannot doubt but that every good citizen will cheerfully submit to it. 

What kind of a sovereignty, Mr. President, is that which resides not in 
the men of a State, but in some qualification of property, accidental and 
fugitive in its nature? Tiiis single view, as it seen)s to me, reduces to an 
absurdity the doctrine maintained by our opponents, viz: that the sovereign 
power resides in llie freeholding portion of a community. Sovereignty, in 
its very nature, is a personal attribute, whether the sovereign be a king, or 
one of the citizens of a republic. It does not depend on the texture of his 
garments, or the amount of his patrimony or acquisitions. Whether he be 
dressed in purple and fine linen, or in the coarser fjibrics of the domestic 
loom, he is a sovereign still. But the sovereignty recognised by the free- 
holders' party in this State is not vested in men, and is not a fixed and de- 
termined power, but is constantly shifting with the changes of property. A 
man is a sovereign to-day — that is to say, is a tenant in common of the 
sovereign power of the State — because he is possessed of an estate in land 
of the value of .$134. He is a subject to-morrow, because he has parted 
with that estate, or it has been taken from him by operation of law. He is 
the same man that he was before ; but the virtue has departed from him, and 
subsided into the soil. The sovereignty of the State, therefore, is not vest- 
ed in the men, but in the earth which they tread upon; and if the State 
should become depopulated, it would retain — that is, the soil would retain — 
as much sovereignty without men as with them; and it follows, that the 
settlers of a new country, instead of carrying with them the right of do- 
maui acquired by purchase or conquest, derive all their powers from the 
land they cultivate, by some mysterious process which has escaped the 
scrutiny of modern science. And, further still : if a few-individuals should 
succeed in appropriating to themselves, by gift or purchase, the greater 
portion of the territory, the sovereio-nty would become condensed in their 
persons, and they would be the sole depositories of political power. Thus 
in this State, if the lands had been parcelled out, under a proprietary gov- 
ernment, amonsr half a dozen great owners, so that this small number were 
now, as in England and other countries, the sole fee tenants of the entire 
soil, they would be the rightfiil sovereigns of the State, entitled to regulate 
its government, and not merely to.be c )nsulted about, but to dictate its fun- 
damental laws, and to hold more than a hundred thousand inhabitants in 
subjection complete and humble, and by an authority as absolute and irre- 
sponsible as that exercised by the Czar of Russia or the Sultan of the Turks. 
Is this the democracy, the republicanism, the justice and equity of the 



858 Rep. No. 546. 

freeholders of Pthode Island? If their doctrine be true, this is its legiti- 
mate consequence; and it leaves them to make a choice between their prin^ 
ciples and their common sense, since both cannot consist together. 

But, Mr. President, not only are the whole people of this State the co- 
tenants of the sovereign power, but the opposite pretence of the freeholders 
has been forever precluded and barred by their own solenui acts on two 
occasions, ever to be remembered and honored in our history. In the first 
place, the representatives of the fret-holders in General Assembly convened, 
ratified and adopted the principles of the declaration of American indepen- 
dence, and made them forever the principles of our political system. This 
declaration does not say tliat all freeholders, but that "all men are created 
equal." It asserts that liberty is oneof their unalienable rights — not merely 
Hberty of one kind, to walk on the face of the earth without a permit from 
the ruling powers, but the liberty to take part in political affairs, and to unite 
in wielding the sovereignty of the State. This declaration also says that 
governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed" — 
not of that portion of the governed who own land, but of all the governed, 
including the non freeholders, who have learned, to their cost, in this State, 
that the government reaches even them, to assess their property and to com- 
mand their services. And, once more, it says that ''• it is the right of the 
people," the right of the governed, "to alter or abolish" their government, 
whenever they deem it expedient, and " to institute new government, lay- 
ing its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such 
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." 
Such are the doctrines of American liberty. They are doubly the doctrines 
of this State, by transmission from its illustrious founder, and by the solemn 
adoption and ratification of its freeholding government in those days which 
tried the souls of men, and placed upon all their declarations the stamp of 
sincerity and truth. 

In the convention of 1790, which adopted the constitution of the United 
States, the freeholders once more set their seal to the right of sovereignty 
vested in the whole people of the State, by a declaration which, for ability, 
precision, and sound republican principles, is entitled to an eminent rank 
among the state papers of which this country is so justly proud, and con- 
fers an imperishable honor upon its authors, I do not wonder that such a 
document has been so long kept out of sight. If it be true, it kills the cause 
of our opponents, and they feel that it does. Previously to the delivery of 
the semi centennial discourse on the adoption of the federal constitution, at 
Newport, in 1840, by Judge Staples., there were not ten men in the State, 
besides himself and the secretary of state, who knew or remembered that 
such a document existed. We have again drawn it forth to surprise and 
gratify all the friends of equal rights, and to the shame and mortification of 
all freeholding aristocrats, rich or poor, who persist in denying to the great 
majority their just rights. 

I wish, sir, that time would permit me to read the whole of this docu- 
ment, and I shall move it to be printed and circulated throughout the State. 
We are ready to rest our cause upon it before the people. It begins with 
proclaiming (section 1) "that there are certain natural rights, of which 
men, when they form a social compact, cannot deprive or divest their pos- 
terity ; among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means 
of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and ob- 
taining happiness and safety." 2. "That all power is naturally vest- 



Rop. No. 546. 859 

ed in, and consequently derived from, the peoplf." And, consequently, 
3. ''that the power of government may be reassumed by the people, when- 
soever it shall become necessary to Iheir happiness," of which they are the 
judges. Here we have the most explicit avowal of the popular sovereignty- 
tor which I am contending, made with the most cautious deliberation, and 
in a day of peace and tranquility, and not, as some of our opponents al- 
lege concerning the declaration of independence, at a period of great ex- 
citement, and abounding with the "flourishes of rhetorical declamation," 
Our fathers of 1790 say that by the people they mean their posterity, their 
successors under the social compact ; and lest there should be any remain- 
ing doubt of their opinion concerning popular rights, they go on to add, 
that "all men having sufficient evidence of permanent conmion interest 
wiih, and. attachment to the community, ought to have the right of suf- 
frage." If this convention intended to confine tlie right of altering and 
aujending government to a small minority of their freeholding " posterity," 
they have been most unsuccessful in the use of language; and if not guilty 
of treason to the people, they have murdered " the King's English ;" they 
have contradicted themselves, and the truth is not in them. But if they 
have uttered the words of truth and soberness, then their words become 
as the hauiJwriting on the wall, and are a sentence of death and dissolu- 
tion to the corrupt and tottering political institutiotis of this State. 

But, It is Said, if the people became tenants in common of the sover- 
eignly at the Revolution, and wtre entitled not only to fight the battles of 
the country, and to acliieve its independence, but also to assist in forming 
a government, why did they not tlien exercise their right? The people of 
the several colonies, then become States, were called upon by Congress to 
organize governments and to form constitutions suitable to the great charjge 
in their affairs and coi:dition which had taken place. Nearly all the States 
complied with the recommendation of Congress. In this State, the Gen- 
eral Assembly appointed a committee to consider what proceedings were 
necessary to be liad ; but they never reported. Our government still pre- 
served the features of its origin in the democracy of Roger Williams. The 
landed suffrage in a State nminly agricultural, was not then the instrument 
of political proscription and exclusion which it has since become. Land 
was abundant and cheap. The great majority voted. The vote given in 
1790 was as large within 2,*J00 as the vote at the presidential election of 
181!), when the population of the State had doubled. And more than all, 
tlie citizens of Rhode Island were involved in all the severities of a war 
brought home to their own territory. More men were raised here for the 
defence of the State and for the general service, in proportion to our num- 
bers, than in any other State. 'I'hese are reasons wliy the people of Rhode 
island were diverted from the formation of a constitution at the outset of 
the independent government. Near the close of the last century another 
movement was made towards the same object, of which I have no particu- 
lars. In 1811 a bill to extend sufTrage passed the Senate, and was laid on 
the table and lost in the House of Representatives. About the year 1820 
the formation of a new estimate of the ratable property of the State fur- 
nished an occasion to discuss existing political grievances. At a convention 
of tliis county in that year, the inequality of representation, when com- 
pared with taxation, was a subject of strong animadversion. The limita- 
tion of suffrage was, I believe, also introduced. The late Hon. .James Bur- 
rill took a leading part in the proceedings, but no decided action followed. 



860 Rep. No. 546. 

Next we have the attempt in 1824 to extend suffrage ; the active movement 
in 1S32 for equal rights; the three years' struggle of the constitutional par- 
ty, commencing in 1834 ; and a series of protests, from that day to the pres- 
ent, against the longer continuance of a system of oppression, growing out 
of the gradual working of our landed system as population increases, which 
is without a parallel in the free States of this country. Does any one pre- 
tend, in the view of these fiicts, (hat the people have waived their rights to 
sovereignty ? So far from having waived them if they could, lliey liave 
maintained a series of protests from an early day. They have manifested 
their patience till it has ceafed to be a virtue ; and it was not till their me- 
morials were trampled under foot, their rights and feelings were outraged 
with msulting hardihood, and the door was closed and bolted against any 
further remonstrance, that they resorted to their original sovereignty, as 
the only remaining and effectual means of redress. They cared not from 
whom a constitution should proceed, provided it were just and equitable. 
Had the freeholders made such a constitution in time past, they would 
have raised no voice against it. '^Fhey would have given it an open or a 
tacit consent. They have now risen up in a sense of their rights and 
duties, and are proceeding to take all proper care of themselves and of their 
opponents. 

While, therefore, it is a great mistake to imagine that any prescription 
has grown up in favor of the present order of things — and, in fact, the peo- 
ple have ever kept in view their rights, and have on various occasions as- 
serted their claim to political justice — let it ever he borne in mind, that if no 
claim on their part had ever been interposed to this day, and they had re- 
mained silent as well ds patient, yet no continuance of usage or prescrip- 
tion, however long, can impair or take away the right of sovereignty from 
the people, or prevent them from acting, however late, wiih the same good 
and valid effect. From the ancient maxim, '• Tnne does not run against 
the king," erase the word " king," and insert " people," and you have one 
of the great and everlasting truths of our political system. No delay or 
acquiescence on the part of the people can ever make it right to govern 
wrong, or to deprive them of their inherent capacity to establish the right 
and to correct the wrong. No abuses of government, hovv'ever hoary and 
venerable, are beyond the reach of the arm of the people, which, like the 
arm of civil justice, moves slowly, without display, or effort, or threats, but 
firmly and surely to its purpose. The people of this State, we may say 
witiiout extravagance, have inherited from the old monarchy the power to 
cure the " king's evil," and all other evils of the body politic which have 
survived the Revolution. 

There is nothing in what 1 have advanced that is inconsistent with the 
valid existence of a government in this State, or which can be construed 
to deny its operation or efficacy during the term of its continuance. What 
1 say is, not that we have no government in Rhode Island, for we live un- 
der a government of laws; but tliat the people have a right to change it. 
Until they do change it, it sub-ists. Especial care has been taken in the 
framing of this constitution — especially in article XIV., now under con- 
sideration — to guard against the occurrence of anarchy. The present gov- 
ernment is preserved till its substitute is fully set in operation. All officers 
maintain their places till their successors are elected. All laws, public and 
private, not inconsistent with the constitution, remain in full force, subject 
to the ordinary action of the legislative body. The transition to the new 



Rep. No. 546. • 861 

order of things in legislative matters is gradual, and without confusion or 
violence. No man's rights of person, property, or character, will be im 
paired or invaded. This state of the case ought to be kept in mind, be- 
cause our opponents have very adroitly confounded two ideas relating to 
this subject, whicli are totally distinct. They deny a right in the people to 
change the government, because it has a valid existence. We admit the 
facts of Its existence and validity while ii lasts, and deny their conclusion, 
because it does not follow legitnnately from the premises. The right to 
change the government stands by itself. The existence of the present 
government is not inconsistent with it ; nor is the right to change incon- 
sistent with the functions of the present government. If the majority of 
the people are not now prepared to change it, it will stand as before, by 
their consent, until they are prepared to change it. Both statements are 
equally erroneous and false — either that the present government is beyond 
the reach of the people, because it has stood so long; or that the ultimate 
right to change, which exists in the people, has been lost, because they have 
delayed so long to exert it. Nor is there anything in our proceedings 
which tends in the least degree to disorder or confusion. It would be a 
monstrous perversion of logic to deduce, from the patience and long suller- 
ing of the people under their manifold grievances, the unwarrantable con- 
ch'ision that their power has been subverted and lost by non use ; and the 
argument, if it proved anything, would be good for much more, and would 
prove that every species of tyranny and oppression, and every form of ab- 
solute and despotic government which has existed for a length of time in 
any part of the world, is fixed and permanent ; that the rights of the people 
liave I een submerged and lost ; and that the only hope of melioration is 
throuc;h the " especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion " of the 
reigning tyrant, or the established aristocracy, personal or landed. At such 
a doctiTne as this, every republican revolts with feelings of detestation. It 
is a doctrine which allies its authors and abettors not only with the tories 
of the Revolution, but with the slavish advocates of the "divine right of 
icings," and of the other exploded heresies of which the world has grown 
ashamed. 

VYe say, then, that the existing government of Rhode Island is a govern- 
ment by tacit consent ; and that' the right to consent, involves also the right 
to dissent; and that when the dissenters manifest a majority in favor of 
another government, provided only that it be republican, as the constitu- 
tion of the United States requires, the old government will pass into the 
other, and its functions will cease. 

How the action of the people shall commence, and in what way their 
sovereign power shall be manifested, are merely secondary questions. They 
may assemble in a mass, as our ancestors did for many years at Newport, 
before the population became numerous ; they may elect delegates to meet 
in convention to propose a constitution ; or, without the intervention of 
delegates, they may vote directly upon a constitution, be its form what it 
niay". The mode of proceeding is a matter of expediency and convenience. 
The binding power is not in those who propose, but in those who adopt. 
And yet our opponents, in pursuance of their plan to defeat the present 
popular movement, are loud in denouncing the people's convention as not 
to be properly an,d legally called ; that is, called by the General Assembly— 
as if the call were of the least importance. It sounds not a little strange, 
in a republican country, to hear it gravely advanced that the people cannot 



862 Rep. No. 546. ' 

exercise the great act of sovereignty in forming and reforming their gov- 
ernment, without the permission of their servants, or rather the servants 
and representatives of a minority of freeholders in the General Assembly ! 
And yet the tories of the present day maintain this doctrine. It will an- 
swer their purpose very wtU in its apphcation to the non freeholders ; hut 
let me ask how they lik'e its appHcution to themselves? If it be true, then 
the freeholders have no right to sit in convention, notwithstanding the ex- 
clusive sovereignty which they arrogate to themselves, until their repre- 
sentatives call them together. If the Assembly will condescend to do so, 
the freeholders are as completely powerless as they pretend that the non- 
freeholders are ; and it follows as a consequence, that, after all their boast- 
ing of their own importance, the sovereignty of the State is not in them, 
but in the eighty-three members of the General Assembly, and that the 
legal people (as they are called) are the mere creatures of their own ser- 
vants. So ii\x as sovereignty is concerned, therefore, the freeholders, by 
their own showing, are no better oti' than the non freeholders, and are in- 
terested wiih them in getting it back as soon as possible. The fiction of a 
rightful omnipotence and a virtual sovereignly in the General Assembly 
is borrowed from another country, by whose unwritten constitution the 
government is the ultimate power in the State. The sovereignty of Eng- 
land was originally in the king ; and to this day all laws are in form by 
the enactment of the king, with the consent of the lords spiritual and tem- 
poral, and of the commons, in parliament assembled. The king is to this 
day the sole fountain of honor, though not of power. But the king and 
parliament together are, by the theory of the British Government, the de- 
positaries of the sovereignty of the realm ; and no question of change or 
reform is ever submitted to the people. Will any man in his senses contend 
for such a power in our General Assembly ? Are our governor and senate, 
like the king and house of lords in England, permanent and hereditary 
branches of the government? Is our governor the fountain of all honor ; 
and does he enact all laws, with tlie assent of the senate and of the repre- 
sentatives? If not, then our legislature is not omnipotent, in the sense in 
which that word applies to the parliament of England ; and it cannot be 
the depository of the sovereignty of the State. I know that our legisla- 
ture is restrained by no paramount law or constitution, except that of the 
United States ; and that while the term of office of its members lasts, they 
can do pretty much as they please. They can change the representation ; 
they can alter the right of suffrage ; they can make and unmake the people. 
But their time of office expires at last ; and if they should attempt, by re- 
pealing the election law, to resolve themselves into a permanent body, even 
the freeholders would cry out against the assumption of power, and would 
begin to believe, after all, that a portion of the people, at least, had some- 
thing to do with the functions of sovereignty. 

We are told that the people's convention is an irregular and unauthorized 
body, because it was not called by the General Assembly ; and that the 
freeholders' convention is regular and lawful, because it loas called. This 
absurdity will bear a moment's examination. When you come to look at 
the act of the Assembly for calling the freeholders' convention, you will be 
surprised, after hearing that such a solemn importance has been attributed 
to it, to find that it is a mere request to the towns to choose delegates, and 
is just as binding as the resolutions for thanksgiving, or any other recom- 
mendatory resolutions, and no more. The Assembly recommend to the 



Rep. No. 546. 863 

freeholders to choose delegates ; and if the delegates come, they sh.ill be 
paid. This is the whole substance of the act; and yet we are told with 
asinine gravity tiiat this mere request, which no charter, law, or usage au- 
thorizes the Assembly to make, and which no one is bound to obey, gives 
life and power to the landholders, which they had not before ; makes their 
proceedings regular, and their constitution, if adopted, binding on the 
whole people. 

1 know, Mr. President, that in our State constitutions it is usual to pro- 
vide in the article relative to amendments, that the convention to propose 
them shall be called by the legislature, (through instructions to the repre- 
sentatives,) to save the trouble and expense of electing special delegates to 
make the call. But this fact does not take away the force of what I have 
advanced, because we are not now speaking of what might and would be 
the call in this State under a constitution, but what is the case now. There 
is no mode whatever pointed out in this State for amending its government. 
The charter contains no clause of amendment ; because the power to amend 
resided in the king, who granted it by his "especial grace, certain knowl- 
edge and mere motion." Neither the people at large in this State, nor the 
freeholdmg people, have ever adopted a constitution ; and, of course, they 
have prescribed no mode of amendment. The Assembly have never passed 
any general law providing the mode of procedure to amend the govern- 
ment. They have only made requests from time to time, which have 
never been complied with, except by the convening of delegates to receive 
their pay. And farther, there is no usage in this State which points out 
the mode of amendment. The clear conclusion therefore is, that the people 
of this State, whoever they are, have a right to proceed to amend their 
government, without a call, in just such manner and time as they may see 
lit ; and I have endeavored to show that the people are the citizens in gen« 
eral, the successors to the former sovereign of Khode Island. 

So far, therefore, from our proceedings being irregular or revolutionary, 
they are strictly in order, and in conformity with the will of the people, 
and could not be strengthened by any possible form of request from the 
present government. Where there is a mode of amendment prescribed by 
the constitution of a State, it ought to be followed. But suppose the con- 
stitution of a State — of Massachusetts, for instance — were silent on this one 
point, and prescribed no way to proceed. I ask, who would have the power 
to amend that constitution ? The electors named in it? No; for all the 
subjects upon which they can vote are specified in the instrument. The 
legislature? No ; for this is not named among their powers. The only re- 
maming alternative is, that the people at large, the source of all power, 
have the right to amend the government, as they originally had the right 
to make it, 

I pass over, as unworthy of particular notice, the argument that the gov- 
ernment of Rhode Island is in the hands of a land compa7iy, and subsists 
by vested right. The company do not pretend to hold any shares, or any 
assignable interest, or to make any dividend of profits. They exercise po- 
litical powers ; and so do the people, to whom it matters not whether these 
powers of the land company are exercised by grant of the king, by act of 
parliament, by usage, or in any other manner. The people succeeded at 
the Revolution to the same right to call to account and to amend a po- 
litical corporation as any other political body, or governing authority, 



864 Rep. No. 546. 

which requires for the public good to be subjected to the searching process 
of popular scrutiny. 

Nor will I detain you with any remarks upon the clause of the constitu- 
tion of the United Slates which guaranties to each State a republican form 
of government ; because we propose no appeal to Congress for their aid in 
a question of State rights, which we believe the people are competent to 
settle in their own way, and upon their own ground. I will only say that 
if it be the object of that clause of the constitution to provide that no con- 
stitution, law, nor usage of any Stale, however agreeable to the majority, 
shall ever be suffered to compel the submission of a minority to a form ot" 
government in any respect anti republican, then, most assuredly, if the mi- 
nority in every State be thus taken care of, any expression of the will of 
the majority in this State, not inconsistent with the definition of a republic, 
will be recognised without a moment's hesitation by the General Govern- 
ment. 

Mr. President, I have endeavored to reply to the question of the gen- 
tleman from Cumberland. We have seen that our government was in its 
origin a democracy ; and continued such, by the assent of the King of 
England, to the time of the Revolution ; that the whole people succeeded 
to the sovereignty of the State; that, for the reasons given, they omitted to 
exercise it in the formation of a constitution ; that our government has 
degenerated into a freeholding aristocracy; that safety and self-respect for- 
bid a longer delay in the work of reform ; and that the people are now 
proceeding, in an unobjectionable and appropriate mode, to adopt such 
measures as justice rec^^uires. And in so doing, they will relieve the free- 
holders from the absurd position in which a portion of them, at least, have 
placed themselves in attempting to resist the course of popular rights. 
They tell us that the people have no authority to make a constitutioji ; that 
the legislature have no authority ; and that the freeholders have no au- 
thority, because they cannot move an inch until authorized by the legis- 
lature ! In this distressing difficulty, rather than that the sovereignty of the 
State should evaporate, and be entirely lost, the people have consented to 
step in, and to take the case into their own hands, and to do substantial jus- 
tice to all the parties who are concerned. 

The freeholders are a part of the people, though not the whole people ; 
and we are happy to find the liberal portion of them going along with us 
in this good work. Our ticket is so formed, that every voter will respond 
to the question whether he be qualified under the existing laws or not. A 
majority of the freeholders is not necessary to our success ; but it will be 
gratifying to find them on the right side. If the people give us a majority, 
we shall conclude the freeholders ; if the freeholders do the same, they 
will conclude themselves. 1 trust that the result will be the adoption of a 
constitution that shall be worthy of our venerated ancestors, and transmit 
the blessings of their "ancient democracy," and of well-ordered and ra- 
tional liberty, to their remotest descendants. 



Kep. No. 546. 865 

No. 240. 

Repoi't of the trial of Thomas W. Dorr, GoverJior of the State of Rhode 
Inland under the yeople's constitution, on the charge of treason. 

State of Rhode Island, (fcc. vs. Thomas W, Dorr — for treason. 

At Newport, R. /., April 26, 1844. 

For the State, Joseph M. Blake, esq., attorney general, assisted by Alfred 
Bosworth, esq., of Warren. 

Tlie defendant conducted his own case, in the absence of his principal 
counsel, Hon. Samnel Y. Atwell, from severe illness. Assistant counsel, 
George Turner, esq., of Newport, and Walter S. Burges, esq., of Provi- 
dence. 

To present a connected view of all proceedings from the commencement, 
we annex a short preliminary statement. 

Mr. Dorr returned to the State on the 29th day of October last, and was 
imnjediately arrested and committed to prison on a charge of treason against 
the Stale, as cliarged against him in an indictment then pending in the 
county of Newport. On the 29th of January, 1844, Mr. Burges, of counsel 
for the defendant, at his request, gave a written notice to the attorney 
general that the defendant would claim a trial of his case at the ensuing 
session of the supreme court at Newport. Mr. Blake replied to Mr. Burges, 
that at the opening of the next term of tlie court in March, he should in- 
form the court that he was ready to proceed in the trial of the indictment 
against Mr. Dorr, whenever the court might direct. Notice of Mr. Dorr's 
intention to plead to the jurisdiction of the court, at the session before the 
regular term, was sent to Mr. Blake, in writing, on the 26th of February. 

Mr. Dorr was taken from the prison in Providence, by Deputy Sheriff 
Potter, (the same officer who committed him.) on the 29th of February 
last, and brought, the same day, before the court at Newport, which was 
then sitting, by adjournment from tlie preceding regular term in August, to- 
dispose of the arrears of business. Mr. Dorr was forthwith arraigned; and 
being called upon to plead, interposed a plea to the jurisdiction of the 
court, on the grounds that the law of the State (a portion of the Algepine 
law, as it is commonly called) which authorizes the finding of an indictment 
out of the county in which the offence is charged to have been committed, 
is against common right, unconstitutional, and void ; and that if the act be 
constitutional, it does not in terms take away the right of being tried in the 
county where the offence is charged to have been committed, and ought 
not to be stretched by implication. Mr. Dorr is a resident in the county of 
Providence, and nothing is alleged against him in the county of Newport. 
The attorney general demurred to this plea. 

Mr. Dorr moved the court to assign the earliest day for the trial of the 
demurrer. They assigned Thursday of the next week, in the regular term. 

On Tuesday, March 5th, at the first sitting of the court in the new term, 
Mr. Dorr was again brought mto court ; and being satisfied, as he said to the 
court, that the trials of the plea to the jurisdiction, and of the main issue by 
a jury, (in case the plea should be overruled,) could not both take place at the 
present term, in consequence of the distant day assigned by the court for a 
hearing on the plea ; and being desirous not only of avoiding delay, but even 
55 



866 Hep. No. 546. 

the appearance of delay, withdrew what he believed to be a substantial d'e'- 
fence, (the plea to the jurisdiction of the court,) and pleaded not guUti/,j\nd 
claimed an immediate trial by jury as his right. The court, after consulta- 
tion, announced that the 26th day of April following was the earliest that 
they could assign for the trial, and assigned it accordingly. 

The defendant's counsel then moved the court, in their discretion, to 
transfer the indictment to Providence county, where the defendant and his 
witnesses resided, as the defendant was constitutionally entitled to "a speedy 
trial by an impartial jury," neither of which could be obtained here. The 
motion was supported by Messrs. Turner and Atwell, and opposed by Mr, 
Bosworth and the attorney general, and overruled by the court; who ordered 
sixty additional jurors to be summoned by the sheriff, for the 26th of April, 
and remanded the defendant to Newport jail. 

Newport, Friday morning, April 26th. 

Present, the whole court, consisting of Job Dnrfee, chief justice, and Levi 
Hale, William R. Staples, and George A. Brayton, associates. 

The defendant, Thomas W. Dorr, is brought into court, and persists in 
his former plea of not guilty. 

Mr. Turner stated to the court that both the defendant and himself had 
to regret the absence of Hon. Samuel Y. Atwell, the principal counsel, 
who was detained at home by a severe, if not dangerous indisposition ; 
but the defendant would not ask for delay on this account, as he would be 
entitled to ask. 

Mr. Turner suggested to the court, that as there were a number of wit- 
nesses (some of them residing at a distance) who would be called to show 
the disqualification of several of the persons drawn and summoned for ju- 
rors, it was desirable that an adjournment should take place till tomorrow, 
that they might all b« at hand when call for. But the court decided that it 
would be best to proceed immediately, as the jurors whom it was intended 
to challenge might be disqualified on their own answers; and, if not, they 
micrht stand by till the witnesses should be produced. 

Mr. Turner moved the court that the witnesses of the defendant be sum- 
moned at the expense of the State — the defendant being unable, of his own 
means, to procure their attendance, 

Mr. Dorr stated, in explanation of the remarks of his counsel, that he 
should be able to offer to his counsel a reasonable compensation, but he 
should not be able to meet the further expenses of the case, especially if he 
should be obliged to summon many witnesses. 

The court replied, that it had not been usual to furnish the aid of the 
State, except in cases of entire destitution, where counsel was assigned by 
them to the prisoner ; and denied the motion. 

The attorney general then proposed to the court several questions to be 
put to jurors, as they should be severally examined touching their compe- 
tency to sit in the case : 

1st, Have you attended to the reading of the indictment of the State 
ao-ainst Thomas W. Dorr, the prisoner at the bar? 

''2d, Have you formed or expressed the opinion that the said Thomas W. 
Dorr is guilty, or the opinion that he is not guilty, of the crime in said in- 
dictment? 

3d. Did you vote for the said Thomas Wilson Dorr for governor, at the 
election on the ISth of April, 1842? 

4th. Have you formed the opinion, or do you believe that said Thomas 



Rep. No. 546. 8b7 

W. Dorr was the governor of this State, or authorized to exercise the duties 
of o-overnor, at any time between the 16th day of May, 1842, and the 28th 
of June, 1842? 

5ili. Are you a relation of the said Thomas W. Dorr? 

6th. Are you a freeholder in the county of Newport? 

Defendant objected to the 3d and 4ih question as unreasonable and im- 
proper ; and the question was argued at some length by Messrs. Turner and 
Dorr, and by the attorney general. 

The attorney general contended, that if these questions were not put, ju- 
rors who had taken part with the prisoner, and approved his proceedings, 
would su to try him. If they vott^d for him, or believed him to have been 
irovenior of the State, they had prejudged his case, and, of course, would 
hold him justifiable against the charges in the indictment. If Mr. Dorr 
was governor^ then he had a right to do all that he did; and those persons 
who believed that he was, are certainly incompetent to try him. 

Mr. Dorr said, that although, as had been remarked, this was a novel case, 
{lovel and unusual expedients ought not to be resorted to to procure a convic- 
tion. It was impossible to doubt the purport and tendency of these questions. 
They were aimed at all persons belonging to one of the political parties in 
the State — the party with which the defendant was connected. All such 
were to be excluded from the jury; and all of another description were ro 
be admitted, without any sucii test as had been proposed. This would in- 
sure to him not the " impartial jury'' guarantied to him, as of common right, 
but a partial jury of political opponents, and would work the most flagrant 
injustice. I'hese questions were involved in the 2d question — or rather 
that question involved all that could be properly asked of the opinions of 
jurors. If the reply was, that the juror had neuher formed nor expressed 
an opinion concerning the guilt or innocence of the prisoner, he had quali- 
fied himself; and it was improper to go behind the oath he had taken, to ex- 
tort from him other answers, when the first covered the whole ground upon 
which it was competent to examine him. To go further than this, was to in- 
vade the righlof the juror himself; to question his veracity, and virtually to 
charge him with perjury. If he had told the truth, in his answer, he was com- 
petent. And how far could an investigation of this kind be carried ? Where 
was it to stop? A great variety of opuiions upon the political questions in- 
volved in this case had been entertained, and difierent opinions by the same 
individuals at different times. Some were still for the old charter; some for 
one constiiution, some for another; some had voted for the defendant, and 
believed he was duly elected and qualified as governor, who afterwards 
v/entoverto the opposite party, and contradicted their former assertions and 
acts, if these questions were to be put, then many others might be asked 
witli the same propriety; the oath of the juryman to his impartiality would 
be nugatory, and an inquisitorial process would be devised, such as had 
never been heard of in a court of justice. If the juror answer that he 
voted for defendant as governor, and considered !iim to be governor be- 
tween the times named, then it would be necessary to ask him if he still 
remained of the same opinion, and, if not, when and how lie changed his 
mind. There is no end to this sort of inquisition. Then, acjam, look on 
the other side of the question. If a person who says he believed the de- 
fendant to be governor be unfit to be a juror because of partiality, how 
ijinch more fit and less partial is he who says he believes thedefendcnt not 
to have been governor, and has thereby closed his mind against all the evi- 



868 Rep. No. 540. 

dence of justification that the defendant may oifer. The difficulty is in the 
case itself. It is a political question ; and all persons have conversed about 
it and canvassed it, more or less. If a fair trial be intended, the jury must 
not be selected from the political opponents of the defendant. He cannot 
ask the prosecutor to put an entire list of defendant's political friends in the 
box ; and he has a right to protest a^^ainst the exclusive selection of liis po- 
litical enemies; a jury at large, without selection, will be the nearest ap- 
proach to fairness. A fair trial is inconsistent with such a procedure as 
that suggested, and with any other tending to the same result. No man 
can mistake the political meaning of the questions which it is now pro- 
posed to ask. 

The court, after deliberation, were equally divided upon the motion of 
the attorney general, and the questions were overruled. Chief Justice 
Durfee, and it is believed .Judge Haile, were in favor of putting the ques- 
tions ; and Judges Brayton and Staples in the negative. The chiefjusiice 
observed that he was clearly of opinion that they ought to be asked. 

The jurors (seventy six in number) were then called, and all answered 
fo their names except four — one of whom was before excused, and three 
were fined for non attendance. The indictment was then read again. 

Ill consequence of the great length of the testimony in the case, we shall 
not go minutely into all the particulars of empannelling the jury, but shall 
state only those incidents which were most important. 

The regular drawn jury for the term consisted of sixteen. Sixty in addition 
were selected and summoned njion a venire by the sheriff, previous to the 
commencement of the term. Forty-eight more (twelve in each venire) 
were afterward summoned by the sheriff, by order of the court. One other 
person was excused on account of indisposition. Deducting the five absent 
or excused, there remained 119, from whom the choice of a jury was to be 
made. 

The defendant was entitled to twenty peremptory challenges, and made 
nse of the full privilege in this respect allowed him by law. 

Of the ninety-nine remaining, eighty three were set aside by the courtj, 
in consequence of their answers that they had formed and expressed an 
opinion of the guilt or innocence of the prisoner, or upon proof by wit- 
nesses to the same effect. Only one person was set aside on proof by a 
witness for the government, that he had formed and expressed an opin- 
ion. Several were set aside on proof produced by the defendant. Four 
persons summoned were not reached on the list, the jury being complete. 

As the offence charged is political, and a great political question was in- 
volved in the issue, it is proper to state that the jury were all of one politi- 
cal parly, and all opposed to the political sentiments of the prisoner and 
those of the party with which he is connected. 

Of the drawn jurors, (sixteen in number,) two are connected with the 
democratic party. One of these (Abner Tallman) replied to the question 
of the prosecutor, that he had formed and expressed no opinion ; but was 
taken off on the production, by the prosecutor, of a witness who deposed to 
the contrary. The other, John H. Cornell, answered that he had formed 
and expressed an opinion : and he was set aside, as was also, for the same 
cause, Fobes Manchester, the only person among the 108 summoned jurors, 
who is connected with the democratic party. 

On Friday morning, the 26th, after the empannelling of the jury had 



Rep. No. 546. 869 

: ommenced, Mr. Dorr, upon the question of the competency of Philip Sher- 
man, suggested to the court that the second question put to jurors, in its 
present sluipe, might admit to the jury persons who had fully made up 
their minds upon the general subject. The question now is, v/hether the 
juror has formed or expressed an opinion upon the guilt or innocence of 
the prisoner as charged in the indictment. He may have made up his 
mind that he is guilty, and may yet be in doubt about a particular day, or 
the precise " manner and form," and thus pass into the jury box. It the ques- 
tion were general, according to the usual practice, "have you formed an 
opinion as to the guilt?" «fec., the juror might reply thai his opinion was 
formed and expressed, thougli he was not certain as to time, and manner, 
and form. 

The suggestion was not considered by the court ; and the question was 
put as before, 

Abner Tallman was called as a juror in the forenoon of the 26th ; and 
answered that he had not formed nor expressed an opinion, and was other- 
wise quahfied. The attorney general requested that he might stand aside 
for the present, that he might send for witnesses as to Mr. Tallmaii's bav- 
ins' expressed an opinion, although he could not say what he should be 
able to prove by them. The court granted the request. 

The next morning Peleg T. Wail was produced, who swore that he had 
had a conversation at his shop with TalhTian, in which T. said that he 
would not pay for a sheep that had been killed " as long as he had a drop 
of blood in his veins." Tallman also said, that, if he were on a jury to 
try Governor Dorr, he would never find a verdict against him " until ail 
was blue." Witness could not recollect which of the expressions used by 
Tallman applied to the sheep, and which to the sitting on the jury. Wit- 
ness said tliat he had never mentioned the conversation with Wait to any- 
body; and that when he was asked on the subject, he knew notliing about 
it, but would remember it in an hour or two. Mr. Tallman was again exam- 
ined, and related the particulars of his conversation with Mr. Wait. Mr. 
T. said that he had had no conversation with Wait on the subject of sitting 
on the jury, and that the expressions used b\' him related to a sheep said to 
have been v/orried by a dog of his, but untruly, and for which he would 
not pay till " all was blue." The court said that it was a plain case, and 
the juror must stand aside. Defendant protested against the rulmg of the 
court, and requested them to note his exception. 

Robert Seatle, on the first venire, having sworn that he had not formed 
nor expressed an O[)inion, was set aside, on motion of defendant, for the 
production of witnesses. When his name was called, and the witnesses 
were about to be examined, the court said it was unnecessary ; he must 
stand aside, as they had noticed " an improper communication" with him ; 
Judge Staples remarking that this was enough to throw a doubt on his 
qualification. The " communication" was with William H. Cranston, esq., 
whom the government had requested to look up witnesses in the case of 
Talhuan, and who had passed over, in the view of the court, and held a 
conversation with Seatle. 

Satukday afternoon, April '27. 
Edvjard Cngs'eshaU i^xmnined — Had expressed no opinion. Stephen 
P. Slocum, witness, testified that ho had heard Coggeshall say that Dorr 
'' ought to be hung ;" and Peleg Almy, jr., that he bad heard him say that 



870 Rep No. 54()V 

the " Dorrite party ought all to he hnncr." Blake, attorney general, remarked 
that the juror intended nothing personal by this. Set aside. 

Monday forenoon, Api^il 29. 

William Swan, jr., sworn — Had expressed no opinion. Caleb S. 
Knight, witness, testified that he had heard Swan say that " Dorr and his 
party ought to be hung," and that Dorr had committed treason. Set aside. 

Defendant stated to the court^ that, from information given to him. it 
seemed to be a proper question to one of the keepers of the jury empan- 
nelled in part, whether he had had any conversation with any of them 
upon the case on trial. The question being asked, the officer declared that 
he had not. 

Defendant challenged, in writing, the whole array (of 12) returned upon 
the third venire, on the ground of improper interference by William H. Oan- 
ston, esq., who accompanied the de|)niy sheriff out of town in making the 
summonses, and in whose handwriting the return of jurors was made. 

"CHALLENGE. 

"Supreme Court, March term, 1844. 
^'■Newport, sc. 

" Indictment - the State vs. Thomas W. Dorr. 

"1 challenge the array in this case for manifest partiahty in the officer by 
wliom the same was returned, because — 

"George Rowland, a deputy sheriff of this county, who was charged with 
the service and return of the writ o{ venire for additional jurors, unmindhil 
of his duty in that behalf, and to the great and manifest prejudice of this 
traverser in obtaining a fair trial by an impartial jury, did, on the night of 
the 26th of April instant, take with him, to advise with and assist him in his 
said duty, William H. Cranston, esq., an attorney and counsellor at law, and 
an officer of this honorable court, whose frequently expressed opinions are 
inimical to the traverser, and who, ever since the con}mencement of the pres- 
ent trial, has acted, apparently, as an attorney with, and in the employment 
and under the direction of, the attorney general; and has summoned wit- 
nesses, at his request, in behalf of the State, from remote parts of the island. 

"And because the jurors returned on the writ oi venire afo'resi-iid, by the 
said George Howland, deputy sheriff as aforesaid, and conslitiiiing said ar- 
ray, were returned at tlie nomination and suggestion of the said William H. 
Cranston. 

"And because the return upon the said writ of venire is in the handwri- 
ting of the said William H. Cranston. 

"THOMAS W. DORR." 

Mr. Dorr said that it was impossible to disguise, the fact that an attempt 
was made to construct a political jury for the trial of this indictment. Of 
all the men who had thus far been summoned by the sheriff, only one was 
of the same political party with himself; all the rest were his political op- 
p^nents. And this was the "fairness" for which the indictment had been 
removed into this county from that where he resided, and where the acts 
charged in the indictment were said to fiave been coiumitted. Such a pro- 
ceediiio as this he intended to expose iiere, and l^efore the country. He be- 
lieved that he might with propriety have made a siinilar challenge to the first 



Rep. No. 546. 871 

veyiire, as havins: been grot up under the inspection of a relation of the indi- 
vidual desicrtiated in this challeng-e. But he had suppos'^d that such a gen- 
eral challenge niiijht have heen regarded by the persons summoned as di- 
rected toward themselves, though it would have been intended only for 
those who were making use of them for their purposes. Such a mode of 
^ettit;g up juries to insure conviction, ought to receive the severest reproba- 
tion. 

Blake, attorney general, with considerable warmth, repelled the implica- 
tion which he said the challenge conveyed, that he had been sending out 
an emissary to nominate and collect jurors ; and, in his turn, charged the 
defendant with attempting to direct the sheriff in the discharge of his duty. 

Mr. Turner said that he would take the word of the attorney general in 
the disclaimer he had made, and would cast no itnputaiion upon him; but 
it was very natural to suppose that Cranston might be under his directions 
genfjrallij^ as he (Blake) had stnted here that he was under his directions in 
summoning witnesses. 

Mr. Dorr said that Mr. Attorney, in a moment of irritatiou, had made a 
charge of interference against him, which was groundless. After the first 
venire was exhausted, he (Mr. Dorr) had said to the sheriff, as he was pass- 
ing round the table, "Give us this time, Mr. Slieritf, two or three demo- 
crats. Before, they were all of liie other sort but one." This was said spor- 
tively, and j)ublicly, in the hearing^ of several persons, and not for any im- 
proper object. No individual was named to the sheriff. I now repeat, said 
Mr. Dorr, in the pr^^sence of the court — let us have men for this jury wlio 
are not all of one sort. 

John Tallman testified that William H. Cranston was with the officer on 
Saturday morning when he summoned Headley as a juror," the day before, 
Cranston was with Headley and Dennis. 

John Headley was taken up as a juror oti Saturday, William H. Cranston 
being in company with tlie officer. Cianston sought for witnesses against 
Abner Tallman, who had been summoned as a juror. 

Nathan Dennis testifies that William H. Cranston was in company with 
the officer who summoned him as a juror; the day before, Cranston came 
to summon him as a witness. Cranston said to him (Dennis) that he was 
looking for witnesses to get Abner Tallman from the jury. 

Samuel Heath was summoned as a juror by the ollicer, Cranston being 
in his company. 

Mr. Turner read from 3 Jacol>s's Law Diet 569, and Co. Litr. 1,58, on the 
subject of the impartiality which ought to be shown by officers in summon- 
ing jurors. 

A ''tolerable ground of suspicion" even is sufficient to set aside the sher- 
iff's return. So also a nomination of the men by either party. — 3 Bla. 
Comm. 359; 4 Bla. Comm. 352; 4 Hawkins' P. C. 11; Hale's Comrn. L, 
28(3-9 ; 3 Jacobs 574. 

"One person returned on a pannel, at the nomination of either party, will 
vitiate the i-eturn." — Woods's Instit. 616. 

"An attorney was turned over the bar for ijiving directions to the sheriff 
what persons he should return." — English Liberties 239. 3 Jacobs L. D. 572. 

The court decided that the challenge to the array could not be sustained ; 
and the defendant excepted to the ruliiij^ of the court. 

The defendant proposed a question to the court respecting his right of 
being heard for himself A prisoner has a right to be heard by counsel. 



872 Rep. No. 546. 

and to speak for himself. After the two counsel whom the rules aflow 
have spoken, is it still the rigljt of the prisoner to be heard? 'j'he court 
said not. The prisoner, if he speak, is one of the counsel, and only one 
other can be heard with him. 

Monday afternoon, April 29'h. 

Samuel Heath examined ; summoned for a juror, and declared that he had 
expressed no opinion. Peleg Aimy testified that he heard Heath say they 
"did not kill enough at Chepachet," (meaning the charter troops,) though 
his feelings were not worse toward Dorr than the rest^ he considered him 
as a ringleader. Set aside. 

Samuel Westcott was admitted a juror. 

Defendant excepts, because his answers were unsatisfactory. 

Tuesday morning, April 20th. 

Mr. Blake alluded to the injustice which, he said, was done to William 
H. Cranston yesterday, in the matter of summoning jurors. 

Mr. Cranston said that he had no conversation with the deputy sheriff 
when he went out to suirmion jurors, but rode with him only. Tiiose who 
knew him would believe him incapable of such an interrere\ice. 

Benjamin I. Lawton examined for jur-r ; had expressed no opinion. 

Thomas Cutter heard him say that '■' T. Dorr ought to be shot." 

Abiel Spencer heard Lawton say he " would chop Dorr fine enough to 
make sausage-meat, if he could have his way." 

George L. White heard him say that he " would have the Dorr party all 
hung." 

Ordered to stand aside for the present. The jury was filled without call- 
ing him again. 

At 10 o'^clock in the forenoon the jury was completed, and the following 
is a list of them : 

1. Benjamin Carr, of Tiverton, 

2. Asa Devol, of ditto, 

3. William L. Melville, jr., of Newport, 

4. -William Card, of ditto, 

5. Jonathan Coggeshall, jr., of Portsmouth, 

6. David Seabury, of Tiverton, 

7. Benjamin Cory, of ditto. 

8. Charles \Y. Howland, of Little Compton, 

9. Borden Chase, of Portsmouth, 

10. Joseph Paddock, jr., of Newport, 

11. Richard C. Norman, of ditto, 

12. William D. Southwiek, of ditto. 

Richard G. Norman was app-nnted foreman, and declined. Joseph Pad- 
dock, jr., was appointed in his place. 

The jury being empatmelled, tlie clerk again read the iuuictment, and 
Mr. Bosworth opened the case for the State. 

Tlie crime charged was happily a novel one. A terrible oppression had 
been occasioned by trials for treason, when carried on by the kin^ and gov- 
ernment in England; and this had been the occasion of the crime beinof re- 
stricted here to those odious and atrocious acts which stab malicitnisly and 
wickedly at the life of the State. The pro'^ecntors, lie said, could have no 
feelings which would lead them to desire a conviction in this case. The 



Rep. No. 546. 873 

jury were fortunately relieved from the duty of ascertaining the law. The 
coiirt will instruct them in the law, and they will apply it to the facts. He 
spoke of the violation of high duties in treason. Read the statute against 
treason ; two witnesses required to each overt act. 

Levying war was an unlawful assembling, in warlike array, with trea- 
sonable {)urpose, and with ability to commit the act. — 2 Swift's Dig. 2G4-'5. 

Appearing at the head of armed men, and advising them to act, is a levy- 
ing war. — 6 Dane's Ab. 693. 

Dispersion without an actual engagement does not take away the charac- 
ter of treason. MancEUvring in the face of the government is enough. — 
2 Burr's Trial, 407. 

There are four counts in the indictment. Two charge the acts done at 
Providence on the I7th and IHth May, 1842, and two those done at Gloces- 
ter on the 25th and 27th of June. 

Mr. Bosvvorth then went on to give a history of the proceedings of the 
defendant, and to describe his motives and character in an exa2:gerated 
strain of denunciation and invective, more adapted to the political caucus 
than to the hall of justice, and which a political' opponent of more manly 
qualities would hesitate to em|)loy. Mr. B. had forgotten the remark of his 
colleague, (the attorney general.) that "if Mr. Dorr was governor, then he 
had a right to do all that he did ;" and that the true question involved the 
principle of popular sovereignty, which might be honestly supported by Mr. 
Dorr, as it had been by the men of former days, who have bequeathed to 
us the inheritance of our liberiies. 

The question was raised to the court by Mr. Bosworth, whether the pros- 
ecution may prove the intention of the accused before the proof of the overt 
acts of treason. The court, upon the authority of Chief Justice Marshall, 
(1 Burr's Trial, 472,) derided that the prosecutors might proceed in the or- 
der they pleased. Chief Justice Durfee remarked, that the intention may 
well be proved first, " for the law does not presume that a man at the head 
of armed men is committing treason." 

The prosecuting officers then proceeded in the examination of witnesses 
in behalf of the State. 

WITNESSES FOR THE PROSECUTION. 

Tuesday forenoon, April 30, 1844. 
Ji^remiali Br is^gs— Was present at the meeting of an Assembly at the 
"foundry," on the 3d of May, 1842. Saw the officers sworn ; saw Mr. 
Dorr hold up his hand and take the oath of office. The oath was taken 
by the representatives, senators, clerks, and the State officers, excepting the 
general treasurer. Mr. Dorr took an oath to support the constitution of the 
State and of the United States, as governor. Saw a large procession formed 
on Christian Hill. The General Assembly and the governor were attended 
by about 150 armed men. Crossed over from the hill to the house where 
they were to meet; was there the whole time, and heard Mr. Dorr deliver 
his address as governor; it was very long. The Assembly passed acts to 
renew the charters of several of the military companies. They also elected 
military officers, and passed several resolutions. They amended the char- 
ter of the volunteer company of Providence, and of the light infantry 
company of Wootisocket, so that they might enrol 200 men. They also 
amended some laws passed by the General Assembly some time previous ; 



874 Rep. No. 546. 

recollect, in particular, the riot act. Some of them seemed to think the 
foundry was not a fit place to sit in, as it rained tlirongh, and some drops 
fell on the speaker's head. They requested the sheriff, Bnrrington An- 
thony, to obtain the court house for their session the next morning. Wit- 
ness passed in witfi the procession. They went in uncovered, through tiles' 
of soldiers. 

Cro^s examined — Witness heard Mr. Dorr deliver his address as gover- 
nor from a printed paper. There was nothing unusual in it for such an 
address. Never heard one delivered before ; heard nothing in it about 
using force. The procession was like others he has seen since ; has seen 
bitter looking men. 

WiUiatn Burrough — Saw Mr. Dorr at the foundry acting as governor 
of the State. Saw the procession form ; it was composed of men armed 
and unarmed. Saw Mr. Dorr take the oath in the common form. Military 
guards were stationed about the building for some time. The General 
Assembly passed acts, and appointed military officers. They appointed a 
committee to call on the secretary of state to take possession of the papers 
of his office ; also, a committee to take possession of the public funds. Mr. 
Anthony, the sheriff, was authorized to prepare the court-house for the use 
of the Assembly. They abolished the laws respecting offences against 
the State, called the Algerine laws ; they appointed civil officers, and con- 
tinued the courts ; they appointed a speaker and clerks, and altered the 
law respecting riots. Saw a guard at Anthony's house on the 18ih of May. 
There were several cannon there, and some companies of armed men ; 
supposed they were there to protect Mr. Dorr. 

Cross-examined — There were armed men in the procession on the 3d of 
May. Some had clubs or canes ; they were not ordinary walking sticks; 
some of them were as large as his arm. The committee spoken of to t.tke 
possession of the public funds were to demand tliem after a new treasurer 
was sworn in. There was nothing warlike or riotous in the proceedings of 
the Assembly. Does not recollect hearing any forcible measure proposed. 
B. Anthony was authorized to go and demand the keys of the Siate house, 
and, if he obtained them, to prepare it for their use. Nothing was said 
about what he was to do if he did not get the keys. He was requested to 
do so. Saw no difference from other legislatures in the mode of conduct- 
ing the business. One man there seemed to know more about business 
than the rest, and told them what to do ; others did not seem to understand 
the manner of doing business; never saw anything just like it elsewhere. 

Levi Salisbury — Saw Mr. Dorr at the foundry. The Assembly was 
held there for the purpose of organizing ihe new government ; and they 
took the necessary steps for that purpose. Was not present when Mr. Dorr 
took the oath as governor. Heard him deliver his message; he was stand- 
ing on the platform at the end of the building ; don't recollect seeing him 
before he came in. The procession was decent, well dressed, and orderly; 
the armed men had guns or swords. The General Assembly passed acts 
and resolutions, and appointed officers, chiefly military. Does not recollect 
the appointment of any but military officers, excepting ihosi* necessary to 
organize the two houses. Committees were appointed to inspect the public 
offices, and to transfer to the new officers the books, property, and papers. 
A resolution was passed directing the new treasurer to receive and receipt 
for the funds. Does not recollect hearing Mr. Dorr propose to take pos- 
session of the public property by force, or any otlier person in his presence. 



Rep. No. 546. 8^5 

Was not at B. Anthony's house on the night of the attack on the arsena! ; 
knows of it only by report. Does not recollect oi hearing Mr. Dorr say 
anything abont attacking the arsenal. 

Cross ex-amined — Witness bt'lieves that the General Assemlily passed a 
resoUitioil authorizing tiie governor to demand and require the surrender of 
the f>nhlic property to the new officers of the State. The organization ot 
the government was conducted in every respect in an orderly manner ; 
there was nothing unusual, except that both houses met in one room. Saw 
no dictation of any one person over the rest. There was by talk and con- 
versation among tlie members of the legislature, as in other public bodies. 
A resolution was passed in the house, requesting the sheriff' to prepare the 
court-house for the use of the Assembly. Does not recollect that anything 
was said of any alternative if tlie house should be refused to him. Saw 
nothing unusual in the procession. Did not see any of the procession 
carrying large sticks or cluhs. 

[Witness hesitated in replying to a question from the attorney general, 
whether he knew that it was Mr. Dorr's wish to take possession by force 
on the 3d of May, 1842, on the ground that he might subject himself to 
prosecution for misprision of treason, if he stated he had such knowledge 
and gave no information of it. 

The attorney general said it would be such an offence to refuse to tes- 
tify what he knew of such a desire or intention on the part of the defendant. 

Mr. Dorr said he hoped Mr. Salisbury would not withhold anything he 
knew on his account. 

The court said that the witness was not asked whether he divulged or 
concealed, at the time, his knowledge of Mr. Dorr's intentions, but more 
generally what he knew on the subject; and that he must answer the ques- 
tion asked of him.] 

Mr. Salisbury continued : He certainly understood, at the time, that it was 
the wish of Mr. Dorr to take possession of the State-house and of the other 
public property. (Mr. Dorr said witness was correct.) Witness under- 
stood that Mr. Dorr was for vigorous measures. There was some discus- 
sion ill the house on the subject ; luit it was dropped informally. There 
was a division of opinion in the house upon taking such a step. The res- 
olution that was passed, requesting the sheriff to prepare the State house 
for the sitting of the Assembly, did not authorize or imply the use of force 
for that pur|)ose. Witness understood that it was then Mr. Dorr's inten- 
tion, and also that of others, to take possession of the State-house and other 
public property by force, if force should be necessary. 

Wni. H. Smiik — Was at the foundry at the meeting of the General As- 
sembly; Mr. Dorr also. Witness heard him deliver his inaugural message; 
thinks Mr. Dorr took the oath, but does not positively recollect seeing him 
do so. The procession was formed near the Hoyle tavern ; Mr. Dorr was 
near the head of it. Some were armed ; others not. Persons with arms 
Walked by the side of tlie members of the Assembly; also by Mr. Dorr. The 
Assembly elected military officers. Does not know that Mr. Dorr signed 
any military commissions to officers then appointed, or that such commis- 
sions were issued ; or of Mr. Dorr's procurino- a seal of the State. That 
was tlie, duty of another officer. Witness has seen commissions with Mr. 
Dorr's signature to them, but does not know that thfy were issued to the 
persons named in them. Heard Mr. Dorr say that fie was elected to the 
place of chief magistrate, and was bound to perform the duties of his office. 



876 Rep. No. 546. 

Has also the strong impression that Mr. Dorr said it would have been bet- 
ter to go at once to the Stale house and take possession of it. Witness 
knows that it was Mr. Dorr's desire to take possession of the State house 
at all events. Witness did not know at the time that force must necessa- 
rily be used. There were different opinions as to the necessity ■of force to 
accomplish the object. 

Cross examined — A resolution passed the Assembly requiring all persons 
in possession of any of the Slate property or papers to transfer the same to 
the newly elected officers ; and the governor was authorized to carry this 
into effect. This resolution was passed near the close of the session. State 
officers, senators, and representatives were elected. A committee was ap- 
pointed to count the votes. The votes were counted; and the result was 
declared to the Assembly. Witness thinks there were about 7,000 votes 
given in. There were few, if any, against Mr. Dorr. Does not know that 
any other governor of the State was ever elected by an equal majority. Mr. 
Dorr made no proposition hostile to the true interests of the State. He 
acted as governor of the State. Witness never knew of his acting other- 
wise than from a hig^h sense of duty. He was treated by the Assembly, and 
those associated with him, as governor. Witness does not know where the 
votes given in for defendant as governor now are; or where the votes are at 
present which were given for the people's constitution, under which Mr. 
Dorr acted. 

Tuesday afternoon. 

[Mr. Turner, for. defendant, read from the authorities, to show that an 
overt act of levying war must be proved, before testimony as to intention, 
or for other purposes, can be introduced. 

The court adhere to their opinion before expressed.] 

Roger W. Potter. — Was sheriff of Providence county in May, 1842. 
Saw the defendant at the Assembly held at the foundry. He was called 
the governor of the State. The day after the Assembly adjourned, a war- 
rant was placed in the hands of the witness against Dorr, and another 
against William H. Smith, as secretary of state. Mr. Dorr was not to be 
found. W^itncss saw him again on the 16th of May, (the day he returned 
from New York.) He was in a carriage surrounded by a guard of armed 
men. 

Cross-examined. — Witness did not go out of the middle of the city to 
look for Dorr. Witness was first directed to go to Burrington Anthony's 
house for Dorr ; but, after dinner, was directed not to go there, but to arrest 
Dorr if he should find him down street in tlie city. Did not know what 
miglit be considered his place of residence, as he had removed from his 
former home to the Franklin House, and afterwards left that house. Did 
not know that his residence was at IJ. Anthony's. Did not inquire for him 
there. Was told he might be found at the printing office of the Herald or 
Express. Edward Carrington, of the council, and others, told Ititn that 
Dorr would be down street. Witness received the warrants from the gov- 
ernor, or some one of his council. 

Dutee J. Pearce. — Does not know what day Mr. Horr left the State for 
New York after the adjournment of the people's legislature. Witness left 
on Saturday, and met Mr. Dorr in Philadelpfiia on Monday. They pro- 
ceeded to Washington. Witness left him m New York when he returned 
from that place. 'Witness knew Mr, Dorr intended to return to Rhode 



Rep. No. 546. 877 

Island ; but nothing respecting his intention to maintain himself as gov- 
ernor, and to take possession of the public property by force. Mr. D. did 
not communicate with him on the subject. The proposition to take pos- 
session of the property was made at the tni)e of the sitting of the legislature ^ 
but witness did not hear defendant make it. Witness took ground against 
this proposition, and opposed it. Durina: the session of the legislature at 
the foundry, there was a meeting of several persons at B, Anthony's house, 
and the subject of taking possession by force of the public property was 
talked over. Several persons were in favor of it. Does not recollect that 
Mr. Dorr expressed an opinion. 

Durino; this absence of the defendant, witness heard him speak of bring- 
ing a force to this State, to resist the force which might be brought by the 
General Government in aid of the charter government ; but defendant never 
spoke of wanting or using any force from abroad, except in the contingency 
of an interference from abroad by the United States troops. He did not say 
how many men would be wanted in such an event. His object was to 
prevent an interference on the part of the General Governmant. Witness 
was informed, after he lelt Wasbington, that defendant saw the President, 
Dorr stated to witness afterwards, at Chepachet, that he considered himself 
the lawful governor of the State, and that he had as good a right to use 
force to defend the government as any other officer had to overthrow it. 
Did not hear him hold out any inducement to any one to stand by him. 
He certainly did not to me. 

Cross-examined. — Did not hear Mr. Dorr say that he wished to take 
forcible possession of the State-house. Did not have much conversation 
with him at that time. George H. Brown, of Chepachet, was strongly for 
the measure. Witness took groinjd against it. For this he was called a 
coward by Mr. Brown ; but he (Brown) had made tracks fast enough when 
he got into difficulty. 

. Witness had no doubt of Mr. Dorr's intention to take possession of the 
State-house. When witness returned to Newport, he said then, that if it had 
not been for him, Dorr and his men would have taken possession of the 
public [)roperty ; and witness believes he was correct in saying so. 

Wiliiam F. Blodgo.t. — Saw Dorr in the procession on the 16th of May, 
Followed the procession to Federal hill, near B. Anthony's house. He ad- 
dressed the multitude ; does not recollect whether from a carriage or a plat- 
form. He said it was false, as he had been accused, that he should have the 
aid of 51./HJ men from abroad that he had asked for ; he expected 5,0tl0 when 
they were wanted. He drew his sword, and said it had been dipped in 
blood once, and before he sliould yield up the rights of the people of Rhode 
Island, it should be buried in gore to the hilt. Dorr was surrounded by 
between 3()(J or 400 armed men in the procession, and a concourse of un- 
armed. Witness never heard such a yell as when defendant announced 
his determination. They applauded him with the yell of fiends. Witness 
was told it was not safe for him to remain there. Was not much fright- 
ened. Remained twenty minutes or half an hour. The men about Dorr 
were more like desperadoes than men. They only wanted a leader to do 
anything. Gave information of these proceedings to the governor and 
council. 

The cannon of the artillery company were taken by Dorr's men on the 
afternoon of Tuesday, the I7th of May. The detachment came down 
about four o'clock; no authorized person was present to defend them. 



878 Rep. No. 546. 

Witness coliected a number of his friends, to prevent the carrying off of ihe 
guns, in case the orders should arrive from tlie governor in lime; they did 
not arrive, and the guns were carried off. The officer in command of the 
detachment said the muskets ot his men wore loaded ; so also did one of 
the company. The troops from the rest of the State v/ere ordered up, and 
came during the night of the 17th and in tlie morning of the 18th. Wit- 
ness was not at the arsenal, but was ordered to await the arrival of the 
troops from Warren, Bristol, and Newport. In the morning the column of 
about 550 men marched up Federal hill, under the command of Col. Wil- 
liam Blodget ; he marched beside the commander. Some one came and 
told them for God's sake to stop, as they would be fired upon. Companies 
were then deployed to the right and left, and the cannon of the Newport 
artillery were unlnnbered in front. The hostile gnns were then withdrawn 
some distance. The numbers around them decreased very rapidly when the 
troops came up to 40 or 50. The cannon were said to he loaded with round 
shot and slug iron. After a time B. Anthony promised that the guns should 
he returned at four o'clock in the afternoon if the troops were withdrawn ; 
Anthony said the men were drunk, and could not be influenced by him. 
The troops were consequently withdrawn. 

Cross examined. — Did not see on what Dorr stood when he made his 
speech. The shout was more like an infernal yell than anything else. To 
understand it, one must have seen Dorr's countenance when he made the 
speech. It accorded with the whole scene. 

Dorr did not make any explanation as to the use of the 5,000 upon the 
interference of Tyler. His name was not mentioned. Did not derive the 
story of the sword from a newspaper. Witness has not said that he came 
here to get Mr. Dorr convicted, or to that effect. He has said that he should 
say here all he could against iVIr. Dorr. 

Edward H. Hazard. — Saw the procession of the 16th of May. Informa- 
tion was received by the authorities that Dorr was in Stonington, and an 
armed force of his friends went to Stonington to escort him up. A propo- 
sition was made to the governor to arrest Dorr at Kingston depot, but it 
was not accepted. 

Went down to the depot of the Stonington railroad on Monday morning, 
and saw Dorr arrive. There were probably about 1,400 men in the pro- 
cession ; went with Colonel Blodget afterwards to Federal hill. Heard Mr. 
Dorr say that the sword had been dyed in blood, and should use it again in 
' the same way in defence of the rights of the people of this State. Dorr- 
also requested the military officers to meet him at Anthony's. 

[Mr. Hazard then gave an account of the proceedings at the arsenal on 
the night of the 17th of May, and also of the occurrences in the city on the 
18th, and afterwards; giving hearsay information relating to various indi- 
viduals and subjects, which was objected to by counsel for defendant. Wit- 
ness, however, proceeded.] 

Witness saw the men at the breastwork after they had fallen back from 
Anthony's house. D'Wolf was to take charge of them, and, if they could 
hold out a short time. Dorr was to return. 

Cross-examined. — Dorr spoke boldly and candidly. Witness thinks lie 
may have said that the 5,000 men wlio were to come from New York were 
to stand against Tyler, though he does not distinctly recollect. Witness did 
not derive the story about the sword from a newspaper. Never saw it in 
any newspaper. 



Rep. No. 546. 879 

Hmry S. Hazard. — Was in Providence on the 17th and ISth of May 5 
s,iA^ l)i)ir Oil the I6ih of May, when he came from Stonington ; saw the 
procession first going to the bridge ; didn't follow it: saw a large collection 
at B. Anthony's house on the 17th of June; many were the same as those 
who went in the procession. There were 300 or 400 up there when 1 went 
up; they were in companies; their arms were stacked, and guards were 
stationed round them. On the night of the 17th, about 12 or 1 o'clock, 
heard cannon fired; rode up on horseback over Federal Hill ; saw the men 
in I me ; rode along the line, and over to the arsenal ; told Colonel Blodget 
that they were coming ; he said he was ready for them ; rode back, and 
hoard them asking one another in line whether they were going to the ar- 
s^^nal ; some said they were, some said they were not; then rode to the 
light infantry armory and told Colonel Brown. There were 400 or 500 
men, but not all under arm.s. The cannon were in the road ; they appeared 

.| ready for service. 

' Cross examined. — Should think there were rising 400 men with arms. 
There was a very heavy fog that night ; rode along the line from one end to 
the other ; couldn't see more than half the length. They were standing in 
line — not in the best of disci|)line ; think they were mostly in double line; 
sto[)ped a little from the further end of them ; rode along the whole line ; 

, went there on purpose to see how many there were; didn't see Dorr that 
niglit. In answer to question whether he had said he hoped to see Mr. 
Dorr in prison, witness replied that he had said he hoped justice would be 
done to Mr. Dorr, and he was anxious to have him arrested; has no hard 
feehngs against Mr. Dorr. 

Joseph S. Pitnian — Heard on the 15th of May that Mr. Dorr had re- 
quested an armed force to meet him at Stoninyton ; the next day saw him 
escorted through the streets of Providence. [Mr. Pitman was aid to Gov- 
ernor King, and gave an account of what he saw as a scout on the night 
of the 17th.] 

Henry IS. Hazard^ recalled. — As we marched up, the cannon of the in- 
surgents was planted opposite Anthony's house, pointed down the hill. We 
marched up until we could see into the muzzles of the guns, and then halted. 
The insurgents then withdrew their cannon, and many of them dispersed ; 
should think tliat when they posted their cannon again, not more than forty 
or fifty remained. Saw a man swinging a torch, as if to apply it to the 
cannon ; some one took hold of him and prevented it. 

Orson MoJJitt. — Saw Dorr in Providence on the 16th and 17th days of 
May; saw him marching through the streets on the 16th. On the 17th, 
an armed force came down from B. Anthony's house to seize the cannon 
of the artillery company; saw them take the guns and carry them away. 
They said they came by orders of Governor Dorr. They said their raus- 
k 'ts were loaded. Saw Dorr, on the 16th, draw his sword, and something 
was said about a sword dyed in blood ; could not hear exactly what else he 
s-iid. Went to Warren on the 17th, at night, to bring up the troops ; came 
h ick and went through the city the rest of the night. Went into Dorr's 
lines : heard him give the order to fire ; saw one gun flash, and then heard 
Mr. Dorr himself call (or the torch; saw the other gun flash; saw him 
lioMing the torch ; conld see him plainly when the gun flashed ; was near 
enough to him to have touched him easily. The cannon was near the ar- 
senal, pniiitf'd vd it. When he found the gun only flashed, he said he was 
betrayed. He appeared to be commanding; heard him give no other orders 



880 Rep. No. 546. 

than the one to fire ; it was obeyed instantly. There was no guard on ihe 
plain when I was there ; saw a number of men about. They generally 
started to go off, and I left soon after the gun was flashed. About 12 
o'clock that night, witness was fired into going down Carpenter street ; was 
challenged first ; did not stop, and the musket was fired ; was leaning down 
and looking out of the carriage, else he should have been hit. 

Cross examined. — Saw Dorr draw his sword on the 16th ; could not ex- 
acdy hear what he said. Saw Dorr on the night of the 17th. Am certain 
that he applied the torch to the cannon ; knew him by the voice at first, and 
then by sight. Witness could not say anything about the dress of Mr. 
Dorr — whether he had a hat or a cap, or what sort of a belt, or what was 
the position of the guns, or who were near or standing around, or who 
flashed the first gun. Was in the midst of the men about the guns. 

George O. Bourn described tlie march of Mr. Dorr's men toward the 
arsenal. A person, who was following, told him there were 300 or 400 
under arms, and that others were to be armed with the guns that might be 
taken; they were then to march toward the city. The cannon were placed 
near the great tree. Thought the men in the arsenal could reach those 
around the cannon on the field wiih muskets. 

Cross-examined. — One of the insurgents told him there were 1,000 men 
without arms, who were to be furnished from the arsenal. 

Wednesday, May 1, 18/12. 

Ro^er W. Potter^ recalled. — Went on Federal Hill on the morning of 
the ISth of May, while the insurgents were there. Was called upon in the 
morning to go to the council chamber. A warrant was put into his pos- 
session against Thomas W. Dorr. Went up with the governor to Federal 
Hill ; we missed of the troops who had started before us. When we got 
there, John S. Harris was addressing the crowd ; went in and inquired 
for Dorr; B. Anthony pledged his honor that Dorr had been gone some 
time. A call for the governor to come to the window arose; witness took 
out the window; Governor King then said that the sheriff was in the 
house with a warrant for Dorr; they cried out, "No, no, shoot him, shoot 
him." Governor King then retreated from the window. Witness went to 
the window; they cried out "Shoot him." A man levelled a gun at his 
head ; they looked at each other a moment, and the man lowered his mus- 
ket. At Burrington Anthony's request, witness called to the crowd not to 
fire into the house. A cry then arose that the landholders were coming. 
William Dean gave the information, and the men rushed away from the 
house and the cannon. Went out to the cannon ; a man by the name of 
Gould was flourishing a lighted port match above one of them, which was 
pointed directly at the troops coming up the hill. Carter said that he should 
stand by the guns till he was shot down ; Gould said that the cannon were 
loaded with round shot and scrap iron. When we first went up, there was 
a line of men with muskets before the house — perhaps a hundred ; there 
were armed men in the house, on the stairs and above. When the troops 
came up, there was a great rush of both armed and unarmed men from 
about the house. One man cried out, " Where the hell are you going? — a 
pretty soldier to be running away!" 

Hiram, Clmppell. — Was in the procession which escorted Dorr from 
Stonington depot. They were under arms; don't know that the muskets 
were loaded ; the men had ammunition. Witness remained at and about 
the house of Burrington Anthony till they went to the arsenal. Isaac Allen • 



Rep. No 546. 881 

lind command of the troops at Burriiigton Anthony's house ; he said at 
the time tliat he was appoiutrd a major by Dorr, and received his orders 
from him. Knows of ammunition heinir purchased for the purpose of 
going to the arsenal. Dorr gave him money to buy powder and flannel, 
^25. Dorr went with the troops to the arsenal. Witness did not go on 
to the field. All the troops left the field about daybreak. Went back with 
Dorr in the same squad ; he said nothing about disbanding his troops, or 
going away. Did not know that Mr. Dorr had left till 8 or 9 o'clock. 
Drew the charges of the guns in the morning with Carter; found first a 
bag of slugs, then a ball, then a cartridge, then another ball, then another 
cartridge; tlie last cartridge was fired off, and the guns reloaded. They 
were loaded with ball and bags of slugs when the troops came up. 

Went to Chepachet on the 24th of June. Saw men under arms, about 
250 or 300, and in the mornmg saw a breastwork thrown up. Isaac Allen 
had command of them. Afterwards they chose D' Wolf commander. Satur- 
day Dorr came with an escort, and staid there till Monday night; about 
dark a letter was read on the hill, ordering the troops to disperse and go 
home peaceably. There were 25 or 30 of the Spartan band, who were 
said to come from New Y^rk. They were armed with muskets. They 
were out on scouts most of the time. D'Wolf was chosen by the, ofiicers. 
There was a pike company here, a pieked-up company. Tliere 'was a 
large quantity of scrap iron for the cannon, and three boxes of balls ; looked 
as if they came from some fort. One of the cannon came from Olneyville, 
called the Governor King. A ruuior arose at one time that the Algerines 
were coming, and Major Allen made a fuss and called up the Wooiisocket 
artillery to stand with match ropes lighted, by the guns. Allen said that if 
the Algerines did not come up, then they would go into town on Wednes- 
day. D'Wolf and Allen took their orders from Dorr. They so reported, 
and Dorr directed the troops to obey them. Dorr's order was, that no 
straniier should be admitted on the lull. The report was there that men 
were coming from New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut ; also that 
Mike Walsh had written to New York for the rest of his band. The 
muskets were said to have arrived at Norwich, and were then in boxes oft 
the wharf, as the railroad directors would not let them be brought over; 
the troops there were encouraged by these reports. Knows that arms and 
ammunition were obtained and secreted after the Federal Hill affair for the 
Chepachet gathering. Had some in his own house. Knew of the expedi- 
tion to Warren, as the men came to his house for arms. Knew that they 
wished to go and get arms from the wharf of Messrs. Brown 6c Ives. At 
Chepachet guards were set, countersigns had, and one prisoner was taken. 
Heard from Captain Bradley that he had surrounded Sprague's house with 
his company, to find if Dorr was there. Witness ascertained that he went 
away about half an hour after the letter was read upon the hill. Witness 
knew half an hour previous that Mr. Dorr was going to leave. Dorr came 
on the hill soon after he got there, and also on Monday. Heard that Dorr's 
father had been there Monday. 

[Mr. Turner objected to the witness's stating for testimony the hearsays 
and rumors that anybody may have told him. He ought to state facts. 
The court ruled, that whatever the insurgents said or did among themselves 
was proper evidence to characterize the assemblage. The government 
were bound to prove the connexion of the prisoner with this assemblage. 
The defendant was not answerable for their acts any further than this.] 
56 i 



882 Rep. No. 546. 

Witness. — When the letter was read upon the hill, the troops dispersed 
in great confusion, like a flock of sheep with dogs after thein. Knows that 
arms were purchased in other States for the use of the troops at Chepachet, 
Tents were there, wh.ich came from Massachusetts ; two men there told him 
that they were stolen. Dorr went oft' from Federal Hill before the governor 
and sheriff" came up. Didn't leave till after it was reported to witness that 
the troops were coming. 

Cross-exarnhied. — In witness's opinion, there were 25(Jor S()0 men armed 
at Chepachet ; they were going and coming continually. They were not 
permitted to go or come freely from the hill. No one could go from the 
hill, except by permission of the sergeant of tlie guard. An expedition went 
out after arms on Saturday. Heard there was a council of officers before 
the order to disband was given. The balls for the artillery that were there, 
were put up in boxes, as they are kept in forts and arn-iories ; had informa- 
tion of Allen that aid was coming from New York, Massachusetts, and 
Connecticut. On Monday night it was rumored that the State troops were 
encamped at Scitiiate. Did not hear, at the time we left, that any State 
troops were marching from Greenville. 

Stated before the commissioners upon his exauiination that he plugged 
the cannon at Federal Hill ; before they went to the arsenal, did plug the 
cannon with short pine pings ; this was done about 1 1 o'clock in the night ; 
didn't tell any one of it then ; should have been very foolish to have done 
so. Went out with the pieces, and halted there till morning. Was present 
when the charges were withdrawn from the guns the next morning; the 
pine plugs were jammed through. 

By the 250 or 300 men in arms in Chepachet, means only those who 
were on the hill. There were men armed and unarmed in the village. 
There were guards in the barracks, as they were called, at the upper end 
of the village, and at Sprague's tavern. The men around street went where 
they pleased, except when the companies marched. The object of the as- 
semblage in arms at Chepachet and at Federal Hill was to take possession 
of the State. Witness was an officer, but without a commission. Witness 
did not tell any one, after his examination by the commissioners, that his 
story to them about plugging the guns was false, and was related to them 
to gain favor. 

Jonathan, M. Wheele?\ — Was in Providence on the 16th, 17th, and 18th 
days of May. Men were under arms in the escort. Dorr delivered an ad- 
dress on Federal Hill; was on the hill the afternoon of the J7th: there 
were armed men there ; didn't know that the cannon were taken till even- 
inw. Was on the hill the night of the 17th ; saw Mr. Dorr there once, on 
the ground at the arsenal. The troops were around him ; witness staid 
there till two o'clock and then went away. Don't know what the troops 
did ; thinks he heard Dorr say that if he was legal governor, he had a right 
to take possession of the public property, and was bound to do it. Under- 
stood the intention was to take the arsenal that night. Saw the ^nns flash. 
Was not near enough to see how they were pointed. Understood the guns 
were brought on the field to take the arsenal. Thinks the men in the field 
were under the command of Thomas W. Dorr. 

Gen. Leonard Blodget, (at that time colonel.) — Witness produced the 
evidence in writing of his appointment to command the arsenal in Provi- 
dence by Col. Samuel Ames, quartermaster general, and of the approval of 
Governor King. 



Rep. No. 540. 883 

Witness commanded the arsenal on tlie night of the 17th, and on the 
Ibth of May, 1S42, and was employed as above stated. On the night of 
the I7tli an attack was expected. Somewhere from one to two o'clock in 
the night, a sentinel came aiid informed witness that there was a flag of 
truce at the door. Witness went down stairs to the door, and saw two men 
with a lidg. One of them demanded the surrender of the arsenal. Wit- 
ness aslced him in whose name, fie replied, in the name of Col. Wheelei-, 
adding, in an under tone, and of Governor Dorr. Witness said he knew 
no such peisons by those titles; and should not surrender, but defend his 
post. They then said that ha or tliey would come and take it. Witness 
replied, "Very well, then come and take it." The bearer of the messaa'e 
then answered that Dorr had a large force with him. Witness understood 
that the demand was made by Colonel Wheeler, in the name of Governor 
Dorr. Witness was informed that tliere would be an attack just before the 
men came on the ground. Went out once and heard their voices. There 
appeared to be a large number, but sav/ them indistinctly. The arsena! 
and the arms in it were tState |)roperty. The quartermaster general sup- 
plied the p'rovisious and ammuniiion. From thirty to fifty men were en- 
listed by witness for the defence of the arsenal. Governor King came into 
the arsena! from ten to twelve o'clock on the night of the 17th, and went 
away again. Two companies marched into the building from the cUy, tc 
assist in the defence — the Cadets and the Marine Artillery, numbering about 
seventy-five men fach. A number of citizens were also present, niakini: 
about two hundred in all who were in the arsenal that night. Did not see 
the iiash of the guns before the arsenal. 

Cross examined, — Does not recollect that Orson Moffitt made any report 
to hun of proceedings that night. Does not recollect seeing Moffitt. Sent 
out Mr. Barker and Colonel Pitman as scouts. Knows nothing in particular 
of the movements of Mr. Dorr on the outside. Governor Kmg rem.anied 
but a short time at the arsenal. The building is of stone, two sTories high, 
the walls 18 inches thick, the doors and windows of iron. The artillery 
pieces were placed in the lower story — five six-pounders. The doors to- 
wards the attacking parly were to be opened, and the pieces were to be run 
out and fired. 

Nelson B. Aldrich. — Saw Mr. Dorr on the plain before the arsenal on 
the night of the I7th May, with the men who marched there. They had 
two pieces of cannon. Dorr passed by witness. Saw the flash of the can- 
non, but was not near enough to see the direction in which they were 
pointed ; the cannon were north of the arsenal. When Dorr passed, he 
was going along the line of a company. Understood that the object was 
to take the arsenal. 

Was at ('hepachet, and saw Dorr once on the hill ; can't say v/hether he 
was armed. There were armed men there; and saw cannon, implements 
of war, and musical instruments. Saw Dorr at Sprague's tavern, the head- 
quarters. He had a belt around him; can't say whether he had arms or 
not. 

Richard Knight. — On Saturday, 2.Tth of June, started from Providence 
for Chepachet, about two o'clock in the afternoon. Nothing strange took 
place till near Chepachet; passed two young men from Chepachet, gomg to 
Providence in a wagon; they turned and followed him; they could not, 
overtake him; his horse got near the fort, and became frightened and ran ; 
men ran down the. hill and crossed his track ; there were three blacks there; 



884 Rep. No. 546. 

one of them had a gnn. Gnns were pointed at witness, and one was fired; 
a black man told him the next day there was a ball in it. Several men ran 
along the hill and headed him off. The horse ran but about five rods 
farther, and stopped. The men asked where he was going ; said he was 
going to Jeremiah Sheldon's. Tliey told him to pass on ; he stopped, and 
asked for Mr. Sheldon; the two men then came up and stopped opposite. 
»S!ieldon was sent for, and went into an inner room with him. Soon an 
armed man came to the door, and said Captain Bradley wanted to see him 
at the door of the house; witness went out, and saw a man with a sword, 
who said that Governor Dorr had sent to have him arrested, and carried on 
the hill. Tlie officer told two men to take hold, one of each arm ; they 
moved on three or four rods, and halted. There v/ere 25 or 30 men about, 
who were ordered to fall in, and they then marched him on the hill. They 
carried him up to near where the marquee was. There was a gathering on 
tlie other .side of the marquee. Was taken np to the place, and saw Dorr 
in the circle; the salute of the officer was returned by Mc Dorr. They 
took me into the ring, and the officer said to Dorr that he had taken a man, 
and asked what should be done with him; Dorr said that depended on 
which side he was. Witness had some conversation with Dorr, and then 
the officer and Dorr stepped aside, and the officer returned and said I must 
go into the marquee and be examined by the officers. Went in and saw a 
man with no hair on, who was called secretary. They asked me several 
questions, and the answers were noted down in a book. Understood the 
secretary was Seth Luther. 

Mr. Carter was present during the examination. Witness was then 
marched over with 16 men to the guard-house; was kept there that night 
and the next day : got permission to go to Colonel Aldrich's, who was colo- 
nel and commissary in that army. A great many men came in from the 
'I'hompson road ; on Sunday there were from 60U to 1,000 men in the vil- 
lage, mostly without arms. There were said to be companies from pla(^es 
out of the State ; some with drums, some without. The companies were 
marched up and down the street. Some of these companies said tliey were 
from one place at one time, and another at another. Saw pikes made in 
the blarksmith shop near the guard-house. On Monday, at 2 or 3 o'clock, 
Colonel Aldrich came and said I was released, but must stay till sunsetj 
and then go without giving any information that I was released. He said 
that Governor Dorr was going away. Witness asked him to let him have 
an officer to go on the hill. Aldrich called a man whom he called sergeant 
of the guard, and he went with me, Down round the tavern there were 
men that grabbed him, but the officer caused him to be let go. Went up 
the hill and looked round. When he first went there on Saturday, Sheldon 
told him that the Algerines were deceived; that they could have 3,000 
men, and as much money as they wanted. Went up on the hill, and saw 
about 150 men under arms, and probably 150 more standing round. On 
Monday there were 300 or 400 men under arms, half of them well armed. 
They pointed me out as the old Algerine. They were expecting some 
communication from the governor, and were impatient; some one said he 
had gone; another said it was a d — d Algerine lie. They expected the 
communication to be to go and attack the column at Greenville orScituate. 
Saw Dorr with a belt on ; cannot say whether he had any sword or pistols. 
The men said that they were going to take possession of the government 
of the State. Witness left, the hill about 7 o'clock; went towards Provi- 



Rep. No. 546. 885 

detice, and about two or three miles from Greenville was stopped by the 
otlier kind of troops — at least they looked differently. 

Gioss-^xaiiuned — Dorr was not present in the marquee wiien the man 
with no hair examined him. Witness experienced no ill treatment from 
Dorr, or by his orders ; was released by order of Mr. Dorr. Dorr was not 
present at any time after he was taken into the marquee, and witness never 
heard him say a single word. Bradley said that witness was taken in the 
camp; replied that he was taken in Sheldon's house. Carter said they 
were not (joing to have any Algerines coming there to contradict them ; he 
would find that he had been taken in tlieir camp, which would soon be the 
v.'hole ytate of llliode Island. Carter took up a bag, apparently of bullets, 
and said that those were the pills for the d — d Algerines. Witness went 
to Chepachet upon the suggestion of a daughter of Mr. Sheldon ; had other , 
business there; thought he had as good a right to go there as anybody. 
Witness paid his tolls, and went on his own hook. Don't recollect of hav- 
ing seen any of tfie governor's council that day before startino;. A great 
number of men there on Sunday were spectators. The companies marched 
up and down the street several times, saying they were from as many dii- 
ferent places. The last company was a lar^e one of sixty or seventy men ; 
they hurralied, and said, Tlus is the first company of the three thousand 
men from Hartford, who would all be there before the next night. Wit- 
ness understood tfiese movements of men pretending to be from different 
places were merely for show, to produce an impression on him of their 
numbers. Saw no men intoxicated on the hill; everything was orderly 
there, but ihere were one or two near the tavern who appeared to be af- 
fected with liquor. Don't recollect that they were armed. Witness was 
insulted most at the guard house. 

Charles J. S/i'Mei/. — [Mr. Dorr objected to this testimony to prove acts 
committed before he went to Chepachet. 

The court admitted it, on the ground that it went to characterize the as- 
semblage at Chepachet.] 

Witness. — On the night of the 22d of June was hailed on the road to 
Chepacliet and ordered to stop. Didn't stop. Drove on till near Sprague's 
tavern, and was again ordered to stop. Drove on till near the tavern, when 
we saw a cannon on the bridge a short distance off. We then stopped and 
went into the tavern, and asked some one to take care of the horse. Capr. 
West (as they calkd him) took out a pistol, and ordered him to sit down, 
saying that he had been at large long enough. 

[Mr. Dorr again objected, and asked the witness if he saw him there, or 
heard that he was there. Shelley said he did not see him, or hear that he 
was there. 

WUtiess. — There was a warlike assemblage at Chepachet, at Sprague's 
tavern, and at the guard house. Snould think there were a dozen or fifteen 
men. 

Wednesday afternoon. 

[Mr. Dorr again renewed his objection to the admission of the evidence 
of Mr. Shelley. 

The court decided that it was proper for the witness to stale the object 
and intentions of tiie men collected there.] 

M'iJnesy. — A body of armed men were in Sprague's house. Newell stated 
lo him that they were officers and soldiers of Gov. Dorr. Newell acted as 



886 Rep. No. 546. 

an officer; was called Gen. Newell. Witness was taken prfsonei by them ; 
was retained in Spragne's bar-room hall' an hour; then was taken over to 
the guard house, the building described by Mr. Knight. Protested against 
their taking him from the house of Mr. Sprague. Spragne said these men 
would take care of him ; that he was a prisoner of war. They took him for 
an Algerine, a spy, a d — d scoundrel. They stated that they were arrayed 
against the Algerine government. Was searched, and was taken from tlie 
guard-house, bound in the street, marched oil" towards the north, and finally 
reached Woonsocket. Habere were in company from 30 to 40 men armed 
with muskets and a piece of cannon. Major Allen had the chief command. 
Captain Bradley, Captain West, and others, were present. After marching 
six or seven miles, witness was put into the ammunition wagon. Alter 
they reached Woonsucket, an alarm was fired, and men collected in arms. 
Witness was taken to a room called the arsenal. After having been kept 
there some time, he was released. Two others were taken at the same 
time, and were marched over with us. Witness saw a wagon at Woon- 
socket, said to be loaded with muskets in boxes, and tents. This load went 
back with us to Chepachet. Witness went ov^r v/ith Carter ; staid in Che- 
pachet about an hour. There were considerable numbers of men in arms 
there then ; they stated that their object was to take possession of the gov- 
<^rnment, and to place the rightful governor at its head. Seth Luther was 
fhere. He talked of the object of the assemblage. He said they had a large 
number of men in New York who were coming on, with Mr. Dorr at the 
head. Carter said the same. He said they were all prepared and wouldti't 
have to go home for their breakfast, as they did on Federal Hill. 

Cross-examined. — Doti't know that I heard at that time of any appre- 
Jiended attack upon Chepachet from the city of Providence. 'I'hey talked 
;it Chepachet of an express being sent towards Providence. Witness was 
'-omplainant in certain cases in Providence county against part of the per- 
sons for offences committed at tliis time. Some of these men were acquitted, 
rmd part of the matter was comproniised. The defence set up was, that 
there was a state of war, and the offence was merged in treason. It was 
not set up in their defence that there was any deficiency of evidence. 

Henry A. Kendall. — Saw the body of men who marched on tlie niglit of 
May 17th to tlie arsenal, and saw them again on the plain before that build- 
ing. They had arms and cannon, drums and fifes. Witness was there 
when they started and on the plain. The cannon were stationed so as tO' 
fire upon the arsenal. The purpose of the marchuig to the arsenal was to 
fakf? it. Witness was a part of t!;e time near Mr. Dorr. Can't say that he 
lieard Iiim give any orders. Orders were oriven by various persons. '^Fhe 
iroops marched on the plain ; they halted awhile, and then advanced. Wit- 
ness saw the artillery pieces attempted to be fired. They flashed. Witness 
don't know who attempted to fire tlie guns ; was about ten or twenty feet 
from tliem; don't know where Dorr stood at the time. Mr. Dorr was on 
the plain at the time. Witness thinks another attempt was made to fire the 
jruns, or one of them. Witness thinks he discourajred Dorr from making 
the attempt on the arsenal while on the field. He did not comply with the 
advice. The men, some of them, remained on the field till daylight. They 
went on about one o'clock. Witness heard of the flag- of truce being sent :, 
thinks Carter bore it. Witness don't know when Dorr left the plain, but 
witness thinks he left him there when he (witness) went away himself 
Witness cannot recall the particulars of any conversation he had with Mr.. 



Rep. No. 546. 887 

Dorr oil the field. Witness knows what his own intention was in going to 
the arsenal, not that of any one else. 

Cross examined. — Saw tfie man who attempted to (ire one of the guns ; 
it was not Dorr. Don't think he saw the man who touched the second gun. 
Did not see Mr. Dorr have a torch in his hand that night. Witness did not 
go with the men to Chepachet. 

Col. Silas A. Comstock. — Came to Providence about noon on the ISth 
of May, and went on Federal Hill. He saw tlie embankment which had 
been thrown up on the brow of the hill. Did not rernain there. 

Witness was also at Cliepachet. Saw Gov. Dorr there, and a collection 
of armed men. Mr. Dorr came up on the hill to inspect them. He wore a 
belt with two pistols in it. Witness arrived at Chepachet before him. The 
men on the hill were, some of tliem, at work on the entrenchment. Does 
not recollect that they were drawn up in order when Mr. Dorr came upon 
the gromivd. There were a number of pieces of cannon, some of which 
were mounted ; there were also powder and cannon balls. Witness did not 
hear Mr. Dorr address the soldiers. The object of the assemblage was mil- 
itary discipline and improvement, in order to support and protect the people's 
legislature, whicli was to meet at Chepachet on the 4th of July. The meet- 
ing was accidental, and not by any particular orders that witness knew of. 
Guards were stationed about the hill in the night, and in the daytime also. 
Witness did not know that there was any particular movement in view, un- 
til somethino: ebe was arrived at. Witness tmderstood that Gi>v. Dorr is- 
sut^d his proclamation to convene the people's General As.sembly at Chepa- 
chet; and the men on Acote's Inll gathered there in reference to this call. 
'J'hey meant to defend the place. The guards were stationed about for the 
safety and protection of the place. The men came to Chepacliet wlicn they 
did, in cojisequcnce of rumors which had been put in circulation that Che- 
pachet was to be sacked by charter troops from Providence. 

Cross-exainhied. — Witness acted as colonel of the men assembled in arms 
at Chepachet, and exercised authority accordingly. In the opinion of wit- 
ness, on Monday, .Tune 27th, when tlie men were formed into a regiment, 
there were under his command from 200 to 2.50 men under arms and orders ; 
and this was the greatest number ol armed men who were at any time at 
Chepachet on his side. There were many other persons on the ground, 
and in the village, who' came and went as they pleased. They were spec- 
tators, and were not a part of the military, or subject to any orders. There 
were as many spectators as men every day about the lines. The number 
of soldiers on the hill did not vary much, though the men kept changing, as 
they came and went. Witness was not there on Saturday afternoon ; but 
nnderstood that a company then went otf and returned to Cumberland. 
The spectators spoken of were from Glocester, and from other towns. Our 
men were all volunteers, without pay. Nothing was furnished them but 
their food. 

There was no fort on the hill ; there was nothing more than a slight 
breast-work gnins^ round the south and west sides of the hill. It was a tem- 
porary work of not much strength. There were large openings or embra- 
sures in it for the pieces of cannon. 

The genera! impression among the men was, that we were to maintain 
the government under the people's constitution by otfensive or defensive 
means, as circumstances miijht require. 

The men did not come there as full companies in u state of discipline. 



888 Rep. No. 546, 

They came for the most part in squads — a dozen or so in each. Owly one 
or two com[)anies came there as such, and officered. There were from 
eleven to thirteen men, who were said to have come from New York, and to 
belong to the Spartan band. They conducted themselves, like the rest of the 
men, in an orderly manner. Witness considered them under his conmiand, as 
the rest were. There was no colored man under arms, to the knowledge of 
witness. But there were two or three blacks in the commissary's depart- 
ment, to prepare the provisions. None of our men were under pay. No 
inducement, other than his food, was held out to any to come there. 

Witness understood that a proclamation was issued by Governor Dorr to 
the people of the Slate, but did not see it. The people wer© called upon to 
assemble in arms for the support ot their governnient. There was very 
little response to the call. Our men did not assemble there from the several 
towns, as there was reason to expect they would do. The government un- 
der the people's constitution was abandoned for want of support by the 
people. This was the sole cause of the disbandment of the men. 

A council of officers was called by Governor Dorr, to consider the sub- 
ject, at General Sprague's bouse. Every officer present expressed bis opin- 
ion upon it. 'J'lie ground of the disbandment was, that the people of the 
State, after having been called upon, had refused to give their support to 
their own government. They had denounced its officers, and had gone 
over, many of them, to (he other side, leaving their friends by themselves. 
The order to disband was submitted to the cotnicil of military officers by 
Governor Dorr, and received their approval. '^I'he meeting was at head 
quarters, at Sprague's house. Two meetmgs were held there in the course 
of the day. At the last, in the afternoon, the order for disbanding the men 
was given by Governor Dorr to General D'Wolf, at the house, for him to 
carry on the field and announce to the mc^n. This order was issued towards 
sunset on Monday, June 27. Witness does not recollect that he took par- 
ticnlar notice of the time of day; believes it was within an hour of sunset 
when the order was sent. The men disbandi^d in consequence of the or- 
der. There was a little feeling at first u)anifested by some, who were not 
informed of the circumstances, and who were for holding on. There were 
but few who made any objection to the disbandment, or who did not ap- 
prove of it as affairs were situated. 

Witness did not see Governor Dorr leave Chepachet. The last he saw 
of him was when he gave the order to D'Wolf It was a short order to the 
officers to disband their men ; does not recollect the wording of it. D'Wolf 
read it to the men on the field, as given and signed by the commander-in- 
chief. 

The subject was deliberated upon in council before the order was finally 
given. '^I'here was no irregularity or disorder among the men at the lime, 
though they wanted discipline. They separated as usual after a dismis- 
sion. There were countersigns given out, but does not recollect any of 
them. 

Witness saw Bradley at the house of Sprague at the time of tlie order to 
disband. The house was not surrounded at any time. Bradley's company 
were dismissed, and were firing their guns. '^I'he house was our liead- 
quarters. Witness recognised Governor Dorr as Governor of Rhode Island 
and commander in chief, and received his orders. Witness do< s' not know 
of any force being ex[)ected from New York or elsewhere, or of any sup- 
plies expected from abroad. It was a matter of conversation., that, if the 



Rep. No. 546. 889 

troops of tlie United States should interfere in our State affairs, there were 
invA\ in New York wlio stood ready to give their assistance to repel them, 
'^rhis was the oeueral impression. There were at the hill two Massaclni- 
setts men — CVW^If atid another. No unnecessary restraint was placed upon 
the people in the village of Chepachet. Knows of no person being arrested 
besides Mr. Knight. 

Governor Dorr gave orders that private property should be strictly re- 
.spected by all : and, so far as witness knows, it was respected. The sol- 
diers received their provisions from the commissary. Witness heard no 
complaint from any one that private property had been interfered with ; if 
it liad been, should have heard of it. We left tlie village uninjured and 
unmolested as we fuund it. Governor Dorr gave directions to have the 
guns, tents, and everything else on the hill, removed. 

[(yhief Justice Durfee here reaiarked, that there was no question about 
the taking of private property by the men iti arms there (meaning the suf- 
frage soldiers.) 'Iliis is not in dispute; and defendant's questions to wit- 
ness on this point are objectionable.] 

Direct examiiiatioii. resu/ncc/. — Witness acted as a colonel ; commanded 
the 2d regiment. There were a number of companies, as he had before 
explained, parts of which came there — two companies. from Woonsocket, 
one from [Jurrillville, one from Cumberland, one from Glocester, and one 
from Pawtucket. Tliere was but one regiment there. Witness did not 
give any orders in particular to the Spartan band. Among them were Mike 
AValsh, Johnson, and Newman. Walsh was the leader. Witness didn't 
ask Walsh whether his olject was to support the people's constitution or 
not. Has the impression tliat they were there to assist in any arrangements 
that might be made to defend it. Did not see Walsh go through any exer- 
cises. 

The principal reason for disbanding was, that the people did not come, as 
they had promised, to support the constitution and government; and many 
of our friends had come out in the papers with a public remonstrance 
against our proceeding further. The charter troops had no effect upon us. 
They had not come near us. Orders were sent to all the towns, by Gover- 
nor Dorr, for the people to assemble at Chepachet; to come out generally 
all who were in fiivor of the constiuition, and shov/ themselves, and present 
a strong front. The latest of his seeing Mr. Dorr was when he gave the 
order to D'Wolf, The consultation was hiid among (he principal officers. 
D'VVolf was called first, as he was the tallest officer we had. Bradley, 
Newell, Potter, Carter, Landers, and as many more were called into 
council by Governor Dorr. Word was sent to them on the hill in his 
name. They went to his room, and he stated, in substance, that as no re- 
sponse liad been relumed to tlie orders issued, and the people were not with 
usj and declined to support us, that it was proper to disband. This was the 
opinion of the council also. D'Wolf fully recognised the propriety of the 
measure. Witness went with D'Wolf to the liill. Staid there till dusk. 
When we returned to the village, we did not go to Sprague's, Witness was 
at his house in the evening. Didn't see Governor Dorr again at all. The 
officers all separately expressed their opinions, but does not recollect that 
the question was formally put to the vote. Witness heard that the charter 
troo[)S had- come out as far as Greenville. But their coming out was not 
the cause of the disbandmeut; what men we had were ready to stand their 
ground. 



890 Rep. No. 546. 

Horace A. Pierce. — Came on with Mr. Dorr from Stoniiigton, on his re- 
turn from New York, May IGth. Mr. Sayles was there. Mr. Dorr did not 
say anything in witness's hearing abont collecting a force at Anthony's 
honse. Witness was not an officer there on the i6th. Saw Mr. Dorr a 
little after sundown on the 17th. There were a considerable number of 
men under arms at Anthony's house — about 300. There were two compa- 
nies from Woonsocket, one from Pawtucket, and several from Providence. 
It was said they were there by order of Governor Dorr. VVimess expected 
the object was to make an attack upon the arsenal. Saw Dorr in the liouse. 
They went to attack the arsenal that mght about one o'clock. Colonel 
Wheeler and Major Allen had the direction of the troops. Dorr was at the 
head of them. He went with them. When we got near the arsenal, some 
one gave the word to halt. They then advanced some distance to where 
the cannon were placed. They were attempted to be fired, and were af- 
terwards limbered again. Dorr came back, and requested men to take 
charge of the guns. Many of the men deserted them. Some of them 
were afraid and left. After the guns were flashed, Dorr came and requested 
the men to take charge of them. They were again unlimbered, and Dorr 
gave the order to have thom fired again. It was said he touched ihem off. 
Witness could not so5 distinctly whether he did so.or not. Some who were 
standing by, retnarked that few men would have the courage that Dorr had. 
and no one could call him a coward, for he touched off the cannon him- 
self. Those who remained then went back to Anthony's house. Witness 
thinks it was from seven to eight in the morning when Mr. Dorr left Provi- 
dence. The State troops came up between eight and nine. Mr. Dorr went 
with 0. Allen. Witness did not know that he was going till he had gone. 
The first he knew of it, some one called out of the window and requested 
them to disband. This was not assented to by those who had charge of 
the pieces. When the State troops came up, some one who had the port- 
fire, swung it, as if to touch ofT the cannon. Saw a gun presented either 
at the sheriff or Governor King. The pieces were withdrawn after the 
house had been searched. 

Heard a fortnight after that another attempt would be made. Went to 
Chepachet— thinks on Wednesday, .lune 22d. A company came from Che- 
pachet to Woonsocket, and witness returned with them. Tlie embankment 
was begun to be thrown up on Wednesday or Thursday. There were 
from 100 to 150 men there then. Understood Mr. Dorr would be there. 
The purpose of our going there was to protect the General Assembly, and 
to execute the further orders of that body. Mr. Dorr caice on Friday 
night or Saturday morning. On Saturday there were from 200 to 250 men 
on the hill. There were a great many without arms, who were in the vil- 
lage as spectators. There was a company of men who lived in Chepachet, 
who staid at their house except when exercised. There might have been 
some who came and went away again with arms, and professed their readi- 
ness to give their assistance if necessary. Went on the hill first with Dorr. 
He went round and spoke with the men. Didn't hear him give an address. 
There were five or six pieces of cannon on the hill. Never saw but one 
loaded. That was loaded with powder, ball, and a bag of slugs. Saw 
scrap iron around, and pikes. They were carried up on the hill. Saw 
Mike Walsh and his party. Thought he had 14 men; some said 11. 
Heard that if the Executive of the United Slates interfered, men would 
come from New York and other States to repel ilie troops of the United 



Rep. No. 546. 891 

States. The arrds and ammonilion were not, to his knowledo:e, furnished 
troni New Yoiif. The disbandinsr v/as near sundown. D'Woli brought 
the letter tm the hill and read it. Witness was not on the hill at the time ; 
was at the tavern. Can't tell certainly what time Mr. Dorr lef( Chepachet. 
Witness left himself before dark. Thinks Mr. Dorr left not far from dark. 
Whei-j Mr. Dorr went on the hill, he had a belt on, with a pair of pi.sto!s. 
Saw the handles of them. Thinks he had no sword. He had a cane. 
Witness does not know that he (witness) held any otlice there. 

Cross-examined. — A man by the name of Smith told witness first that 
Mr. Dorr touclied the cannon off. Couldn't tell what lime Mr. Dorr left 
Bnrrington Anthony's house. Some said he had gone afterwards. Wit- 
ness thinks there were fifty men who returned from the arsenal. There 
fjivas no order purporting to come from Dorr for the troops to assemble at 
Chepachet. It was given by Major Allen. Knows of a request from Mr. 
J)orr for a board of otficers to convene and consult about what was best to 
be done. Thinks they did not meet. The organization at Chepachet was 
to carry into effect the government under the people's constitution. The 
greatest number of persons under arms on the hill, including all who were 
subject to orders, was from 200 to 250 njen. The n)en in the streets came 
and went as they pleased, as spectators. There were some artillery balls 
there. Many of them did not fit the guns. There were not cannon balls 
enough to supply the pieces more than fifteen or twenty minutes in an en- 
gagement. Witness heard a report from the captain of the artillery to that 
effect. Witness was in the marquee irequently. There were muskets and 
rifles in the marquee, that were not called for or used. Tliey were lying 
scattered about there. Walsh and his men were subject to orders like the 
rest. They drilled and worked on the entrenchment. Good order and 
discipline were maintained. Saw no disorder or improper conduct among 
t le men. 

B'^jijomiii M. DiirUiig — Was on the plain before the arsenal on the 
night of the 17th of May, 1842. Witness arrived there from out of town jnst 
as the men were going out, and did not hear the reasons for going. Wit- 
ness had heard that Governor Dorr would probably be arrested, and that 
he wanted his friends to come and protect him. Saw two cannon there. 
Had not been informed for what action they were there. Saw a flash, 
which was said to be of the cannon. Witness was distant from twelve to 
twenty feet. Witness did not go to Chejiachet. 

Cross-examined — Saw Mr. Dorr on the ground ; was near him, as his 
aid. Got to B. Anthony's house late from Woonsocket. and was not in the 
council. It was a dark night, from a very heavy fog. A man could hardly 
be distinguished a ^<dvi feet ofl'. The men halted on the field. It was very 
still there. Mr. Dorr was near the middle of the whole force. The men 
scattered not a great while after they went on the ground. Some scattered 
immediately. Witness did not move from his place till the Pawtucket 
company left and marched off the ground. Witness then went to the rear, 
in order to inquire of Mr. Dorr why they left. Saw Dorr going about 
among the men in different parts of the field, to rally them. Dorr came up 
again. He gave the order to have the pieces withdrawn, after the attempt 
had been made to fire them. Saw the flash of one of the pieces. 

Witness came ofl" the field with Governor Dorr, and went down town to 
the Manufacturers' Hotel in the morning, to see about his horse, and to find 
the man who came m with iiim. 



892 Rep. No. 546. 

Witness, when he went to the rear, as he has before stated, went to ask 
Captain Dispeun why he left the o-roimd. Dispeaii said, in reply, he 
wanted to do something — could not tell what. When witness got back to 
Dorr, many others had left. Several passed him, on the run. Was tliere 
to obey orders from Govertjor Dorr. Don't recollect receiving any other 
order in particular from Dorr, than to go and see what was the matter with 
Captain Dispean. Dorr gave the orders for the attack. Did not make any 
report to Dorr. Recollects saying that Dispean's com))any had fallen back. 
There were forty or fifty men round the guns, at the most, when they were 
carried off the arsenal ground. 

[The chief justice hero remarked, that the object of the cross-examina- 
tion thus furseemed to have been to establish the charg'^s in the indictment, 
by proving the particulars, instead of denying them. 

Mr. Dorr hoped that the privilege would not be refused him of getting at 
the facts as they were, even if they should be against him in tlie opinion of 
the court.] 

John iS. Dispean — Saw Mr. Dorr at Providence on the 17th of May, 
1842. He had a body of men assembled there with him in the afternoon. 
Did not see him take the command of them. Saw the men move from 
Burringion Anthony's house to the arsenal ; thinks it was hard on two 
o'clock at night. Should think there were rising two hundred arnied men 
who went to the attack : two companies from Woonsocket — one or two from 
Providence. Witness was frequently called for at Anthony's house. Some 
one would come and inquire lor the Pawtucket company, and 1 would go 
in with Dorr. Sometimes he was busy with others, and sometimes not. 
The officers there were talking of their plans. They were talking whether 
it was best to make an attack upon the arsenal or not. Don't know what 
conclusion Dorr came to. Witness knows what conclusion he himself 
came to. 

Mr. Dorr went to the arsenal to make an attack. This was his object. 
Did not see Dorr on the field while he was there. Does not recollect re- 
ceiving any direct communication or order from him — though he might, as 
all sorts of communications were flying about. Did not see Dorr, or know 
he was on the field when witness got there, as witness's company was on 
the extreme left. Witness left his ranks, to ascertain how many men were 
there, and came back ; did not meet Mr. Dorr. Witness considered every 
one as being for himself, and that he had no superior ; ordered his company 
himself to fall in and march to the field. When there, he did as might 
have been expected where there was no military discipline. Witness re- 
turned to Burrington Anthony's house about sunrise. Saw Dorr there. 
Don't recollect that any conversation passed between them. Witness did 
not go to Chepachet. Received an order to go. that was left for him at liis 
store ; don't know by whom. An order was brought to him to go to Fed- 
eral hill, before the affair at the arsenal. A man came to Pawtucket and 
told him he was wanted by Governor Dorr. Don't know the man. Wit- 
ness went round and gave notice to his men, who were handy. Ordered 
them to meet at the National House in Providence. Went in hims< If about 
4 o'clock in the afternoon. 

[The order for witness to go to Chepachet. signed by the acting adjutant 
general, by order of Governor Dorr, dated June 24th, 1S42. was produced, 
and admitted by Mr. Dorr to be correct; also, witness's commission as lieu- 



I?ep No. 546. 893 

tenant colonel of the second regiment, in the old and nsual form, dated 
the 5th day of May, 1842, and sij^ned by Governor Dorr.] 

The commission was left in his shop. Others saw it before he did ; so 
tiiat it became known that he had it. Was reqnested, when under arrest, 
by governor and council, to bring in those papers — meaning the order and 
commission — when he was out on parole, and he did so accordingly. His 
wife and child were sick, and he did so to get home. 

Cross examined — There were 2()0 or 250 men at Federal hill before go- 
ing to the arsenal. Witness went into the council of officers. Don't 
know who presided. Recollects that Dorr said that he was not much ac- 
qnainied practically with military tnatters. Sometinng was said about the 
propriety of Mr. Dorr's going out or remaining at headquarters. 

Witness had ninety men in liis company at first, mostly well arn-ied : all 
armed with something or other. Witness might have received an order to 
come up to the arsenal that night from Darling; (Dorr's aid-de-camp,) but 
does not recollect distinctly. Witness did not know bis own men well. 
Wlien the arsenal afiair failed, witness did not himself contemplate any 
further action ; held the commis>ion which has been spoken of when he 
was ordered to go to Chepachet ; intended to accept this cornmiss'on ; 
would not have given it up, if he could have got his discharge from im- 
prisonment before. Governor Arnold requested him to bring it in when 
he went home on parole. He gave it up. that he might get his final dis- 
charge. Hiram Chappell was in prison with him. Witness had conver- 
sation within the prison yard — having seen Chappell's examination before 
the commissioners published in the papers, in wliich he ((.'happell) stated 
that he had plugged up the guns before they were carried out to the arse- 
nal. Chappell then told witness that he did not plug the guns, but had 
said so in order to get his discharge from imprisonment. He said that se- 
riously. The prisoners were blackguarding about the matter in the yard. 

After witness withdrew his men from the field at the arsenal, he went 
over again to it. Did not meet Mr. Dorr. W^itness met the guns as 
they were coming back in the morning. All witness's company went off 
the field before the arsenal when he did. There was some dissatisfaction 
among witness's men, because he marched them oft' without making more 
of an effort to join in the attack on the arsenal. This was the reason why 
witness walked over on to the ground, as he has before stated. If anybody 
be to blame for his men's marching off, it was not his men. They were 
willing to go wherever he would have gone. 

Willis Bowen — Was in Chepachet, he believes, on Saturday, in June, 1842. 
There was an assembly of men in arms there. Was there but a little while. 
He judged there were from 150 to 200 men under arms. The troops were 
drawn up in a hollow square. Governor Dorr went into the square and 
delivered a speech. He had a belt around him, and the appearance of pis- 
tols. The men formed into square to hear his speech ; can't recollect 
much of it. He stated that he came there for the benefit of the people, 
and that he would rather that his bones should remain on the hill than that 
the people should not have their rights. He went oft" the hill escorted ; 
don't know by how many. He was attended, when he came on, by several 
persons ; one of them appeared to be an officer. Saw there cannon, (Jrums, 
fifes, tents, and flags flying. 

Cross examined. — Was a little deaf when there, from a cold, and the wind 
bew stons:. Should think Dorr %.ised the words before mentioned. Wit- 



894 Rep. No. 546. 

ness was there but a short time. Was two or three rods from Dorr, at the 
corner of the hollow square. When he went there, didn't know that there 
was disturbance there. Some of them had a notion that witness should not 
^o away; but he went away. The sergeant of the guard (a man named 
Dean) was going to stop him. Witness saw no disturbance or disorder. 

Caleb E. Tucker. — Was at Chepachet on Saturday, June 25th, 1S42. 
Saw an assemblage of men in arms, cannon, tents, (fcc. Saw Governor 
Dorr there in the afternoon. He had a belt and pistols, and a small cane 
in his hand. The men were drawn up in order, and manoeuvring about. 
The first I saw of Mr. Dorr, a man from Thompson pouUed him out, and 
said the governor was a smart, portly-looking man. Heard him address 
the troops, wlio were drawn up in a hollow square. He said they were 
there for the purpose of proiectiiicr the legislature, which was to be there in 
a (q\v days. He spoke of the rights of the people, which they were to de-. 
fend. Could not say certainly whetlier he used the expression that h4 
would rather leave hi5 bones tliere,or not. He said he would rather sta|^ 
there till cold weather, than that the people should not have their rights,' 
and their Assembly meet. Guards were placed around the hill below, none 
upon it. Witness went down to the tavern. He made no inquiries as to 
their object. He v/ent on the hill to see the governor. Don't recollect par- 
ticularly anything being said about making an attack. 

Cross examined.— Wiiness, asked no leave to go on the hill. There was 
no objection made to his going. He was within ten rods of Dorr when he 
made his remarks. Saw Potter there ; this was about 4 o'clock. Has an 
impression that he heard the words he has mentioned, that he would rather 
leave his bones there. Should rather think he didn't get this impression 
from a newspaper. The men whom he saw there in arms were rugged, 
hard-handed people, farmers and mechanics. Some visiters were from 
Thompson, and his conversation was mostly with them. There was per- 
fect order on the hill; and the same in the village. There were two men 
from Connecticut, apparently visiters, not armed. There were perhaps 2U0 
men under arms. The meeting there corresponded well with military 
trainings generally. The order was as good as at a general muster. Wit- 
ness saw one or two not quite sober at the tavern. 

Thursday morning, May 2. 

Darius Hill. — Repeats the statements before made respecting the assem- 
blage of armed men at Chepachet. Witness understood from those there, 
that Governor Dorr was to convene his legislature there on or about the 4th 
of July. Hardly thinks the men on the hill were the members of the legis- 
lature. Don't know what the cannon were put there for, except for protec- 
tion. They were pointed so as to command the road from Providence. 
Saw many things that looked as if they might, with a lettle help, go into 
the cannon. Witness left there on Monday afternoon between 4 and 5 
o'clock. Was among the armed men. Left on his own business ; had corn 
to hoe, and cows to look after. Heard there was a body of men coming up 
that way, under a pretty slow progress, from Providence. Did not under- 
stand for what object. The people on the hill were under the command 
of Major I. B. Allen during the first part of the race. Didn't hear Dorr 
give any command. Should suppose in his own mind that Allen acted 
under Dorr. Witness didn't suppose that he himself acted under anybody's 
command ; he considered himself a nation by himself Didn't interrupt 



Rep No. 546. 895 

Dorr lo ask him what his intentions were. Heard but few words of his ad- 
dress. Heard orders that purported to have been issued by Dorr; and un- 
derstood from the officers that the orders for the movements on the hill 
were by authority of Dorr. 

Cross-examined.- Was there the 25lh, 26th, and 27th. If his recollec- 
tion serves him right, was not tliere the 2Sth. Don't know what flag was 
there, or what time the State troops got there the next day. Witness resides 
four nnles west of Chepachet. Is a small farmer. The men on the hill 
were principally of that class, and mechanics — those whom he knew. 

George B. Aldrich.—Afier passing Mr. Dorr in the road, in a carriage 
going out of town, as he thinks at about half-past eight in the morning of 
the 18th of May, witness proceeded into Providence, and went on Federal 
hill, where he saw about 40 or 50 suffrage men with cannon. One or two 
went on the hill with hmi. The number of men v/ith the cannon were de- 
creasing while he was there. 

Was at Chepachet Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, in June. Saw Dorr 
on the hill there on Saturday. Did not hear him address the troops. Some 
of them were drUling. Saw him walk about on the hill. (Witness was 
reluctant lo repeat the conversation between himself and Mr. Dorr, lest it 
should commit himself; but was told he must proceed.) 

Witness went on: Mr. Dorr said, that if he had had his way, the em- 
bankment would have been thrown up in a different manner. Mr. Dorr 
said he gave no orders to Major Allei"! to call the people together at the 
time when they were called. He said that the breastwork was not well 
done. Understood he came there upon the information given him by 
Major Allen ; Dorr did not say so. Witness went with Major Allen from 
AVoonsocket up there. They went thereto protect the legislature that was 
to meet there the 4th of July; and that was the purpose of the greater part 
of them. Witness went because the rest did. Major Allen seemed to be 
commander. He gave witness some orders, which he did not obey ; and 
witness did not hear Allen give any orders coming from Dorr. Heard forty 
reports about tlie charter troops coming there ; sometimes they were at 
Greenville, sometimes within a mile, and sometimes at Scituate. Witness 
went on Saturday night about sunset. There were armed men scattering 
all the way up and down in the village. Saw two men who drove up to 
the tavern ordered out of the carriage by armed men. Can't say that he 
saw any one under restraint as a prisoner; can't say but he did. There 
were a good many things carried on — some manoeuvring, some firing. 
Saw a lot of old iron there. Expects likely they were going to put it into 
the cannon. The cannon were on the south side of the hill, pointed 
southerly. 

Cross examined. — There was no fort at Chepachet, only a line along one 
side of the hill about four feet high. They mowed a quantity of brush, put 
that in the middle, and covered it with dirt. Witness works at farming 
when he does anything. 

General Jcdediah >'S'praguc.— Lives in Chepachet. Keeps the hotel there. 
Kept it also in 1842. Heard that it was Governor Dorr's intention to come 
to Chepachet the night before he came. Don't know that he knew before 
of his intention to return at all. Witness was at a meeting at Woonsocket 
about the 1st of June. He heard there was to be a military parade there, 
and found a meeting of officers. Military movements were discussed at 
this meeting. An organization of the military was the intention. Under- 



896 Rep. No. 546. 

stood that the organization was for improvement in tactics. The uhimate 
object was not stated. D'Wolf was there ; he might have been the chair- 
man. Comstoclc, Allen, Potter, and Dean, were also present. It was pro- 
posed tcrraise a subscription to purchase a piece of ground for the suffrage 
association to use as a parade ground. Witness has heard letters read from 
Mr. Dorr; may have heard them in some meeting, or they nuiy have been 
read to him individually. Cannot speak positively, or recollect the partic- 
ulars of the letters. Did not understand whether Mr. Dorr was coming 
or not to take command of the troops. Was not surprised when he heard 
Mr. Dorr was coming. Thinks it was anticipated, and that he would re- 
turn. Wi ness does not say whether \'r. Dorr was comraander-in chief, or 
not. He took rooms at his house ; and was sometimes there, and some- 
times on the hill, Duririg the time Mr. Dorr was there, the n)ilitary officers 
from the hill were occasionally inquiring for him, and went and talked with 
Iiim. Witness saw no action on the part of Mr. Dorr, nor, in fact, on the 
part of any one, as he was not much abroad. Soon after Mr. Dorr came, 
thinks he heard him say that he knew nothing of the assembling at Chepa- 
chet, and of what was going on, till shortly before he arrived. Thinks he 
said that he was going to convene the legislature there. That m<!tter was 
iindersttwd long before assembling of forces. The presumption was, that 
Mr. Dorr would be there. Heard it expressed that the object of the troops 
was to protect Governor Dorr qnd the legislature ; never heard from Mr. 
Dorr that it was his intention to go to Greenville and attack the charter 
troops. Witness thinks he heard something of the kind said. Mr. Dorr 
left Chepachet about sundown on the 27th of June. Didn't see him when 
he started. Conversed with him about leaving. He (jxpressed his inten- 
tion of going, because he was not sustained by his friends. He meant that 
he was not sustained in calling the legislature, and in carrying into efiect 
the people's constitution. He said it had become evident that he was con- 
tending against his friends and enemies, and must overcome both to effect 
the object contemplated. Others advised him to leave. The citizens of 
the place came to the conclusion that this was the best course, Fleard that 
there were large forces of the government troops to be marched there. 
Heard of the expectation of assistance from abroad. Heard some of those 
at Chepachet say that they expected it from New York. Believes Walsh 
quartered on the hill. Saw the troops marching in the streets a number of 
times. On Thursday, when the guard from Chepachet returned to Woon- 
socket, others returned with them. From that time witness was most of 
the time in the back part of his house attending to his visiters, but saw 
troops occasionally in the street. Guards were stationed around his house 
after the charter troops arrived. 

Cross examined. — When Governor Dorr arrived at Chepachet, he was 
accompanied by citizens of the village and town. No person from out of 
the State was with him, to witness's knowledge. There was a guard at 
the house after Mr. Dorr came. Recollects of hearing that a meeting of 
military officers was desired by Mr. Dorr, before he came, to discuss what 
measures were proper to be pursued before a call should be made on the 
people. Does not know of this counsel being held. Witness understood 
Dorr to say that he was not apprized of what was going on at Chepachet 
until shortly before his coming there; that the gathering at that time was 
without his orders. Witness understood that the military force collected 
was for the purpose of protecting the^ people's legislature. Heard that some 



Rep. No. 546. 897 

f»f the men were desirous of going to Greenville to attack the charter forces. 
It was an anxiety on their part. The disbandment took place on Monday, 
June 27th. Witness understood, some time before the final order was sent 
out, tliat a disbandment was to take place. Heard the order read before it 
was delivered to the commanding officers. Don't know when it was read 
on the hill. There were various rumors of the approach of the opposite 
forces. They arrived the next day, the 28th, about breakfast time — say 7 
to 8 o'clock. Mr. Dorr left Chepachet one or two hours after the order to 
disband was given. Don't think it was half an hour from sunset, either 
way, when he left. 

Witness recollects that Mr. Dorr called on the people to support him. 
Couldn't say that there was any proclamation to that effect. It is his im- 
pression that there was. Witness knows nothing of what took place in the 
council of military officers that was held for consultation, except from what 
he heard. He knew that such a council met. The result was the disband- 
ment of the troops. Walsh and a few mnn were there from New York. 
Reports came on Wednesday, the 22d of June, that an attack might be 
made on Chepachet from Providence. The people of Chepachet tliought 
tiiey might wish to arrest tlie lieutenant governor and some of the repre- 
sentatives. Expresses arrived there in the night, stating that many people 
were leaving the city in the direction of Chepachet. Some of the citizens 
went out on the road to ascertain. The patrol first arrested Shelly and 
Keep, afterwards Harris and Peckham. The cause of the arrest was an 
expectation of men coming from Providence to make the attack, and the 
suspicion that these were among the first. Saw no harsh treatment of them 
at his house. 

Governor Dorr on Saturday requested him to close his bar-room, that 
there might be no disorder in the village. The request was complied with, 
and the barroom was kept closed. The troops were very orderly, quiet, 
and peaceable at his house. The troops were principally farmers from tlie 
country towns. There were some Providence men among them, but not 
many of them answered the call. Witness knew a great many of the 
troops personally. They were men of good reputation. 

Witness understood tliere were two or three instances where private prop- 
erty was interfered with by some of the men — three instances : a horse was 
taken, used, and afterwards returned ; a cow was taken for food, this was 
paid fbr. Witness saw Mr. Dorr pay for a part of it. Some boards were 
taken, which were afterwards burnt on the hill. Witness knows that these 
acts were contrary to the orders of Governor Dorr. His orders to his men 
were, that private property must be strictly respected. 

[Mr. Dorr here asked the witness if the village of Chepachet was not the 
next day sacked by the charter troops, (he replied, yes ;) how those troops 
compared with the suffrage troops in point of sobriety, &c.; and whether 
witness's property was or was not appropriated by the charter troops. The 
attorney general objected to this inquiry, and the court overruled it, saying 
that only such questions could be put as were relevant to the issue on trial.] 

Dutee J. Pearce, recalled. — Went to Chepachet on Sunday, 26th of June ; 
arrived there about 12 o'clock. Saw Mr. Dorr at Spragne's hall, presiding 
in a council of officers ; don't recollect any one but VVilliam H. Potter. Mr. 
Dorr was occupying the seat usnally occupied by a chairman ; the officers 
were in chairs or on benches on his right and left. Witness stopped a mo- 
ment, and Mr. Dorr said that it was a meeting of officers, and called wit- 
57 



898 Rep. No. 546. 

ness to his room. Mr. Dorr talked awhile with him there, and went onty 
and came in aorain. Witness urged upon [lim the necessity of disbanding 
his forces, and stated the force which, he was well assured, would come 
against him. Mr. Dorr gave no assurance that he should do so. He said 
he came there for the purpose of acting under the constitution which he 
had sworn to support; that he had the same right to use force, for the pur- 
pose of supportmg that constitution, that others had to bring force to put 
down the government under that constitution. Witness told him it was 
altogether idle to expect that legislature (the people's) to organize again ; 
that a great many of its members had resigned ; and that witness did not 
know one that would meet there in pursuance of any call from him. Wit. 
ness further stated tliat the charter legislature had adjourned from Newport 
on Friday, and that their very last act was to pass a law calling a conven- 
tion, under which all could vote for delegates; and that this measure had 
tended, in a great measure, to allay the excitement ; and that many of those 
who were his friends were quite willing to accept this proposition as a com- 
promise of the difficulties. There was present at this time S. Potter, jr , 
of Providence, who confirmed witness's statements. Witness mentioned to 
Mr. Dorr that he saw many of the most ardent friends of the suffrage cause 
in the ranks of the charter troops on Saturday. Among others, he men- 
tioned Mr. Emmes of Providence, which seemed to strike Mr. Dorr with 
astonishment. Witness thinks he mentioned that there was to be a meeting 
in Providence that evening, at the call of Mr. Wales, for the purpose of 
settling the difficulties, and satisfying Mr. Dorr that he should proceed no 
farther. Mr. Dorr asked witness if he saw the review of State troops on 
Saturday. Witness told him he saw them pass his boarding-house; they 
were said to be 2,300 strong; witness should judge that there were at least 
1,500 of them well armed. Witness also stated that additional forces to the 
number of 500 or 600 were expected from Washington and Kent. Mr. 
Dorr asked if he was to be attacked that evening. Witness answered that 
he thought not; told him that it was the intention of the most influential 
charter men to adopt such a course as would prevent bloodshed ; witness 
thought there would be no attack till Wednesday. The object of the State 
government was to send out troops to cut off his resources; so that if he 
remained there till Wednesday, retreat would be impossible. Mr. Dorr 
appeared to be under a misapprehension in regard to these forces ; he was 
under the belief that, when they started from Providence, enough of his 
friends there, who had not come out, would hang upon their skirts, so that, 
when they reached Chepachet, they would be inefficient. Mr. Dorr said he 
was there to sustain the govertmient of which he was the liead, and which 
he had taken an oath to support. Witness had not the slightest idea that 
anything that was then said to him would have the least effect in inducing 
him to leave, and witness so reported in Providence after his return. Mr. 
Dorr said little — showed di^trust — and did not believe witness's statements 
or conclusions to the extent represented to him. Witness talked at Che- 
pachet mostly with the citizens and the guards. Witness asked Mr. Dorr 
how many armed men were there ; he gave no definite answer ; witness got 
the impression that there were 300 or 400, and more were coming. Wit- 
ness does not think that Mr. Dorr expected foreign forces; he judged so 
from what Mr. Dorr had said previously — that he intended to rely upon the 
people of the State, and rejected the idea of any force from abroad, except 
upon the contingency of the United States interfering. Witness heard the 



Rep. No. 546. 899 

men say that they would defend themselves. Did not hear that they in- 
tended to march to Providence. Knew beforehand that there would be aa 
attempt to reorganize the government under the people's constitution on the 
4th of July, and that, being driven out of the city of Providence by force, 
the General Assembly would be convened at Chepachet ; saw Dorr's proc- 
lamation to that effect, in manuscript, lying open on his table. Witness told 
Dorr, also, that an application had been made to the President of the United 
States by the charter government, which would probably be answered favor- 
ably on Tuesday following, and that then the United States troops would 
be brought against him; that Colonel Bankhead was waiting in Providence, 
probably for further orders. Witness stated also the rumor that Bankhead 
had been out in disguise and reconnoitred Dorr's camp. Dorr asked who 
was in command ot the State troops. Witness told him General McNeill. 
He said it was strange that he should be in such a place, (referring to Gen- 
eral John McNeil, formerly of the army, and then in the Boston custom- 
house.) Witness told him it was not the New Hampshire general, but the 
McNeill connected with the Stonington railroad. He expressed himself 
astonished, as he had lately been advising with him about his rights and 
movements in Rhode Island. Mr. Dorr did not say whether McNeill's 
advice was to dissuade him or not from an attempt to establish the govern- 
ment. 

Cross examined. — Witness has the impression that Mr. Dorr said he had 
nothing personal in view, but came there to discharge his duty as a public 
officer. Saw no disclaimer in the newspapers, on the part of suffrage men, 
of Mr. Dorr's proceedings, but knew that individuals had come out and dis- 
claimed any farther support of the new government. Mr. Dorr asked if he 
(Pearce) had resigned his seat in the people's legislature. Witness replied, 
that wlieti he was arrested and gave bail, he necessarily vacated his seat. 
In this opinion he was confirmed by Mr. Atwell, and by Mr. Dorr, who said 
he didn't see how witness could take his seat again. Witness made the same 
statement, as to his having vacated his seat, before the supreme court in the 
county of Washington. 

Dorr did not treat him cordially, but politely; the statements to the con- 
trary in the newspapers were without foundation. The conversation was 
carried on mainly by Dorr's questioning him and his answering. Dorr got 
a great deal more than he gave. He stated that he had called on the peo- 
ple for support, and had issued a proclamation to that effect ; but that the 
support that had been promised had not come. Witness recollects of telling 
Dorr that Major Power was taken ; and his reply was, then " my sword is 
gone." But Major P. did not obtain it. Witness didn't go on the hill at 
Chepachet. 

Witness reported, when he returned to Providence, that he supposed there 
were 400 men, 300 of whom were well armed, and 100 indifferently; and 
that there were besides, 200 men in the village ; whether they belonged to 
the force, could not tell. This was the best judgment he could form. But 
these statements were only a matter of opinion. Just before witness left, 
W. H. Potter called out from the step of the hotel, that all who were in favor 
of Gov. Dorr would form a procession. They fell in two and two, and 200 
or more went toward the hill. 

Witness passed two guards on the road; and at Farnum's, two or three 
miles from Chepachet, saw men with side arms, and supposed them to be a 
reconntoitring party. 



900 Rep. No. 546, 

Mr. Dorr made no report to witness of the number of his forces. He wais 
very evasive on that point. Some of the men requested that 1 should re- 
port in town the number as high as possible. Witness came to the conclu- 
sion that they were short of provisions. Heard one say to the other, we can 
get pork enough at Woonsocket. Does not mean in any unlawlul way. 
Witness was no wiser when he left Cl)epachet than when he came, from 
what Mr. Dorr told him. Saw men marching there. Had heard it ru- 
mored before he came that there were Irishmen there, but didn't see any if 
there were any there ; nor any that he knew from abroad. 

Understood that if the charter troops came out to put down the govern- 
ment of which Mr. Dorr was the head, that he should have felt authorized 
in resisting with what force he had. Never heard him say that he should 
call for foreign aid, except in case of the interposition of the United States 
in our affairs. Witness heard in Providence that aid from the United States 
was confidently expected in Providence; Gov. Francis and Mr. E. R. Pot- 
ter told witness so. Witness does not know anything about Col. Bank- 
head's going out to Chepachet, except what he heard. He heard from both 
sides that Bankhead came out to Chepachet to examine Dorr's ground. 

Dorr asked who had command of the State troops ; he told him Gen. 
McNeill. Dorr said it could not be Gen, McNeil who was an officer in the 
Boston custom house. Witness said no, the superintendent of the railroad. 
He was much surprised, and replied that a short time before he had been in 
friendly conversation with McNeill about Rhode Island aflairs, and derived 
the impression that he was friendly to him and the cause. Witness did'nt; 
understand that there was any correspondence between Dorr and McNeill, 
Understood that this referred to a personal interview. McNeill belonged to 
the same party with which they acted, and was supposed to be a friend to 
the suffrage cause. Thinks McNeill sent an order for cars for the suffrage 
friends at the Stonington depot. Witness was not present at any of the ad- 
dresses delivered by Mr. Dorr in New York. 

Laban Wade. — Was on Federal hill on the night of the attack on the 
arsenal. Saw the armed men march to the arsenal, and Mr. Dorr with 
them. Did not hear him give any order. Saw him at two or three differ- 
ent places on the plain. Saw the cannon touched and flash. They were 
pointed toward the arsenal. Cannot say that I recollect hearing the order 
given to fire. Witness's object was to take the arsenal, and presumes that 
all had the same intention. Was at Burrington Anthony's house. 

Witness was also at Chepachet as early as any of them. Went a\vay on 
Monday. Mr. Dorr was there. I considered him the governor of the 
State, and presumed he had the command of the acting commander. Thinks 
he saw Dorr on the hill. Saw him at Sprague's tavern, the headquarters. 
There were arms and munitions of war at the hill. Witnes^'s object in go- 
ing to Chepachet was to support the people's constitution and the Assembly 
there. He contemplated to light as hard as he could, if attacked. Didn't 
contemplate attacking anybody. If ordered by Gov. King to disperse, 
should have dispersed if he had been obliged to. Heard that troops would 
come to attack them. That did not cause the dispersal. The reason 1 dis- 
persed was, because the rest went away and left me. The disbandment was 
in consequence of an order from Gov. Dorr made up in a council of officers. 
Witness saw the cannon twice attempted to be fired at the arsenal. Can't 
say if the attem"pt wa« made again. Witness never received any order to 
go to Chepachet. Don't know whether there were orders issued. Lives at 



Rep. No. 546. 901 

Woonsocket. Two companies went over from Woon?ocket, with their 
officers, 

Cros^-exaiJiined. — Saw Gov Dorr at two or three places on the arsenal 
ground. It was so dark from a heavy fog, you couldn't see anything un- 
less you felt of it first. Couldn't see how the men were situated there on 
the ground. Thinks they became scattered shortly after going there. A 
portion of ihem retreated and marched off soon after going on the ground ; 
can't tell how many — should think nearly half Can't tell how many- 
marched there. The last he saw of Dorr there was after daylight, and be- 
fore sunrise. He was near the cannon. They were being dragged off. 
The men had all left wlien he came off the field. Don't know who fired 
the gun. It was not Dorr the first time, for I stood within two feet of him. 
Before the second flash, witness went a little from him. Did not see him go 
to the gun. Couldn't say whether he did or did not. Witness was return- 
ing toward the gun when he saw the flash. Gov. Dorr had a glazed cap, 
frock coat, and white sword-belt. Didn't see. anybody wave the torch. 
Tlie man who touched the cannon was a fair sized man. The men at 
Chepachet were good hardy fellows — farmers and mechanics. The com- 
pany he went with were mechanics. 

Ntflson Maxon. — Mr. Dorr was present on the ground and at Federal 
hill, where they were making preparations to attack the arsenal. The men 
were in squads on the plain. They marched there in regular order. (Wit- 
ness then went on to relate what he saw, as has been before stated by others.) 

Thursday afternoon. May 2. 

Colonel William H. Potter, [acting adjutant general at Chepachet.) — 
Was at Federal hill at the time of the preparation to attack the arsenal. 
The object of the assemblage was to take it. They went over to the field 
about midnight. Witness does not know whether any signal guns were 
fired; was up towards the arsenal at the time the troops marched. Saw 
Mr. Dorr on the field, and considered him the commander-in-chief of the 
State. He was the commander there. Did not know what was intended 
next, if they should take the arsenal. 

Was at Chepachet. Did not know that Governor Dorr was coming there 
till the night before. Saw a letter from Mr. Dorr; does not remember the 
purport of it; heard it read at a meeting of ofticers at Chepachet; Mr. 
Newell read it. This was before Dorr came. 

Attended the meeting of otticers at Woonsocket. which has been spoken 
of, two or three weeks before the affiir at Chepachet. Colonel D'Wolf was 
chairman. The object of that meeting was to find a place for the organ- 
ization and discipline of the militia. The object of the organization was to 
carry into effect the people's constitution against all opposition. If assaulted, 
they intended to defend themselves against the forces of the State, or any 
other forces. The officers adjourned to meet at Chepachet. Gen. Sprague 
was appointed a committee to select a piece of ground suitable for military 
exercise. Sprague, Comstock, and oiliers, were present. No letter from Mr. 
Dorr was read there, according to witness's recollection. Cannot swear 
whether the meeting was held with the consent of Mr. Dorr or not. 

The next time witness saw Governor Dorr was at Killingly, Connecticut. 
Does not know whether any one was in the room when he went in or not ; 
15 or 20 went into the room with the witness to see Governor Dorr. Did 
Siot see Walsh there. Saw him first at Chepachet. Mr. Dorr came down 



902 Rep. No. 546. 

with them to Chepachet. Colonel Newell 2"ave the information that Gov- 
ernor Dorr was in Killingly. It was expected thnt Mr. Dorr wonld come 
to Chepachet. Some officers were appointed by Mr. Dorr before he came, 
and after. Colonel D'Wolf was appointed next in command to himself, 
with the title of general. Witness did not hear Governor Dorr's speech at 
Acote's hill, or hear him say anything abont attacking the forces at Green- 
ville. Some 40 or 50 of the njon wanted to go and see what they were 
made o( at Greenville. Does not know what they might have done before 
they got back. If the charter forces had made an attack on ours at Che- 
pachet, they would have been resisted. Heard of the charter forces being 
at Greenville on Sunday. There were six or seven cannon at Chepachet. 
Does not know where they or the ammunition were procured. Some of 
the powder was bought by the people at Chepachet. The object of tlse as- 
semblage was to carry into effect the people's constitution by all means that 
might be necessary. 

The greatest number of men in arms at Chepachet at any time was abont 
225. Was informed that the General Assembly had been convened there 
by the governor. The object of the troops was to support the General As- 
sembly and the people's constitution in any way tliat miii;ht be required, 
and as should be directed by Governor Dorr upon consullation with his 
officers. Orders were issued in writing, by direction of Governor Dorr, to 
the j)eople of the towns, (particularly in the county of Providence,) to as- 
semble in arms at Chepacliet ; and these orders were sent a second tune. 
(An order to Dispean, of North Providence, was here produced and verified 
as signed by witness.) Pikes were niiide for the use of some of the men ; 
and there was scrap iron on hand for the purpose of loading the pieces. 
Believes Seth Luther was clerk. 

Cross-examined. — Knows of an order issued to convene a council of 
officers, before the affair at Chepachet; Newell informed witness of it. Does 
not know whom it came from. They wtre requested to consider whether 
the people's constitution could at that time be put in force; to consider 
whether anything should be done, and, if anything, what. This council 
did not meet as requested. The assemblage at Chepachet was voluntary, 
and without orders ; the men came from VVoonsocket and other places vol- 
untarily, with their officers. Information was sent to Mr. Dorr at Norwich. 
Doos not know what it was. After Governor Dorr's arrival, a general call 
was made upon the people similar to the order to Dispean, and that call was 
repealed up to Monday. It was not replied to. There were as many men 
there on Sunday and Monday as on any day. The men were counted, by- 
Governor Dorr's order, on Saturday. There were 200 or 225. After that, 
a detachment left the place and went home. Some went to Cumberland, 
and some to Slatersville ; GO or 70 left. Witness does not know by whose 
request they returned home. The men were counted a second'time by Mr. 
Dorr's order. The number did not exceed 225 at any time — that i.s, this 
Was the number of men armed and under orders. They were mostly f;irui- 
ers and mechanics. The men about the village were unarmed and under 
no orders. No strict discipline was maintained on the hill until Monday. 
No man was pressed into the service. All wfio did serve, served volunia- 
rily. Never heard of Mr. Knight being fired upon, as had been related. 
Witness acted as adjutant general, if it had happened, must have known 
it. Witness does not know of funds being provided to subsist the force. A 
contribution was taken up on the ground, and $70 collected. There was- 



Rep. No. 546. 903 

no depot of provisions on hand. There were sontie barrels of flour and 
beef remaining when the camp broke up, which would not have lasted four 
days. Part of the cannon bails would not fit the pieces. What would fit, 
would not have lasted more than fifteen minutes in an engagement. This 
fact was rejjorted by the captain of the artillery. There was a report of an 
approach ot the forces from below on Sunday evening, and preparations 
were made to receive theni. 

A council of officers was called on Monday. It was evident that there 
were not artillery, ammunition, and provisioris enotigh, and that we were 
not sustained by the force that was expected. The enemy were said to be 
at Greenville and Scituale ; there hud been frequently such reports. It was 
reported on Saturday and Sunday night that they were coming. Witness 
does not know by whom the order of dismissal was taken to the ground. 
Should think the order was issued about 4 o'clock. But witness had no 
time to look at, and cannot speak certainly. Mr. Dorr left Chepachet about 
sunset. No person from out of the Slate was in Mr. Dorr's company when 
witness saw him at Killingly. All with whom he returned into the Slate 
were officers and citizens of the State. 

General William Gibbs McNeill. — Being asked by the attorney general 
whether or not he had a conversation with Mr. Dorr shortly before his 
(Mr. Dorr's) return into this State in May, 1842, the witness stated to 
the court, that before he proceeded he should like to make a few remarks 
with regard to the circumstances of his being here. He said he appeared 
as a witness on tliis occasion most unexpectedly, most painfully, and most 
reluctantly. He had been summoned, had been permitted to leave the 
State, and had been recalled by a letter from the attorney general. He was 
now again within the jurisdiction of the State, and was bound to give his 
testimony. And this he was desirous of doing, on account of some insinua- 
tions contained in the testimony of Dutee J.. Pearce, which slandered him 
most falsely and most foully. In the conversation which he had with Mr. 
Dorr, he was not a counsellor or adviser, except in opposition to [lim. 
Witness regarded this conversation as private and in confidence. 

[Mr. Dorr. — 1 release you from all the honorary obligation which you 
regard yourself as being under, that you may relate all you know] 

Witness being in INew York in May. 1842, and hearing that Mr. Dorr 
was there, called with Mr. Gailliard, of South Carolina, to pay his respects 
to him, at the Howard-house. A great many persons were present, none 
of whom he knew. Mr. Dorr introduced him to Mr. Slamm — much to his 
surprise, as he had always regarded him as a fictitious character. (Laughter.) 
Witness d les not wish to be understood that he found Mr. Slamm other 
than a gentleman in all respects. Mr. Slamm informed him that Mr. Dorr 
intended to return to Rhode Island and enforce the constitution, which he 
regarded as valid. They conversed but little, and upon the question of the 
necessity of his so doing. Witness did not consider that there was any- 
thing serious in the matter. He asked Mr. Dorr, jestingly, who was to 
command liis forces. Dorr walked up to him, and slapped him on the 
shoulder, and asked him, if he would not. Witness did not decline the 
ofier, because he did not consider it as serious. All this passed in a few 
minutes. There was no debate on tlie subject. 

It was remarked that a majority were in f"avor of this constitution; which 
witness has always denied, contending that there was no majority — meaning 
no legally ascertained majority, it was also stated, he believes by Mr. 



904 ' Rep. No. 54G. 

Slamm, that they could have assistance from abroad, ns many as TO, 
from New York, and l.OUO from other places. Witness left the house 
without an impression of anythino; serious being intended. With re<Tard 
to the car, the next day, the last time witness hod the pleasiire of seeing 
Mr. Dorr, Burrington Anthony came to witness, and requested a car to run 
separately from Stonington to Providence. Witness acceded to his request; 
was censured for this, on the supposition that he had made an offer of this 
conveyance. The price was not specified. As witness had before re- 
marked, this was the last day he saw Mr. Dorr; but he hoped that they 
might often meet again as friends, as before. 

Cross examined. — (Mr. Dorr asked witness whether he intended to apply 
to him any of the remarks which he niade before he commenced his testi- 
mony. Witness replied that he did not.) 

In connexion with the aid from abroad, witness thinks it highly probable 
that something may have been said by Mr. Dorr about an expected inter- 
ference on the part of the United States Government in Rhode l5;Iand affairs; 
but witness cannot now recall it. There were no enlistments spoken of as 
having been made. The langunge was general, that thousands would 
repair (o Mr. Dorr's standard from sympathy in the cause. Witness be- 
lieves they would have come after Mr. Dorr had got possession of the city 
of Providence. This opinion does not rest upon anything witness heard 
fiom Mr. Dorr, or upon any facts stated by any one. Witness only speaks 
from his general knowledge of the people of the cities, and from mixing 
with them all over the country. Sympathy would have been an induce- 
ment to them. 

The conversation was hasty and general. Witness has not seen Mr. 
Dorr since, until to day, nor had he seen him before for some time. Witness 
had no communication in any way with Mr. Dorr after this interview, nor 
was there any concert or understanding between him and Mr. Dorr. — Wit- 
ness aftervvards held a commission from the authorities of Rhode Island as 
major general commanding in chief He was not a citizen of this State. 
Colonel Bankhead was not under his employ or command. 

[The question being asked, whether other persons fronj abroad were not 
employed or engaged on the same side with witness, the court said it was 
improper.] 

Witness afterwards understood that, for the part he had taken in Rhode 
Island affairs, he was liable to be attacked in the city of New York. He 
went immediately to the Pewter Mug to meet any assailants, but found no 
difficulty. He was not molested. 

The attorney general here stated that all his witnesses had been exam- 
ined, and that the prosecution would rest here for the present. 

Alfred Bosworth, esq., then further addressed the jury in the opening of 
the case for the State; recalling their attention to the four counts in the 
indictment, charging the prisoner with levying war against the State, at 
Providence, on the I7th and ISih of May, and at Chepachet, in Glocester, 
on the 25th and 27th of June. 

The evidence, said Mr. Bosworth, exhibited the proceedings of a set of 
daring, worthless, desperate men, guided and directed by a leader who 
sought the bad eminence in which he was placed, with his eyes open, and 
warned of consequences, and who waged war on the sanctities ot private 
life, for the accomplishment of his foul, ambitious, and nefarious purposes; 
to attain which, he was ready and willing to imbrue his hands in ilie blood 



Rep. No. 546. 905 

of his friends and relatives. At the arsenal, he was prevented from sue- 
ceedinor by the treachery of one of his men, and by the desertion of others; 
but not until, descending from the honorable place of a commander, he had 
attempted with his own hands to light the torch of civil war against his re- 
lations and fellow citizens. Alter having committed such atrocious acts, 
he escaped from the State. 

Mr. Bosworih then went on to describe the session of the people's legis- 
lature at the foimdry. The prisoner there took an oath as governor of the 
State, and exercised the duties appropriate to such a station. He issued 
military commissions, giving power to expel, kill, and destroy the inhabit- 
ants of the State. The General Assembly also performed the part of a 
legislative body. They assumed to exercise the authority of a legislature. 
Postponing the choice of judges, they proceeded in the election of military 
officers, and passed divers acis and resolutions. All which indicated nsost 
clearly in all of them a deliberate, wiclced, and malicious intent. They 
knew what they were about; they acted with their eyes open, and the 
consecpiences are upon their heads. 

After remaining a short time abroad, in the capacity of an extra territorial 
governor, and obtaining assurances of aid in his nefarious designs, the 
prisoner reiurned again into the Slate, still bent upon his wicked object, 
and urging on others to* carry it into effect, even at the sacrifice of life — 
willing, as he said, to leave hiS; bones on the field, and calling on the peo- 
ple to stand by and support him. But, fortimately, he was not supported 
by his friends, on whom he called in vain. A formidable force was sent 
to break up his encampment ; and, when all hope of success had vanished, 
and he had nothing left to depend upon, he again fied — thereby manifest- 
ing a sense of guilt, and a conviction that he was a wrong-doer, who felt 
no confluence in his cause ; for, if he liad been animated (as it has been 
pretended) by a sense of duty, he would have remained to receive the jus- 
tice that was due, and which he could have no reason to fear if he were 
not guilty. 

Mr. B. then reviewed the testimony bearing on the particular overt acts, 
and concluded with remarking that the evidence was so clear, positive, and 
direct, that the jury could not hesitate, and " must pronounce the criminal 
guilty." 

Friday morning, May 3. 

Dutee .1. Pearce said he wished to make a few remarks, in consequence 
of what had fallen from General VVm. G. McNeill. Mr. P. said that he 
had given a correct account of his conversation with Mr. Dorr at Che- 
pachet, and derived from Mr. Dorr the impressions concerning General 
McNeill which he had stated The misapprehension arose from the words 
which he (Mr. Pearce) had related as having been used by Mr. Dorr at the 
interview at Chepachet, concerning the time when he (Mr. Dorr) had last 
seen General McNeill. Witness had said that Mr. D. used the words '-a 
few days" previous. He might have said " a short time" previous. 

Mr, Dorr here said that Mr. Pearce made his visit to Chepacliet on the 
26ih of June, and his (Mr. Dorr's) interview and conversation with Gen- 
eral (then Major) McNeill was at New York, on the 13th or 14th of May 
preceding. Mr. Pearce had made an error in statins: that he (Dorr) had 
mentioned this interview as having taken place a iew days previous. He 
liad spoken of it to Mr. Pearce as having occurred not long, or a short 



906 Rep. No. 546. 

time, a^ro. He (Mr. D.) had had no interview, conversation, or connmnni- 
cation with General McNeill since the I5th of May. General i\I. was of 
the same pohtical party with Mr. D. in t:enerai poHtics ; and he heard 
nothinof from General M. at New York to contradict his supposition as to 
General M. being friendly to the suffrage cause and its success in Rhode 
Island. 



THE DEFENCE. 

George Turner, esq., here opened the defence. He stated that a denial 
of the facts (as they really occurred, and not as they had often been falsely 
represented) would form no part of it. The defendant takes higher ground 
than this. He does not shrink, here or anywhere, from the avowal of his 
actions. The defence is, that Mr. Dorr was elected by the people governor 
of the State of Rhode Island in April, 1842 ; and that he was so elected 
under a rightful and valid constitution, adopted by a large majority of the 
people. This is the main point. Mr. Turner then read all his points, as 
follows : 

1. That, in this country, treason is an offence against the United States 
only, and cannot be committed against an individual State. 

2. That the 4th section of the act of Rhode Island of March, 1842, en- 
titled "An act relating to offences against tlie sovereign power o! the State," 
is unconstitutional and void, as destructive of the common-law right of trial 
by jury, which was a fundamental part of the English constitution at the 
declaration of independence, and has ever since been a fundamental law in 
Rhode Island. 

3. That that act, if constitutional, gives this court no jurisdiction to try 
this indictn}ent in the county of Newport — all the overt acts being therein 
charged as comaiitted in the county ot Providence. 

4. That the defendant acted justifiably, as governor of the State, under a 
vahd constitution rightfully adopted, which he was sworn to support. 

5. That the evidence does not support the charge of treasonable and 
criminal intent in the defendant. 

Mr. Turner said that, before making any comments, he would call the 
witnesses for the defendant, who had been long detained here, and were 
anxious to return to their homes and business. 

Wlincsses for ike defendant. 

Henry S. Hazard, recalled. — Stood at the door of the arsenal when 
Colonel Blodget came to the door on the night of the 17th of May. Saw 
men with the pieces in the lower story ; but cannot state whether the plan 
was to defend both stories or not, except from what has been said here by 
the witnesses. 

Colonel Charles TV. Carter [summoned by the prosecntion, but not ex- 
amined) — Witness was present as an officer of the escort, in the procession 
of the General Assembly from High street to the " foundry," on the 3;i day 
of May, 1842. He saw no person in the procession unusually armed, or 
having large canes, sticks of wood, or anything of that sort. The otject 
of this assemblage was to organize the government under the people's con- 
stitution. In the afternoonj^ Governor Dorr ordered the city troops, in 
which witness was an officer, (a lieutenant in the4(h ward volunteers,) to be 



Rep. No. 546. 907 

in readiness for the next day. The next day witness called on Governor 
Dorr to ask him for what service they were wanted. He replied, that he 
regretted that his purpose of taking possession of the State-house and of the 
public property was defeated by llie opposition of the House of Rej)resenla- 
tives. He (Mr. Dorr) tliought this was the right course, and was in favor 
of it. 

Before we went out to take the arsenal, or to attempt to take if, there was 
a meeting of military officers at Burrington Anthony's house, at the request 
of Governor Dorr, to consult about the steps to be taken. Some thought 
it would be better to march into the city first, before going to the arsenal. 
The majority were in favor of going to the latter ; and the opposition was 
waived. After hearing the views of the officers. Governor Dorr gave the 
order to march to the arsenal, which contained tlie Slate arms. Witness 
supposed the soldiers then would fallow Governor Dorr wherever he might 
lead them ; this, at least, was witness's determination. 

Several of the officers suggested to Governor Dorr that he had better re- 
main at Anthony's house, with a guard ; witness was one of them. Gov. 
Dorr replied, that he had often publicly stated, and at the town house, that 
when danger should happen he wished to be found anywhere but in the 
rear; that he should be as good as his word, and would not send others 
where he was not willing*) go himself Mr. Dorr went out in the centre 
of the colutnn ; witness was near Inm ; Henry A. Kendall was on one side. 

It was a very dark night, in consequence of the heavy fog and mist ; it 
was difficult to distinguish anything a little distance off. I'he nigiit was 
not chosen because it was dark ; the fog came up late ; it seemed like an 
interposition of Divine Providence. 

Witness counted the men in sections before they started to go out, and 
found 234 in all ; although the number had been represented by some as 
larger. 

Witness saw Governor Dorr on the fjeld, doing his duty as an officer, 
and attempting to rally and bring up the men. The two artillery pieces, 
six pounders, were loaded with round shot — balls. 

Colonel Wheeler, the chief officer of the force, after the men had been 
hailed, called on witness to carry a flag of truce to the arsenal, and demand 
the surrender of it. Colonel Wheeler told him to say to Colonel Blodget, 
who commanded the arsenal, that there was force enough there to hlow 
them all to hell. Witness replied he should say no such thing, but should 
say what was proper on such an occasion. Colonel l^lodget has given a 
perfectly true account of what took place when witness went to the arsenal 
with the flag. Witness went up to the lines, and called for the corporal of 
the guard. He was asked "who's there?" He replied "an enemy," iiaving 
in his hand a sword, with a white handkerchief upon it for a flag. Colonel 
Martin then carried him up to the door. Witness made a demand for the 
surrender of the place in the name of Colonel Wheeler; but immediately 
thought that it should be made in the name of Governor Dorr, and cor- 
rected himself Colonel Blodget answered that he knew no such persons, 
and should defend his post. Witness then went back and saw Colonel 
Wheeler. Said Wheeler, '-What did he (Blodget) say?" "What did he 
say?" witiipss replied, '' what the devil should he say, but that lie should 
defend tfie arsenal .^" Witness then turned round, and looked toward the 
other end of the line; and, when he looked back again, there was no 
Colonel Wheeler to be seen ; he had gone off in the fog. Witness then 



908 Rep. No. 546. 

went after Governor Dorr; and both he and the governor then looked for 
the colonel, but conld not find iiim on the field. Governor Dorr then or- 
dered witness to take command of the artillery, which he did. 

Just at this lime witness saw Captain Dispean, with the Pawlucket com- 
panj^, going off in tiie rear. Witness asked him where the devil he was 
going. Dispean replied, ''There is danger here." Witness asked him 
how the devil he expected to go to war without getting into danger. 

The men were then ordered into line, the guns were placed -in position 
and pointed at the arsenal, and the right gun was touched; it flashed, but 
did not go off. The left gun was also flashed, and primed again ; and was 
flashed a second time without going off". The first gun witness believes 
was touched off" by a man named Andrews, the second by a Mr. Hatha- 
way. Governor Dorr stood in the rear of t.he guns. He did not have a 
torch in his hand that night, or apply a portfire or torch to either of the 
pieces. Witness commanded them; stood close by them all the time, and 
is sure that Governor Dorr did not attempt to fire them. Witness has 
heard the testimony of Orson JMoffitt, that he saw Governor Dorr swing a 
torch and flash one of the pieces ; and knows that, in saying so, he has tes- 
tified what is false. Witness gave the word to fire the pieces by the order 
of the commander. Governor Dorr. 

The guns were entirely unserviceable. The^ipowder was old and poor; 
and, becoming damp, had hardened, so that (he priming wire would not 
go down through it. The statement which has been made here, that the 
guns were plugged up with wood, or something else, is untrue. They 
were bored out in the morning, afer they were brought back at Anthony's 
house, with a gimlet and rod, which was the only way in which they 
could be cleared. There were no plugs found in them ; tlie substance was 
dissolved powder, which had hardened and become solid. 

After the flash, the men began to scatter ; so that soon there were hardly 
enough left; to carry off" the guns. . Witness limbered one of them himself. 
Governor Dorr collected about fifty men to take the guns back. He went 
off with one of them, witness with the other; the rest of the men had left. 

There were about fifty men who went back to the house of B. Anthony, 
on the morning of the Ibth, and their number decreased. Colonel Wheeler 
having gone, Governor Dorr that morning appointed Levi Aldrich colonel, 
and several others in the places of those who had left. The signals were 
not answered ; the men did not return to defend the headquarters, and it 
became necessary for Mr. Dorr to leave the ground, which he did at about 
half past 8 o'clock. Governor Dorr consulted with his friends, and showed 
witness a letter itiformiiig him that all the officers of his government in 
Providence had resio-ned, and that he could expect no support. He was 
advised to leave. This was my advice to him. Understood he left an 
order with Colonel Aldrich to fall back, with authority to dismiss his men. 
The colonel gave the order from the window. 

Some time after Governor Dorr had gone, the charter troops, some six or 
eight hundred of them, came up. T'wenly seven of our men remained. 
They fell back to the edge of the hill, stood by the cannon, and would not 
suffer them to be taken from them by force. They meant to go off with 
the honors of war. JVlr. Anthony requested witness to give them up. 
Witness's intention was that they should be given up to the artillery com- 
pany, to whom they belonged, according to the agreement when they were 
taken ; and they were so given up the next day. Witness prevented a can- 



Rep. No. 546. 909 

non bein2: fired at the mass of men when they were coming up the hill, by 
catching the match. Atler Governor Dorr had gone away, some one said 
something about a compromise with the enemy. Governor Dorr never 
mentioned any snch thing. Witn« ss never beheved anything about this 
compromise. When Governor Kin^ and the sheritl' came up, the men saw 
that there was no snch thing. Witness called this the soft soap story. 
There was no man on duty among the soldiers on Federal hill who was 
under the influence of liquor, or intoxicated. The statement that any of 
the men were in that condition is untrue. 

Witness was one of Governor Dorr's aids at Chepachet in June following. 
The average of the armed men there, composing our force, did not exceed 
200 ; the men were coming and going as they pleased ; the service was 
voluntary ; a company from Cumberland went bade on Saturday. Witness 
knew of none being taken up and compelled to serve. He took up one of 
[lis own men who was drunk, and kept him in the guard-house till sober; 
he was the only one whom he saw in that condition. There was no com- 
mand exercised over the men about the village, and not much over the sol- 
diers on the hill. Thirteen of the latter were from New York. Being in 
the confidence of Governor Dorr, as his aid, witness had frequent conver- 
sation with him. Heard him say that, in case the President of the United 
States interfered in the affairs of this State, he wished and expected assist- 
ance from other States; but witness never heard him say that he desired 
or expected any such aid to interfere between the two political parties of 
the State, and to strengthen one against the other. Mr. Dorr's view was, 
that if the people were let alone from abroad by the United States, they 
would take care of themselves; and it they could not maintain their rights, 
they did not deserve to have any. 

There was a talk among some of the men. that if they got to Providence, 
they could occupy the colleges for barracks. Governor Dorr forbade all 
marauding. He ordered that private property should be everywhere re- 
spected. A couple of beef cattle were taken, but the one that was kept was 
paid for. 

Governor Dorr said that the assemblage at Chepachet was premature for 
want of a consultation; there was no regularly organized force there; the 
organization commenced after they got there, A council of officers was 
held at Sprague's hotel, before whom the state of affairs was laid ; witness 
was present. The opinion of the officers was given in favor of disbanding. 
Governor Dorr wrote an order to this effect, and General D' Wolf carried it to 
Acote's hill, and made it known to the men. Governor Dorr said that it ap- 
peared by a newspaper that had been sent to him, that many who had been 
just before our staunch friends in Providence, were now going against us 
and denouncing us ; many had also expressed their satisfaction with the 
doings of the charter General Assembly. Governor Dorr said it made no 
difference how they went over to the enemy — whether from cowardice, or 
by base means ; it had become evident that the majority were against sup- 
porting the constitution by arms ; and if we remained there, we should have 
to contend as a faction both against friends and enemies. 

The order to disband was given when the sun was three-quarters of an 
hour high. The soldiers broke up from the camp as men do at the end of 
a general muster, without any haste or disorder. Governor Dorr left Che- 
pachet at about sunset. Witness went with him; there were no others except 
the driver of the wagon ; they went to Vernon Stiles's hotel, in Thompson, 



910 Rep. No. 546. 

Connecticut. There were only three colored men on the hill, and they were 
in the commissary's department. Witness heard in Norwich that Eddy had 
some money there to procure ammunition. The troops dispersed immedi- 
ately on being disbanded. Of some 600 men in Providence, who held meet- 
ings and agreed to come out itno service when called for, only 35 came to 
Chepachet. Governor Dorr was informed that, when he should move to 
carry the government into effect, he could depend on 1,500 men, who were 
pledged to support him. He remarked at the disbandment, that if those 
who had been deprived of their rights would not fio:ht for themselves, they 
were not worth fighting for. 

Witness was present on Saturday afternoon, and heard Governor Dorr 
deliver his address to the troops ; witness stood near him ; he did not hear 
him use the expression about laying his bones on the hill, as has been slated. 
If he had used it, witness would have heard it. The flag under which we 
assembled was tiie standard of '76. 

Cross-examined. — The guns which were aimed at the arsenal were un- 
loaded afier they were brought back to Anthony's house in the morning; 
they were loaded with round shot — with cannon balls. When reloaded, 
they were loaded with slugs. The guns were pointed quartering at the 
arsenal; thought it would produce a better effect than if the balls went 
plump on. The guns were as far apart as the ^idth of the court-house. 
Saw the right gun touched, and went to the left. There were not more 
than a dozen men around them. About this time, they went away behind 
woodpiles, and somewhere else. Alter the return from the arsenal, witness 
remained outside at B. Anthony's house, rallying the men. Was not by the 
guns the whole time after they were brought back ; saw nothing but powder 
when the priming was withdrawn. Didn't know when Governor Dorr was 
to return from New York. _ A man came to hiin and said Governor Dorr 
wished him to make some pikes. Saw the pikes when made, although he 
did not make them. The assemblage at Chepachet was to protect the 
people's legislature and the town against invasion. It was only a talk 
among some of the men, of going to Providence and taking possession of 
the colleges. There was no plan or conversation to that effect among the 
officers. Things did not admit of such a movement. Witness held him- 
self ready to go anywhere that he should be ordered. Thinks he said 
something about preparing hot shot, to be used when necessary, as they 
are sometimes in war. Witness does not know of any aid being called from 
New York to act in any other case than that of interference by the General 
Government. Witness thinks he himself proposed taking the armories in 
Providence first, before they should attempt to take the arsenal. Governor 
Dorr wanted to take the arsenal, because it contained the State arms. 

Saw Governor Dorr between the time of the Federal hill affair, and that 
at Chepachet. The plan was to procure men and ammunition, and to 
maintain the people's constitution and government by force, if necessary. 
Witness thinks he (witness) mentioned then, that they had tried to take the 
Warren guns. Governor Dorr might have approved of it ; cannot speak 
certainly ; does not think he disapproved of it. There were men about the 
village of Chepachet with arms. The men left the hill, at first, when they 
pleased ; but that was stopped toward the last, and those who chose to be- 
come soldiers were required to stay. Two farmers, good men, came there 
and were going off the hill. Witness told them that they had better not; 
but one said he had six cows at home and one heifer that kicked very badly, 



Rep. No. 546. 911 

and tboiiwht they had better so home and see to them, as they had left there 
nothing but women folks. Witness made them leave their mnskets behind. 
Tlie men generally wanted to go to Greenville to attack the charter troops. 
The reason they did not was, the news from Providence that our party in 
town had given up entirely. Was not on the hill when the order to dis- 
band was read. Heard no proposition from Dorr to go to Providence and 
take possession of the colleges, or aiiytliing else. Never heard anything 
from Governor Dorr which carried tlie appearance that he was acting for 
his own personal interest. He was acting for the people only, and in their 
service ; and if they had not abandoned him through cowardice, their gov- 
ernment would have been this day in operation. 

John S. Harris. — Knows where the votes given for the people's constitu- 
tion now are, and of their being counted, and how many there are. 

The Attorney General objected to the admission of any testimony on 
this point. 

The coiirL — Such testimony is not relevant at all to the issue. 

Mr. Tifrtier. — A great deal of evidence Ims been offered to show that the 
defendant assumed to be governor of the State, and pretended to act under 
a constitution. The assistant of the prosecuting officer has laid great stress 
on this point in his opening to the jury. In the present stage of the case, 
we offer this testimony, for the purpose of explaining the motives of the 
prisoner. 

Mr. Dorr said it appeared to him that he was entitled to this testimony, 
even supposing that all the proceedings in favor of the people's constitution, 
and to elect a government under it, were null and void. It went towards 
an explanation of his intentions, and to show what authority lay at 
the foundation of his acts, and that he had not risen up in the 
midst of the people as a usurper, acting of his own mere motion, and 
witliout law. It is certainly proper to claim a right to repel the charge of 
wicked and malicious motives in exercising a pretended authority, which 
has been so much dwelt upon by the prosecutor in the opening of the case. 
He (Mr. Dorr) was charged with usurping the duties appropriate to a 
governor of the State. Let us inquire whether this was or was not an un- 
authorized assumption. Let us look into the election, and beyond — at the 
votes for the constitution itself, at the formation and proceedings of the peo- 
ple's legislature, at his (Mr. Dorr's) recognition by the Assembly and by the 
people in his political capacity ; and then it will be more easy to make up a 
fair judgment upon the character, motives, and intentions of the accused. 

Durfee, Chief Justice. — The court rule, that, as evidence has been intro- 
duced very properly by the government to prove a conspiracy, it is for the 
prisoner to disprove that fact, but not to confirm it. It is not necessary, in 
order to be a usurper, that a man should set himself up alone, and pretend 
to act in any authority. In fact, he cannot do so but by the consent of 
large numbers. But such a conspiracy can give no authority by its num- 
bers, and can excuse no one for the violation of the laws. No one knows 
better than the prisoner the maxim that ignorance of the law is no excuse 
for its violation. No crime can be permitted to be excused by showing that 
the prisoner acted under a mistake of the law respecting his natural rights. 
A prisoner might as well set up, to an indictment for robbery, the defence 
that he bad a natural right to the possession of the property which he took 
from tlie person robbed. The evidence which the jury should consider is 
that which relates to the levying of war, and the part which the defendant 



912 Rep. No. 546. 

took in it. If the evidence prove this charge as laid in the indicfment, 
then the jury should bring in a verdict of guiUy; otherwise, of not guilty. 
The evidence offered will not prove the absence of the malice charged. 

Mr. Dorr hoped not to be misunderstood in having it supposed by any 
one that he set tip the defence that he acted under a mistake of law in sup- 
porting the rights of the people or his own. Very far from it ; he claimed 
to be justified by having done what he had a right to do. But the testimo- 
ny was offered in this stage to explain his motives. 

Staples, Justice. — The evidence of the prisoner's intention can be of no 
importance. There is no pretence of any [)rivate malice on his part, and 
the law infers general malice to constitute the offence, if the facts be proved. 

Durfee, Chief Justice. — All considerations of this kind are more prop- 
erly presented after verdict, by way of mitigation of the sentence. 

Brayton, .Justice, — Understood that no evidence had been offered to 
prove special malice in the prisoner. 

Mr. Turner. — Will the court have the goodness to state why testimony 
as to the "fiendish looks'' and expressions of the defendant was allowed to 
be gone into? The opening counsel has indulged himself freely in harsh 
imputations against the defendant ; and a great many things have been in- 
troduced here, which can have no other effect than to prejudice the jury 
against him. We ought to be permitted to remove all these prejudices, as 
we can if we be permitted to go into the whole case. 

Durfee.^ Chief Justice. — The evidence proper for the jury is that which 
relates to the levying of war, and the part the defendant took in it, 

ISttiples, Justice. — No evidence ought to have the slightest weight with 
the jury, if any such has been put in, to show any personal malice or feel- 
ings on the part of the prisoner. The evidence must go to prove the facts 
laid in the indictment; and upon these the jury must render a verdict of 
guilty, if at all. 

The court rejected the testimony offered ; and the defendant excepted 
to their ruhng. At the request of the court, the motion to admit this testi- 
mony was reduced to writing, as follows : 

" The defendant offers to prove, by John S. Harris, that a large majority 
ot the whole male adult population of this State, being ciitzens of the 
United States, gave their votes for the adoption of the constitution com- 
monly known and called the people's constitution of Rhode Island, in the 
month of December A. D. 1841 ; under which said constitution the defend- 
ant was elected governor ot this State in the month of April, 1842. And 
this testimony he offers in this stage of the case, to repel the imputation of 
malicious motives and intentions, as charged in the indictment, and urged 
by the prosecutor in behalf of the State." 

Mr. Harris then gave his testimony on other points. After the people's 
legislature broke up, Governor Dorr went to Burrington Anthony's house, 
and the next day to Mr. Bradford Allen's house, to meet a number of his 
friends; and was occupied in signing commissions, and in the business of 
the government. When this was done, he set out for Washington. He 
went there, at the desire of his friends, and in compliance with the vote of 
a large public meeting in Providence, for the purpose of making a true rep- 
resentation of our affairs to the President. Witness was not present at the 
arsenal, and had nothing to do with military affairs. 

Col Benjamin M. Darling., recalled. — Was present at Federal hill in 
the procession on the 16th of May, and in the barouche with Gov. Dorr 



Rep. No. 546. 913 

wlien he addressed the people. The escort were arranged in a hollow- 
square or circle. There were 375 armed men. The Hne of men extended 
nearly around the carriage. Witness did not hear anything said about the 
sword being dyed in blooi. if any such expression had been used, he must 
have lieard it. as he sat within three feet of Mr. Dorr, in front. Mr. Dorr 
said that it had been presented to him by the brother of an officer wliodied 
in Florida. He said it had never been dishonored, and never should be as 
long as he had it. Witness waved his sword, and gave the signal for a 
cheer. It was a loud and hearty cheer, Mr. Dorr stood on the seat while 
making his speech, and held up the sword when he was speaking of it. 
No such language was used by him, concerning the sword being dyed in 
blood, as has been related by Wm. P. Blodget and E H. Hazard. Nor did 
he wave the sword. Witness did not look at Mr. Dorr all the time. His 
beard was very long, and he looked very dusty. Recollects Dorr's saying 
something about the 5,0UU men, but not exactly his remarks. The whole 
proceedings on the hill lasted for about an hour. The address was not more 
than three-quarters of an hour long. The meeting was peaceable and or- 
derly. Heard no threats made by any of them. Don't think any one could 
have stood within 20 feet, without distinguishing whether Gov. Dorr stood 
in a carriage or on a platform. 

Samuel H. Wales. — Was on Federal hill in the procession when Gov. 
Dorr returned from Stonington. Mr. Dorr made no such remarks concern- 
ing the sword as have been stated here by Blodget and Hazard. The prin- 
cipal tenor of the speech was an account of his reception in New York. In 
re'erence to the 5.1)00 men, he stated that he was sure of aid enough from 
New York to paralyze any force which the United States might use against 
the suffrage party in this State. Gov. Dorr drew the sword and held it up. 
He said it belonged to an officer who died in the Florida war ^ and the 
brother of this officer had presented it to him. Mr. Dorr added, that it had 
never been dishonored in battle, and he hoped it never would be, Mr. Dorr 
said that he was willing to die with that sword in his hand, if need be, to 
sustain the constitution of the State.' Witness stood very near the carriage^ 
within five feet of Mr. Dorr, in*ide of the military. They occupied a large 
space around the carriage. Paid particular attention to the speech. Should, 
have heard Mr. Dorr if he had used any such expression as testified to by 
Blodget, respecting the sword dyed in blood. Mr. Dorr appeared fatigued < 
and covered with dust. The applause was very hearty, and might have 
been peculiar, as it was a dusty day. There was no ferocious yell, as has 
been described. The meeting was orderly, and soon broke up. 

Nathan Porter. — Followed the procession to Federal hill. Gov. Dorr 
stood up on the middle seat of the barouche, in delivering his speech. He- 
said it had been reported here that he had solicited 500 men from New 
York ; that was a mistake; he could have 5,000 men, but he did not want 
them, except to repel the force of the General Government. Gov. Dorr 
drew his sword and held it up. He said it had belonged to a brave man 
who had fought in the Floridawar ; that it had never been dishonored, and 
never should be ; that he had sacrificed all in the cause except life, and that 
he was willing to lay that down, if need be, in the cause of the people ; that 
the sword had been used in the cause of the country, and he was ready to 
use it again, if need be. The appearance of Dorr was peculiar. His face 
was red, and he was very dusty. The wind was high and blew his hair 
about ; his beard was long, and he looked haggard. Witness remarked to 
58 



914 Rep. No. 546. 

some one by, that he never saw Gov, Dorr look so badly. He lool^ed as one 
would who had been riding in the sun uncovered. Witness thought the 
speech was calm and dignified, and a moderate one under the circumstan- 
ces. The meeting was orderly, and the cheer was a loud and hearty one. 
and seemed to come from warm and manly hearts. Witness stood very 
near Gov. Dorr. Has heard the statement of Blodget. Mr. Dorr used no 
expression of the sword dyed in blood or gore, &c. 

James Thurber, jr.— Is acquainted with William P. Blodget. On Tues- 
day met him between here and the Park House, and passed the compliments 
of the morning with him. Spoke to him about the death of Major Power. 
He said, Yes, the old man was used up. Witness replied, Yes, and I see you 
were pretty much used up at Dedham the other day. He said they packed 
a jury against him, and thus convicted him. Witness said. Well, 1 do not 
know but they will do so here with Mr. Dorr. Blodget replied, 1 hope so, 
by God. Witness said, Two wrongs do not make a right. Blodget answered, 
I want to pay them in their own coin. He said he had heretofore wished 
Mr. Dorr convicted; but now he would do what he could, and he should 
not have been down here had it not been for this. 

(Witness was going on to state conversation he had with E, H. Hazard 
in relation to Mr. Dorr's trial, but was stopped by the court.) 

Bnrrington Anthony. — Was at home when the men returned from the 
arsenal. Gov. Dorr left about an hour before the charter troops came up. 
Witness did not say to Gol. Blodget, as he has stated, that the men on Fed- 
eral hill, at his house, were drunk. He may have said to him that they 
were much excited ; but he did not mean by liquor. He offered them 
nothing to drink ; and saw none of them at any time affected by it. Wit- 
ness pledged himself to Col. Blodget and Gen. Gibbs, when the charter 
troops were at his house, that he would endfeavor to have the artillery pieces 
restored that afternoon, as f;ir as was in his power, but he had no command 
over the men. Witness saw a letter containing the resignation of the offi- 
cers of the government put into Dorr's hands, at his (witness's) house. A 
great many of Mr. Dorr's men, who had returned to the house, had then 
gone away. Heard no firing. After a (e^ men had carried the pieces back 
to the edge of the hill, the charter troops came up near them ; and a match 
was then waved over a cannon pointed at them. At this they sprang aside 
against the fence, and all went down together. The piece was not fired. 

Witness heard Gov. Dorr's speech delivered at Tammany Hall in New 
York, on the I4th of May. There were 5,000 persons in and around the 
hall. He expressly repudiated the idea of foreign aid, except in event of the 
interference of the United States in the affairs of Rhode Island. He said, as 
he had always said, that if the people of this State could not maintain their 
rights against the charter party, they did not deserve to have any. 

Met Gen. Wm. G. McNeill in New York at the Astor House. He said he 
had seen Gov. Dorr, and had omitted one thing, and that was to offer him 
and his friends a car to go to Providence, provided that it should not inter- 
fere with the regular train. He requested me to step up to the desk, and 
write an order to that effect, and he signed it. He had always expressed 
himself as a political friend. Understood him then to be favorable to the 
suffrage cause. 

Sheriff Potter must have been mistaken as to witness's requesting him 
to prevent the people without from firing. Witness did not use the lan- 
:guage attributed to him. Asked Sheriff Potter if he had any objections to 



Kep. No. 546. 915 

ih? people^s legislature sitting in the court-house. Potter said he had no 
intimation of his being superseded as sheriff, and should not relinquish the 
possession of it. This was on the day of the meeting of the people's 
legislature. Witness was not authorized by the vote of the house to take 
the State-house, or to use force. He was directed to ask for it. 

Capt. Josiah Reed. — Was captain of the chartered United Independent 
Company of Volunteers of the city of Providence. Was on Federal hill 
in the afternoon of May 17th. A member and an officer of the old artil- 
lery company told him thai the company were at the armory, and wanted 
us to come down and get their pieces — two six-pounders. Soon after, he 
was called into the house by the governor, and received an order from him 
to go down and take them. Witness went down with his company. Saw 
Col. Bennet, and demanded the guns in the name of Governor Dorr. He 
requested witness to file his men round at the back door where the guns 
were, and asked if he v/ould wait about five minutes for the key, which 
was not there. He stated that the company had not yet made up their 
minds to let the guns go. Shortly alter, Lieut, Col, Wilkinson called wit- 
ness into the armory, and asked him if he would pledge his word that the 
guns should be returned to the company after we had got through witli 
them. Witness told him he would, and did so pledge himself, and he gave 
witness liberty to take them. After witness went out, the key not coming, 
another officer came out and told them to wrench the lock off the door. 
He ordered Sergeant Dawley to do so. While he was in the act of doing 
it with his bayonet, the key was found, and passed out of the window to 
William H. Potter, who unlocked the door, and we took the guns. The 
guns did not belong to the State. They were the property of the artillery 
company. The key was in possession of Lieut. Col. Wilkinson, who wae 
not at the armory at the time we went there. These brass pieces were sent 
to the company by General Washington, to replace three iron guns which 
were borrowed of this company, and which were lost in the Sound. These 
cannon were taken at the surrender of Burgoyne. 

Witness was at Anthony's house previous to going to the arsenal Gov- 
ernor Dorr was requested by the officers to remain at the house. But he 
refused to remain, saying that, as he had promised, he should not be found 
in the rear v/hen there was danger to be met. 

At the arsenal ground, witness was sent with a detachment, and lay in 
ambush close by the building, on one side. The plan was, that when the 
doors were opened to run out and fire the artillery pieces, his company 
should rush in and take possession of the building; which he did not ap- 
prehend there was much difficulty in doing. 

Kiugsley P. Studley, — Was a lieutenant in the volunteers, and went 
down with tliem to the artillery armory to take their pieces. Witness re- 
peated the statement that Capt. Reed had made, and said that the detach- 
ment who went for this purpose consisted of 50 men. 

Thaddcus Simmons. — Was at the arsenal, within 20 feet of the cannon. 
Was one of the guard who marched out by the side of Governor Dorr, 
four on each side; and was close by him from Anthony's to tlie arsenal. 
The guns were placed under the command of Lieut, Carter. They were 
southeast from where some 30 men were, near a tree. Heard the orders 
given by some one to fire. Both guns flashed — first one, and then the other. 
Does not know who touched them, but knows it was not Mr. Dorr. Was 



916 Rep. No. 546. 

so near as to be positive of this. I know it was not Mr. Dorr — I am posi'- 
live it was not he. Mr. Dorr moved about tlie field, to bring up the men. 

Joshua Hathaway. — Was not at the arsenal. Was at Anthony's house 
the first part of the evening-, and the next morning when the artillery pieces 
were brought back. Knows in what state the guns were when they re- 
turned from the arsenal, as he assisted in boring them out. The difficulty 
with them was, that the powder had moistened and dissolved, and then 
hardened. There were no pine or other plugs found in the vents. There 
was nothing but powder in the vents; and they had to be bored out with 
a gimblet before they were serviceable. Witness helped to do it. He has a 
brother named Seth, who was said to have been at the arsenal-ground that 
night. 

Benjamin M. Slade. — Was commissary at Chepachet. When the troops 
disbanded, there was not more than two days' provision on hand. It was 
mostly obtained by voluntary subscription — some of il in Providence, some 
in Woonsocket. Some was sent in by the citizens of Chepachet. There 
were two colored people employed in his department. The whole num- 
ber of our men under arms at Chepachet was from 200 to 250. There 
was no chaplain on the hill. The flag was the United States flag. Some 
tents were borrowed from Massachusetts. The marquee was borrowed by 
witness and Captain Launders. 

William H. Po^/e/, recalled. — Was near Governor Dorr at the arsenal. 
Stood within 8 or 10 feet of him, near the tree where the pieces^ were flash- 
ed. Mr. Dorr did not waive a torch, or touch either of the pieces. If he 
had done so, witness nmst have seen him. Lieut. Carter was near them, 
and appeared to have charge of them. 

William. J. Miller. — Was one of the publishers of the Providence Ex- 
press in June, 1842. A proclamation for convening the people's legisla- 
ture at Glocester was sent us on Saturday for publication. Circumstances 
compelled us to decline its publication. An order of Governor Dorr, for 
the disbandment of his military force at Chepachet, was brought to the Ex- 
press office on Tuesday morning, June 28, by the hands of Walter S. Bur- 
ges, for publication. It was printed by ns in an extra, by a permit oi one 
of the governor's council. 

Col. W. H. Potter, recalled. — The procession in Chepachet, alluded to 
by D. J. Pearce as being formed at the hotel, and moving toward the hill, 
was entirely a civil procession. The men in it had no arms, nor were they 
under orders. All persons there in the street, favorable to the cause, were 
requested to manifest it by falling in and joining a procession. 

Walter S Barges. — The relations between Mr. Dorr and myself having 
been of a friendly nature, I called to see him at Mr. Anthony's house on 
the evening of the 17th of May, 1842. There was no doubt entertained 
that it was his intention to take possession of the State's arsenal that night. 
We had a conversation on this and other subjects, in which he requested 
me, in case of any accident to him, to attend to his affairs, and take care 
of the papers in his office. He directed me where to find the books and 
papers which were in his hands as one of the State commissioners of the 
Scituate Bank ; the files of papers pertaining to his office of president of 
the*, school committee in the city of Providence, which he had filled for 
some considerable time ; also, the papers, securities, and funds belonging to 
the Rhode Island Historical Society, of which he was then treasurer, and 
sundry other valuable papers relating to certain administration and guar- 



Rep. No. 546. 917 

diftnship accounts — particularizing the location of each, and giving me the 
keys that led to them. 

Witness never has seen Governor Dorr, before or since, manifest any 
motives or intentions, other than as a public officer. 

Friday Morning, May 3. 

Walter S. Burges, recalled. — Just before dark, on the evening of Mon- 
day, June 27, 1842, I received a letter from Governor Dorr, it was brought 
to me in my office, by two officers of the charter party, unopened. The 
men who brought it (one of them a Mr. Eddy) had been intercepted. 1 
opened it in the presence of the officers. It contained information to wit- 
ness of an order being given for the disbanding of the troops at Chepachet; 
also, a copy of the original order, under sealed cover, directed to the Ex- 
press office, for publication. These were taken immediately that evening 
before General McNeill and the governor and council. The next morn- 
ing they were returned to me by Governor Arnold, (one of tbe council,) 
who requested me to leave the order at the Express office, and have it pub- 
lished. I carried it to that office, but they refused to publish it, unless by 
an order from the governor and council. I returned to Governor Arnold, 
and obtained his order or permission for its publication, and again carried 
it to the Express office, and it was soon out in an extra. This was on the 
morning of the 2Sth June. 

Friday afternoon. May 3. 

Mr. Turner then commenced an address to the jury in the further open- 
ing of the defence, recalling tlieir attention to the five points which he had 
before mtroduced, viz : I. That treason was not an offence against this 
State, but against the United States ; 2. That if any treason had been com- 
mitted, an indictment could not constitutionally be found out of the coimty 
where it was charged as having been committed ; 3. That, at all events, 
such indictment, wherever found, could not be tried owi of such county; 
4. That the defendant committed no treason, but acted justifiably, having 
performed the acts charged against him in his capacity of governor' 
of the State, and having been duly elected and sworn under a valid consti- 
tution; 5. That there was an absence of all the motives and malice which 
are necessary to the existence of the offence charged. 

These points Mr. Turner proposed to take up separately, and to maintain 
and illustrate each in its order. 

The court. — There has been no foundation laid in the proof of facts to 
sustain the 4th point of justification. 

Mr. Turner. — The testimony on this point being distinct from the rest, 
he had intended to reserve it until he should come to it in the proposed 
order ; but he was ready to take up the points in any order that might be 
preferred by the court. 

Staples, J. — All the testimony ought certainly to be put in in this stage 
of the case. It would be irregular, after commencino; the arajument of the 
law, to return to the introduction of new proof. 

Upon this suggestion of the court, the 4'h point of justification was then 
taken up; and Mr. Turner proposed to prove by the authorities, that the 
people had a right to adopt a constitution of government; and that, in the 
exercise of that right, they did adopt a constitution in December, 1841, 
under which the defendant derived his authority ; and, in proof of this fact, 



918 Rep. No. 546. 

he proposed to offer and authenticate the votes of the people themselves in 
proof of said constitution. 

The attorney general objected to the introduction of this testimony ; and 
asked how the votes themselves were to be proved. 

Mr. Dorr. — 1 intend to show that the votes were received and counted, 
and how many there were, and for what they were given ; then I will pro- 
duce the votes themselves, and lay them on the table before the jury, for their 
inspection and that of the court ; and, in the next place, if the gentleman 
be not satisfied, I will call in the voters themselves severally, to verify their 
votes, commencing at any place he may please to designate. 

Durfee, Ch. J. — This subject has already been gone into at large in the 
case of Cooley ; and such testimony as is now offered was rejecfed upon 
full deliberation by the court. We cannot permit it to go to the jury. It 
v/ould fail to prove the point for which it is introduced, if it were admitted ; 
for the prisoner cannot be held justified by acting under any other constitution 
than that of the State. This court can recognise no other than that under 
which it holds its existence ; and must take it for granted that the govern- 
ment preceding the present was also the government of the State, until 
changed in due legal course. Any irregular action, without legal authority, 
is no action at all, that can be taken notice of by a court of law, who are 
bound by the laws, and sit to administer them. It matters not, therefore, 
whether a majority, or what majority, voted for a pretended constitution^ 
;is is alleged by the prisoner, and as he now asks to be permitted to prove. 
The numbers are nothing; we must look to the legality of the proceeding, 
which, being without form of legal authority, is void and of no effect. If 
such proceedings should be tolerated in a court of lav/, and be accounted to 
hold any man justifiable for the violation of it, then law is at an end, and 
general anarchy would ensue; as what had been done once, could be done 
again, and with as good effect ; so that a succession of changes mi^ht be 
perpetual, and there would be no permanent form of government. Of what 
benefit, then, to the prisoner, can it be to introduce testimony which cannot 
support his case, if conceded to its fullest extent? The question is, not what 
was done, but what was done according to law; and numbers, however 
great, cannot decide this, either way. The fact is, the prisoner asks leave 
to bring into this court a political question, which cannot be settled here, 
and has been settled elsewhere. If a government had been set up under 
what is called the people's constitution, and they had appointed judges to 
give effect to their proceedings, and deriving authority from such a source, 
:-uch a court might have been addressed upon a question like this. But we 
are not that court. We know, and can know, but one government, one au- 
thority in the State. We can recognise the constitution under which we 
hold our places, and no other. All other proceedings under any other are,. 
to us, as nullities. It would be improper for this court to take any other 
notice of them ; and, if we did, we could allow to them no effect or import- 
ance whatsoever. Besides, the prisoner asks to prove a lavx^, and the liigh- 
f'St law, by parol. W^as ever such a proposition before heard of in a court 
of justice'/ If there be any such constitution, it must be found at the head 
of the statutes of the State; and the court are boimd \& take notice of it. 
It is one of the laws, and the highest law of the State. But we find no such 
law. And, again, if the prisoner was governor of the State, as alleged, the 
evidence of it is a certificate of record from the proper officer. In every 
point of view, therefore, the testimony now offered is inadmissible; and^as 



Rep. No. 546. 919, 

before observed, this question has been fully considered in another case. 
The court, therefore, decide that the testimony offered cannot be permitted i 
to go to the jury. 

Mr. Turner — Although this question may have been before considered, 
yet, in a case of this importance, we may well ask to have it brought agaia 
to the attention of the court. It is indispensable to the main point of the 
defence, that this testimony should be allowed to go to the jury with all the 
effect that it may be entitled to. If it be excluded, the defendant is cut off 
from the full defence to which he is entitled, and great injustice must be 
done him in consequence. We contend that he was, at the time when the 
offence charged ag;iinst him is said to have been committed, the governor 
of this State, acting under valid authority, deriving liis powers from a con- 
stitution rightfully adopted by the people themselves — the highest power ia 
the State — in the exercise of their original, sovereign capacity, and over- 
ruling and superseding, by that transcendant act of sovereignty, all other 
rules and authorities whatsoever. Any obj^1Ction to this testimony comes 
with bad grace from the prosecuting officer, who has been permitted to 
show that Mr. Dorr acted as governor under the forms of an election, and 
in the presence of a legislature, also purporting to be chosen by the people 
under the same constitution. If Mr. Dorr so acted, (as we know he did, 
and as has been again proved here,) then we ask to show why he acted, and 
by what authority he acted, and to discuss that authority. We propose to 
show, by most abundant authorities, as a foundation for what the people 
did in their sovereign capacity, that they are by the theory of our institu- 
tions, and in fact, the ultimate sovereign power of the State, responsible to 
no higher authority, except that of their Creator, for the manner in which 
they have used this sovereign power for their, own good and for that of the 
State, of which they are the judges, and which judgment no other tribunal 
can call in question. If we cannot go into this proof, what becomes of the 
full, fair, and impartial trial to which the defendant is of common right en- 
titled ? Without the liberty to investigate this vital and momentous ques- 
tion, which involves the liberty of our State and country, this trial degen- 
erates into a merely formal process — a ceremony before conviction ; and 
he is to be deprived of his civil rights, and subjected to the extreme inflic- 
tion of the law, without a hearing, and without an opportunity to justify 
himself before the jury, who are thus to decide his case without hearing 
the whole of it, and without the due consideration of all the points and all 
the arguments which are necessary to the conscientious and satisfactory 
discharge of the solemn and momentous duty which has been imposed 
upon them. And further, this is not the same court that acted upon this 
question on a former occasion, at the trial of Colonel Cooley in Providence. 
The court was then acting under the charter government, which has been 
done away with. This court sits under a constitution from which it de- 
rives its power. It is different in name, and in the number of its judges. 
One of the judges on the bench has never heard any discussion of the sub^ 
jects under consideration, in his judicial capacity. Under all these circum-, 
stances, regarding the entire novelty of this case, both here and in other 
States, and the careful deliberation to which, in all its important aspects 
and bearings, as affecting the liberty and rights of the citizens of the State 
and country, it is so peculiarly entitled, have we not a strong claim upon 
the court to be heard fully and dispassionately, and to the whole extent 
which the investigation may require, upon this, the main, vital question of 



920 Rep. No. 546. 

the case? We are prepared to show most concfusively, upon principle and 
authority, that the people had a perfect riglit to re-organize their government 
as they might see fit ; and that, in the exercise of this right, they did in 
fact so proceed, and did adopt a constitution, under which the defendant 
was duly elected, and exercised his appropriate power, and performed his 
specified duties, according to the oath of ofiice which was administered to 
him. 

Staples J.— The admission of this testimony would be permitting the 
prisoner to show that we are not a court. The authority of this court is 
derived from the constitution of the State ; and that constitution itself was 
formed, according to legal proceedings, originating with the government 
under the charter, which has now ceased to exist. If that was no legal 
government, as the prisoner proposes to show; then the present is no consti- 
tution, having no rightful origin, and we, as judges, have no powers under 
it. Can we permit such a proceeding as this — to have our own existence 
drawn in question ? The acts set up by the prisoner in his justification 
■were revolutionary in their character, and success was necessary to give 
them effect. In this event, the judges chosen would have recognised the 
source which created them, and would have treated the acts of ihe gov- 
ernment as valid. The prisoner asks us to take notice of an organization 
which not only did not exist rightfully, but did not exist at all. 

Mr. Dorr — Tlie defendant in this case claims the right to inquire and 
show who are the people of this State, what they had a right to do, and 
what they did, as the basis of justification of his course and conduct in the 
recent political affairs of this State. He proposes to show that the people, 
in a political sense, are the adult male population, including qualified voters, 
and those who are not qualified — the men who do not look for their origin 
to the State, but to their Creator; and who compose the great mass of the 
community, bearing its burdens, contributing to its support, the authors 
of its prosperity, and the defenders of its rights. In the next place, it will 
appear, if there be any virtue in the solemn declarations of popular rights, 
in the constitutions of the States, in the decisions of courts, in the opinions 
and arguments of the most eminent jurists and statesmen, and of the greatest 
and best men who have adorned our history, that the people, as thus defined, 
are the ultimate, uncontrolled sovereign power, in whose hands is vested — 
not by grant or transmission, but by the hand of God — the right, the abil- 
ity, the competency to provide for their own political safety and happiness, 
by devising and creating such forms of government as, in their several 
communities, they shall deem best and most expedient, and by altering, 
amending, abolishing, and renewing the same, at such times, and in such 
modes, as to them shall seem proper and necessary; of the propriety and 
necessity of all which proceedings, they are the sole and exclusive judges. 
It will also appear, if the defendant be allowed to make out his case, that, in 
a recent exigency, the people of this State so defined, and so empowered, 
did see fit to put in exercise this original ultimate sovereign power, and did 
form and adopt a written republican constitution for the government of the 
State, under which a government was duly elected and qualified, and 
among the members of which the defendant accepted and exercised the 
office of the chief magistrate. To prove the existence and adoption of this 
constitution, the votes of the people are here, and we are ready to present 
them to the jury. The people also are not far oiF, and may be called upoa 
to authenticate their own acts, if they be drawn in question. 



Rep. No. 546. 921 

Your honors say that this testimony cannot be admitted. Why not? It 
will unsettle the foundations of the court. Is there any justice in this ob- 
jection? The court will- remain just where it is, until chancred by compe- 
tent authority ; and its jurisdiction will remain the same. This objection 
would have seemed to carry more weight under a state of things that now 
no lo'nger exists. When the court sat under the charter government, it 
might have been said that to have that government impugned, and to ad- 
mit testimony to show that it was set aside and superseded, would be vir- 
tually drawing in question the existence of the court. But this court does 
not sit under the charter government; and it can now look back with 
equanimity upon a past state of things, and can, for the purposes of justice, 
inquire what rights were then gained and lost, and upon what principles 
the actors in the affairs of that period are to be justified or condemned, 
without questioning their own existence under the present constitution; 
which tliey are bound to regard as a.fact^ without either admitting or de- 
nying other facts, present or past. The constitution under which they act 
has been carried into effect. A government is in operation under it. A 
judiciary has been elected under it. And by what possible act of the court 
or jury can this constitution be changed, or that part relating to the -ju- 
diciary be abolished? It is not the province of courts and juries to make 
and unmake constitutions; that is the work of tlie people. If, after ex- 
amininji: the votes and the proofs of his election, and weighing the au- 
thorities, the jury should come to the conclusion that the defendant is not 
guilty, what conceivable eflect can this opinion have upon the stability of 
the court? Another jury may be of the opposite opinion. Does this place 
the court back again where they were before, and save their authority? 
The opinion of the jury expends itself in the particular case on trial; it 
cannot extend beyond it. It convicts or acquits no one else. It is very 
difficult to comprehend the force of this objectior.. Why should not a jury 
be permitted to investigate a question of political rights, as well as a ques- 
tion relating to person or property? We wish to ask the jury whether, upon 
American principles, and upon a survey of all the facts, the defendant is 
guilty; if they should say not, they look at the facts and law of this case, 
and not an inch beyond it. They affirm and deny nothing respecting the 
failure of the government under the people's constitution. They say simply 
that what the defendant did, he had a right to do at the time. What be- 
came of his rights, or those of the people; why and how the government 
was overthrown; whether another constitution was rightfully or wrong- 
fully set up ; and whether this court are to continue any longer in exi,>i- 
ence — are all matters with which the verdict has nothing to do. 

The present constitution is a fact which is taken for granted on all hands. 
It exists, and is made effectual by a government operating under it. No 
other constitution has now any operation ; and there is no other govern- 
ment in actual competition. But is this state of facts to decide a question 
of right? Because the constitution and government under it have been 
set aside by firce ; and because, through the fault or misfortune of its sup- 
porters, and by external interference, the plan of reform in this State failed 
of success, is the opposite forcible success the criterion of all our rights? 
It may be true that the people have been defeated, or have defeated them- 
selves, and have acquiesced, or are disposed to acquiesce, in a new order of 
things ; and yet it may be also true that they were in the right, and that 



922 Rep. No. 546. 

those who attempted to serve them in 1842 were in the right. And this is 
what we now desire tiie opportunity to prove to a jury of the country. 

The court have taken an oath to support the constitution under which 
they act; and they cannot escape from it while they continue to act, and 
until they are relieved by a competent authority. In what respect, then, 
can they be affected hy any argument to show that the old charter govern- 
ment was, two years ago, rightfully superseded by that under the people's 
constitution? If the court be convinced by this argument, still they are 
held by the obligation to the constitution which they have assumed, and 
which they have assumed without qualification, or any reference whatever 
to its origin, or the question whether the charter government was valid or 
not at the time this constitution was formed. If the court be not convinced, 
then they remain just as they were before. But, whether convinced or not, 
they still remain a court ; and the defendant, if heard, has the advantage 
and the justice of a full hearing in what he deems the most vital portion 
of his case. In addition to this, it may be remarked that the question of 
the effect upon the court of the people's constitution could not be a practical 
one, even if the court were now sitting under the charter government; for, 
by the people's constitution, the judges were continued in their places until 
a new election should take place; and the legislature under this constitu- 
tion made no such election : so that, in the case supposed, the court would 
be as much the court of the constitution, as of the charter. 

But, beyond all this, taking for granted that the court, by permitting the 
defendant's justification to go to the jury, would be permitting its own legal 
existence to be drawn in question, what right have the court to regard any 
real or supposed consequences, or to interpose them as barriers to a full in- 
vestigation of all the principles and facts of the case? The court sit to 
do justice, let what will come of it; and let justice be done, though the 
heavens fall. What reason is there why a court should not hear all ob- 
jections, in good faith, not only against the soundness and legality of their 
decisions, and against their jurisdiction, but against their own qualification 
or legal competency or existence as judges? Some years ngo, there was a 
controversy concerning what was called the perpetuation act, relating to 
the holding over of a part of the government till a new election should be 
effected by the voters. Now, suppose this court not to have held over by 
operation of law, but by act of such a perpetuated government; and the 
question had arisen, whether the court had a valid existence, and its powers 
were legally continued : would not your honors have listened to such a 
question? If you had entertained any serious doubts as to your legal com- 
petency, and the validity of your powers under such an act. would you not 
have hesitated to proceed, or have postponed your proceeding until the 
difficuliy could be removed ? Suppose that it should be now suggested that 
your honors are sitting here under an election, in which the prescriptions 
of the constitution were not complied with, or without being properly 
qualified, and without commissions : would not such a suggestion deserve 
and require your attention ; and, if well founded, would not your action as 
a court be at once arrested ? This doctrine, that a person accused of treason 
cannot be permitted fully to defend himself, because, if he do, certain con- 
sequences may follow, and the jury may take a different view of the con- 
stitutional or legal question proposed from that of the court, has no 
limitations, and may be carried out, in their discretion, so as to work an en- 
tire denial of justice, and a defeat of the trial by jury. If one consequence 



Rep. No. 546. 923 

is to be regarded, why not another? A learned judge has recently observed, 
that "insanity and the alibi ha\'e become the Castor and PolUix of the 
criminal courts," so that tlie guilty have often escaped improperly, under 
these forms of defence. Why not say at once, that hereafter those grounds 
of defence shall no lon^rer be permitted in this court, because they have 
been, 'and may be, employed to the defeat of public justice? 

As to the proof of the people's constitution, and the election of the gov- 
ernor under it, by parol, which is deemed objectionable, the difficulty will 
be at once removed by presenting a copy of this constitution, and a certi- 
ficate of the election of the defendant as governor, under the hand of the 
person who was secretary of state under said constitution in 1842. These 
your honors, of course, will not admit ; and being thus deprived of the 
shortest and easiest mode of reaching the court and jury, we will proceed 
with parol proof, if we are permitted, in the way that foreign laws are 
sometimes proved ; your honors not regarding the constitution and election 
as any part of the legal /ecord of the State. This difficulty is not of our 
own making. 

It has been already submitted to your consideration, that this is not the 
same court that before decided the question now in argument. This court 
derives its origin from a diiferent source, and there is a new member on the 
bench. The question before you may be regarded as new. 

But it is said that the people of this State did not succeed in 18'12. 
They did not permanently establish their constitution and government. 
And what of this? Is might tlie standard of right, in a country of republics 
like this? Does the existence of a right cease with the establishment, pos- 
session, and enjoyment of it ? Does success create rights or confirm them ? 
In despotic countries, where rights are only concessions from the hand of 
force, this doctrine of contingent rights may meet with some countenance 
from the state of affairs and the long suffering patience of the people ; but 
it fias no application here. It the defendant had a rio;ht to proceed as he 
did, in the discharge of his appointed duties, defeat did not take it away ; 
and he ought to be permitted to assert it in his defence against the accusa- 
tion which here rests upon him. It will not do to say that this is a political 
question which has been settled elsewhere. This is not an answer to the 
present apphcation. One party carried the day, and the other lost it. Is 
it to be asserted that the party which ought to succeed is always successful, 
and that which does not succeed is always in the wrong? If not, then, so 
fiir as tliis case is concerned, the question has not been settled ; and if, as 
your honor says, it be political, then political facts and arguments are ap- 
propriate to it, and more especially as addressed to a political jury. 

To say that the people's constitution was formed without authority from 
the government theri existing, and was consequently null and void, and 
therefore that it would be of no benefit to the defendant to admit the proof 
of the facts, which show that this constitution was actually the work of the 
people, is begging the question. We deny the assertion that the people 
cannot act for themselves in the construction and change of government, 
without the permission of that ijovernment. The court cannot take this 
for granted with our consent. We strenuously assert, and stand ready to 
prove, precisely the contrary, and by a wt3ight of authority and opinion that 
has never yet been successfully resisted. The defendant does not ask as a 
favor or indulgence, but claims as the citizen of a free country, the right to 
show to the court the entire validity of all the proceedings of the people in 



924 Rep. No. 546. 

the adoption of their constitution ; and tlie same right to exhibit the evi- 
dence of their votes and of his own election. There is no conjecture in a 
proof hke this. The people set their hands to the work of the constitution. 
The prisoner offers their sio^natures to the jury. To refuse this inquiry of 
law, and this exanfiinalion of facts, is to cut off the right arm of his defence. 

Durfee, Ch. J. — We have decided this question. I am astonished' that 
men of high intellect can take such views of it as they have. We cannot 
admit this testimony. In this stage of the proceedings, we cannot hear the 
argument to show its admissibility. After verdict, we shall be disposed to 
entertain the question. 

The defendant then protested against this decision of the court, request- 
ing the court to note his exception. By request of the court, the offering of 
the defendant as the ground of his justification to the jury, thus rejected, 
was reduced to writin^^ as follows : 

"The defendant proposes to show by the authorities, that the people of 
this State have a right to adopt a written constitution of government ; and 
that, in the exercise of that right, they did adopt a constitution, in tlie month 
of December, 1841, under which the defendant derived his authority ; and 
this fact he proposes to prove by the production of the votes of the people 
themselves in favor of said constitution." 

Mr. Dorr inquired whether this decision to hear no argument, and to 
reject the testimony offered, was the decision of the whole court. 

Braylon^ J., (newly elected,) said that it was. 

Mr. Dorr. — I have sought to conceal nothing in this case. I deny no- 
thinof, except the falsehoods with which it has been sought to surround it. 
I should be the last man, I trust, to make any such denial, believing as I 
did, and as I now do, that I was in the right, and that my opponents were 
in the wrong. I have accordingly claimed here the right fully to justify 
myself to the jury, both in law and fact. Your honors have come to a 
different cinclusion, but not more honestly than I have to the opposite of it. 
As you refuse to permit me to justify myself, I shall now once more offer 
the same testimony, in a more general form than when Mr. Harris was 
called upon the stand, to repel the charge of treasonable intentions. Levy- 
ing war is not enough. In the language of Chief Justice Marshall, the 
levying war must be with the intent to commit treason ; and treason is not 
to be inferred from an assemblage in arms, without an examination of all 
the circumstances and reasons that led to it. 

Mr. Turner then made a third offering, as follows: 

" The defendant offers to prove, by the votes of the people, to be produced 
and verified, that a large majority of the whole resident adult male popu- 
lation of the State, being citizens of the United States, gave their votes for 
the adoption of the constitution, called the people's constitution of Rhode 
Island, in the month of December, 1841 ; and also to prove that, under the 
said constitution, the defendant was elected governor of this State, in the 
month of April, 1842. And this testimony he now offers, to repel the im- 
putation of malicious and treasonable motives and intentions, as charged in 
the indictment, and urged by the prosecution in behalf of the State." 

A debate then ensued between the defendant and his counsel, and the 
court, on the same grounds that were before taken, and with the same 
result; the court overruling the offer of the testimony, and the defendant 
protesting and excepting as before. 

Mr, Turner then proposed to offer to the jury a copy of the people's con- 



Rep. No. 546. 925 

stiliition, to show that the government provided under it was republican in 
its form, agreeably to the requirement of the constitution of the United 
States. 

The offering was overruled by the court, as being immaterial, irrelevant, 
and inadmissible. Defendant excepted. 

Mr. Turner then offered the message of Governor Dorr, deliveied May 
3, 1842, before the General Assembly under the people's constitution, to 
explain the motives and objects of the defendant. 

Ruh^d out, and exception taken by defendant. 

Mr. Turner then claimed of the court, in behalf of the defendant, the 
right of defendant and his counsel to address the jury on all matters of law 
involved in the case, as their undoubted privilege; inasmuch as the jury, 
in all capital cases, are the judges both of the law and of the fact ; the prov- 
ince of the court being, in such cases, to lay before the jury their views 
of the law, and of the jury to judge of them, as they do of the testimony. 

Dur/ee, Ch. J., said the court entertain a different opinion. We must have 
the duty and responsibility of deciding upon the law. 

3Ir. Dorr very earnestly and strenuously urged upon the court his right 
to be heard by the court upon this question, and to argue the law to the 
jury, who did not sit in the box as ciphers, but to hear, judge, and deter- 
mine for themselves. If they could not do this, then, as the court had 
made up their minds, the jury were to be governed accordingly, and this 
was but the shadow of a trial. 

Durfee, Ch. J. — This question has been fully and ably argued in a 
former case before this court, and must be considered as settled. 

Mr. Dorr. — Until it be overruled. The decisions of the court are not 
irreversible ; and as there are no published reports, from which we can 
learn the reasons of them, there is good cause for asking to be heard in a 
Case of this importance. 

Mr. Turner. — 1 have authorities that will convince the court, if I can 
be permitted to produce them, and if your honors will listen to them, which 
will satisfy your minds that the prisoner has this right to go to the jury, in 
a capital case, upon the law ; and that the jury have a right to judge of it, 
however they may be advised by the court. I have, among the cases which 
1 wish to bring to your attention, the impeachment of Judge Chase, of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, for official misconduct ; one of the 
principal charges against whom was, that, in the trial of Fries, charged 
with treason, he rehised to permit the counsel to argue the law to the jury. 
The counsel for Judge Chase admitted the right of the jury to hear the 
law argued to them, but denied the allegation that he had refused to permit 
the counsel of Fries to argue the law to the jury. 

Huile, J. — This State must have been extremely ignorant when 
they passed a law making it the special duty of this court to instruct the 
jury in matters of law. This question was settled at Providence, in a li- 
cense case, some time ago. 

Mr. Dorr again urged upon the court his right to have the authorities 
read, and to go on with an argument upon them. 

Durfee, Ch. J. — Well, go on. 

Staples, J. — I am opposed to a re-argument of this question at the 
present time, in the course of a jury-trial. I am willing to hear it re-argued 
when the court are at leisure. 

Hailc, J. — Nor am I disposed to hear a re argument during the trial, 



926 Rep. No. 546. 

when this question has once been solemnly settled. At a proper time, it can 
be heard. But it ought not to be heard in the hurry of a jury-trial. 

Mr. Dorr. — It falls strano;ely upon the ear of a man in ray position, 
when I hear the judge of a court, in a case of this kind, and involving 
principles of such moment, make use of an expression like this— the 
"hurry" of this trial. 1 must be hurried through to judgment, then, with- 
out a hearing; and after conviction I may be heard! Is the liberty or the 
life of a man to be disposed of in this way? if there are any reasons why 
a conviction should not take place, why should they not be heard now? 
What reparation is it, after conviction, to hear the reasons why it was un- 
just? This is, literally, according to a common observation, hanging a 
man first, and trying him cifterwards. 

[Here one of the spectators remarked, in an audible voice — That is the 
way of this court. The court ordered him removed. But he presently re- 
turned with the sheriff, and made an apology, stating that he was in the 
habit of speaking out, and had not the proper command of himself He 
was permitted to return to his seat.] 

Staples, J. — The jury are kept here under much restraint; and can 
they be kept here week after week, while we are hearing arguments which 
belong to another stege of the case? 

Mr. Dorr. — The jury do not complain. I think they will hear all my 
defence patiently. 

Staples, J. — They are men. 

Mr. Dorr. — I also am a man, and claim the rights of one. 

Mr. Turner. — We ask an opportunity to convince the court, by the au- 
thority of the greatest judges that have ever lived in this country. 

Durfee, Ch. J. — The constitution of this State settles our duty to charge 
the jury upon the law; and are we to sit here with our juries re- 
ceivmg the law from judges of other States ? The only duty of the jury is 
to take the law as given by this court, and to judge whether it be applica- 
ble to the facts. 

Mr. Dorr. — I wish to give some reasons for the position taken, from high 
sources. Do the court refuse to hear authority and argument? 

Durfee, Ch. J. — The court decide not to hear any argument upon this 
question. 

The defendant excepted to the ruling of the court. 

7%e court, after some consultation together, announced that they would 
hear an argument on the first pomt — which sets forth that treason can only 
be committed against the United States — as this was a new question, not 
heretofore discussed before them. 

Mr. Turner said that he should be ready to argue this point in the morn- 
ing ; and the court adjourned. 

[The debate, which occupied three hours on Friday afternoon, was in 
some parts more in the form of a dialogue than we have given it. But we 
have endeavored to bring together the remarks on both sides, and to do 
justice to both, in giving the substance of them. The prosecuting officers 
took no part, beyond asking an occasional question. Some warm passages 
occurred — the defendant contending strenuously for his right to a hearing, 
and the court manifesting some impatience at the time spent in addressing 
them on what they adjudged to be settled questions.] 



Rep. No. 546. 927 

Saturday Morning, Mmj 4. 

Mr. Turner occupied the forenoon session of four hours, and a part of 
the afternoon, with an able and elaborate examination of, and comment 
upon, the authorities relating to treason, and the sovereio^n power against 
which it must be committed, if at all; incidentally demonstrating, from 
the highest sources, the right of the people at large to make, alter, and 
amend their forms of government, as they may deem expedient, without 
the interference or consent of the government in existence. 

The levying war charged must be with the design and purpose of com- 
mitting treason ; which is defined by Lord Coke, 3d Inst. p. 2. as ^^ crimen 
loisce tnajestatis''' — the accusation or offence of injured majesty. 

In English Liberties p. 65, it is said to be derived from trahir ; which 
signifies treacherously to betray. 

Lord Hale, (Pleas of the Crown, 159,) speaking of the sovereignty offended 
by treason, calls it jus summi imperii^ ox the right of the highest or ulti- 
mate authority ; which in despotic governments is vested exclusively in the 
reigning prince, and in other monarchical governments is divided, to a 
greater or less extent, with the legislature. 

Hawkins (Pleas of the Crown, I, 85) shows that treason can only be com- 
mitted against the "sovereign lord, or the sovereign power." 

Foster (Crown Law, p. 5) gives the indictment for treason against the 
Scotch rebels, which shows that the treason charged was against "their su- 
preme, true, natural, lawful, and undoubted sovereign lord," and to deprive 
him " of his title, honor, and royal state, and of his imperial rule and gov- 
ernment." Blackstone conveys the same idea in substance. 

Burlamaqui (vol. 2, ch. 5, sect. 1, p. 212) says, -'The sovereign in a 
State is that person, 'or power,' that has the right of commanding in the 
hist resort." Sect. 2, "As to the sovereignty, we must define it the right of 
commanding in the last resort." P. 213, sect. 5, " Sovereignty can admit 
of no share or partition : there is no sovereignty at all, where there are 
many, because there is no one who commands them in the last resort." 
P. 220, ch. 7. sect. 2, " The first characteristic, (of sovereignty,) and that 
from which all others flow, is its being a supreme and independent power — 
that is, a power that judges, in the last resort, of whatever is susceptible of 
human direction, and relates to the welfare and advantage of society ; inso- 
much that this power acknowledges no superior on earth." P. 221, sect, 5, 
'■• A second characteristic, which is a consequence of the former, is, that the 
sovereign, as such, is not accountable to any person on earth for his con- 
duct, nor liable to any punishment from man; for both suppose a superior." 
P. 222, sect. 8, " A third characteristic essential to sovereignty, considered 
in itself, is, that the sovereign, as such, be above all human or civil law." 
Sect. 9, "But with regard to laws merely human, as their whole force and 
obligation ultimately depends on the will of the sovereign, they cannot, 
with any propriety of speech, be said to be obligatory in respect to him ; 
for obligation supposeth two persons, a superior and an inferior. 

Blackstone (vol. 1, p. 48) observes that there is, and must be, in all gov- 
ernments, " a supreme, irresistible, absolute, uncontrolled authority, in which 
the ^'wra summi imperii, or the rights of sovereignty, reside." (See Tuck- 
er's note 5.) 

3 Dallas' Rep. p. 74: " Every nation that governs itself, under whatever 
form soever, without any dependence on a foreign power, is a sovereign 
State." (Patterson J.) 



928 Rep. No. 546. 

These authorities, by pointing out the essential characteristics of sover- 
eignty, enable us to define it to be an independent, absolute, uncontrollable, 
irresponsible, and supreme power in a State in the last resort ; all of which 
is embraced by the jura sunimi imperii — or rights of ultimate authority. 
And these authorities coincide in establishing the point, that treason, no 
matter what particnlar form it may be made to assume by legislative 
enactments, is an offence that can be committed only against the ultimate 
sovereiiinty of a State or nation— whether that sovereignty reside in a prince, 
as in Russia ; in a king and parliament, as in England ; or, as in this conn- 
try, in the v)liole people, voters or otherwise. The subordinate, fictitious 
treasons that have been invented by special laws, are confined to arbitrary, 
or monarchical governments, with a recent exception in this republican 
country. The State against which treason can be committed here, must be 
that State or government which is invested with the higher attributes of 
sovereignty. 

In this country, that sovereignty against which only treason can be com- 
mitted is vested in the United States, to which power the people of the 
several States have seen fit to delegate some of the highest functions of gov- 
ernment. 

In examining the power of the people over the whole structure of gov- 
ernment, Mr. Turner further cited Burgh, who wrote about the time of 
Blackstone, (vol. 1. book 1, ch. 2, p. 3) — " All lawful authority, legislative 
and executive, originates from the people. Power in the people is like 
light in the sun, native, original, inherent, and unlimited by anything 
human." P. 4, "As the people are the fountain of power, so are they the 
object of government." "As the people are the fountain of power and ob.- 
ject of government, so are they the last resource when governors betray 
their trust." P. 227, "The authority of government is only superior to a 
minority of the people. The majority of the people are rightfully superior 
to it." P. 278, "for the people give to their governors all the rightful pow- 
er they have." (Locke on Government, s. 149-237 ; and Sidney, 278, 358, 
415, to the same point.) 

But it is unnecessary to look abroad for authorities. They are abund- 
antly furnished at home, in our own country. The declaration of American 
independence sets forth the imperishable truths, " l^hat to secure these rights, 
(life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,) governments are instituted among 
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and 
whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and tojnstitute new govern- 
ment, laying its foundations on such principles, and organizing its powers 
in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to efiect their safety and 
happiness." 

Again : " When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing inva- 
riably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute des- 
potism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and 
to provide new guards for their future security." 

To show that the declaration is an authority, and not the obsolete ex- 
pression, in a rhetorical form, of rights which were limited to a single oc- 
casion, Mr. Turner cited I Story's Comm. 199, 299, and 2 Dallas, 470. 

These passages contain, in behalf of the people of the United States gen- 
erally, the first distinct assertion of their complete sovereignty in the last 
resort — that of governing themselves. 



Sep. No. 546. 929 

The constitulion of the United States, framed by a convention of dele- 
gates in 1787, acting upon the principles laid down in that declaration, 
commences — " We, the people of the United States, &c., do ordain and estab- 
lish thisc onstitulion," «fcc. ; and by an amendment, madu before it was adopt- 
by the State of Rhode Island, there is an express reservation of the undele- 
gated powers to the people. 

The Federalist (No. 22, p. HI) says, "The fabric of American empire 
ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the people. The streams 
of national power ought to flow immediately from the pure, original foun- 
tain of all legitimate authority." 

No. 4(3, p. 235, " Tliey must betold that the ultimate authority, where- 
ever the derivation may be found, resides in the people alone.*' 

In 3 Dallas, 93, (in 1795,) Justice Iredell says, "A distinction was taken 
at the bar betwen a State and the people of the State. It is a distinction i 
am not capable of comprehending. By a State formincr a republic, (speak- 
ing of it as a moral person,) 1 do not mean the legislalare of the State, the 
executive of the Slate, or i\\e judiciary ; but all the citizens who compose 
that State, and are, if I may so express myself, integral parts of it, all togetli- 
er fornjing a body politic." 

"The great distinction between monarchies and republics, (at least our re- 
public,) in general, is, that in the former the monarch is considered the sov- 
ereign, and each individual of his nation as subject to him ; though, in some 
countries, with many important special limitations. But, in a republic, all 
the citizens^ as such, are equal; and no citizen can riohtfully exercise any 
authority over another, but in virtue of a power constitutionally given him 
by the whole community; and such authority, when exercised, is, in effect, 
an act of the community which form the body politic. In sucli govern- 
ments, therefore, the sovereignty resides in the great body of the people, but 
in their political capacity alone" — and not as individuals, who are not sep- 
arately sovereign. 

In 2d Dallas, 454, Wilson J. observes, speaking of the framers of the 
constitution, (he being one of tliem.) "They might have announced them- 
selves sovereign people of the United States. But, serenely conscious of the 
fact, they avoided the ostentatious declaration." He then goes on to define 
the State and sovereignly. P. 461, "Even in almost every nation which 
has been denominated free, the State has assumed a supercilious preemi- 
nence above the people who have formed it. Hence the haughty notions 
of iState independence, State sovereignty, and State supremacy." ■ 

P. 471. — (Jay Ch. J.) " At the revolution, the sovereignty devolved on 
the people ; and they are truly the sovereigns of the country. But they are 
sovereigns without subjects, (unless the African slaves among us may be so 
called,) and have none to govern but themselves. The citizens of America 
are equal as fellow-citizens^ and as joint-tenants of the sovereignty.''^ P. 
472 — "Sovereignty is the right to govern. A nation or State sovereign is 
the person, or persons, in whom that resides." 

Chief Justice Marshall, in 1 Cranch, 176, lays down the doctrine, "That 
the people have an original right to establish, for their future government, 
such principles as, in their opinion, shall most conduce to their own hap- 
piness, is the basis on which the whole American fabric has been erected. 
The exercise of ttiis original right is a very great exertion; nor can it, nor 
ought it, to be very frequently repeated. The principles, therefore, so estab- 
lished, are deemed fundamental. And as the authority from which they 
59 



930 Rep. No. 546. 

proceed is supreme, and can seldom act, they are designed to be permanent/' 
"This orjoinal and supreme will organizes the government, and assigns to 
different departments their respective powers." 

Judge Wilson, of the Supreme Court, one of the framers of the constitu- 
tion, says, (1 Works, p. 17, in 1790,)— » Permit me to mention one great 
principle — the vital principle, I may well call it — which difl'uses animation 
and vigor through all the others. The principle I mean is this : that the su- 
preme or sovereign power of the society resides in the citizens at large ; 
and that therefore they always retain the right of abolishing, altering, or 
amending their constitution, at whatever time, and in whatever manner, 
they shall deem expedient. 

He further remarks at p. 25, " The dread and redoubtable sovereign, 
when traced to his ultimate and genuine source, has been found, as he 
ought to be found, in the free and independent man." This truth, so sim- 
ple and natural, and yet so neglected or despised, may be appreciated as the 
first and fundamental principle in the science of government," P. 417 — 
"The best and purset [species of government] — that in which the supreme 
power remains with the people at large — is capable of being formed, arranged, 
proportioned, and organized, in such a manner as to exclude the inconve- 
niences, and to secure the advantages of all the three. On the bas-is of good- 
ness, we erect the pillars of wisdom and strength." 

In his speech before the Pennsylvania convention, in November, 1787, 
upon the question of the adoption of the constitution of the United States, 
(Works, vol. 3, p. 291,) the same learned judge remarks : " There necessa- 
rily exists in every government a power from which there is no appeal, 
and which, for that reason, may be termed supreme and uncontrollable. 
Where does this power reside? 

" To control the power and conduct of the legislature by an overruling 
constitution, was an improvement in the science and practice of govern- 
ment reserved for the American States. 

" Perhaps some politician, who has not considered with sufficient accu- 
racy our political systems, would answer, that in our governments the su- 
preme power was vested in the constitutions. This opinion approaches a 
step nearer to the truth, but does not reach it. The truth is, that in our 
governments the supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable power remains in 
the people. As our constitutions are superior to the legislatures, so the peo- 
ple are superior to our constitutions. Indeed, the superiority in the last in- 
stance is much greater; for the people possess over our constitutions con- 
trol in act as well as right. The consequence is, that the people may change 
the constitutions whenever and however they please. This is a right of 
which no positive institution can ever deprive them." 

"It is essential to such a government" (that is, a republican) says Mr. 
Madison, (Federalist, No. 39, pp. 203-4,) " that it be derived from the great 
body of the society, not from an inconsiderable portion or a favored class of it." 

Justice Iredell of the Supreme Court (3 Elliot's Debates,) remarks, that 
"Our government is founded on much nobler principles. The people are 
known with certainty to have originated it themselves. Those in power 
are their servants and agents. An4 the people, without their consent, may 
remodel the government whenever they think proper ; not merely because 
it is oppressively exercised, but because they think another form, is more 
conducive to their welfare^ And it is equally plain, as observed by Rawle 
on the constitution of the United States, " that the people retains, the people 



Rep. No. 546. 931 

caiutoi perh ips divest itself of, the power to make such alterations." The 
laws of one legislature may be repealed by another legislature ; and the 
power to repeal them cannot be withheld by the power that enacted them. 
So the people may, on the same principle, at any time alter or abolish th^ 
constuuiion they have formed. If a particular mode of effecting such alter- 
ations have been agreed upon, it is most convenient to adhere to it; but it 
is not exvlnsively binding^ 

Chief Justice Durfee having remarked that the right of the people at 
large to change governments, that had been spoken of, was a revolutionary 
right, leading to measures of f)rce and war, Mr. Dorr said he would read 
a passcige to show that such was not the nature or operation of the doc- 
trine as-serted, in the opinion of its teachers. He read from Judge Wilson's 
works, vol. 3, p. 293 : 

" To the operation of these truths, we are to ascribe the scene, hitherto 
unparalleled, which America now exhibits to the world — a gentle, a peaceful, 
a voluntary and deliberate transition from one constitution of government 
to another, (from the confederation to the constitution of the United States.) 
In other parts of the world, the idea of revolution in government is, by a 
mournful and indissoluble association, connected with the idea of wars, 
and all the calamities attendant on war. But happy experience teaches us 
to view such revolutions in a very differeni light — to consider them as pro- 
gressive steps in improving the knowledge of government, and increasing 
the happiness of society and mankind." 

Judire VV. calls "the force and prevalence through the United States of 
this principle — that the supreme power resides in the people, and that they 
never part with it — the panacea in politics." "If the error be in the legisla- 
ture, it may be corrected by the constitution; if in the constitution, it may 
be corrected by the people. There is a remedy, therefore, for every dis- 
temper in government, if the people be not wanting to themselves. For tx 
people wanting to themselves, there is no remedy." 

The same distinguished and able writer lays it down, that " A revolution 
principle certainly is, and certainly should be, taught as a principle of the 
constitution of the United States, and of every State in the Union. This 
revohition principle — that the sovereiiin power residmg in the people, they 
may change their constitution and government whenever they please — is not 
a principle of discord^ rancor, or ivar: it i.s a principle of melioration, con- 
teninient, and peace^ (Works, vol. 1, p. 21.) He also says, " a proper regard 
to the original, and inherent, and the continued power of society to change its 
constitution, will prevent mistakes and mischief of a very different kind. It 
will prevent giddy inconstancy ; it will prevent unthinking rashness ; it 
will prevent unmanly langor." (Works, vol. 1. p. 420.) 

Mr. Dorr also called the attention of the court to the fact that the consti- 
tution of the United States was not framed by virtue of the powers express- 
ly conferred on the delegates to the convention. They were sent to pro- 
pose some amendments to the articles of confederation. But, in behalf of 
the people, and overlooking the request of Congress, they threw these articles 
aside, and commenced an entirely new work. The ratification by the peo- 
ple of the States is what gives efficacy to this constitution. 

Staples, J. — But it was ratified by the people who were qualified voters, 
and not by the people at large. 

Mr. Dorr. — The assent, however, which was inferred, of the sovereigfi 
body, was what gave efficacy to the ratification. 



932 Rep. No. 546. 

Judge Staples also observed, that there was a difference between people 
and the people. The word the must be stricken out, in order to find the doc- 
trine of sovereignty at large, contended for by the prisoner. 

Mr. Dorr. — The declaration of independence uses the word governed in 
speaking of those who hold the power to amend and change governments. 
And surely the governed takes in the whole people. A non freeholder in 
Rhode Island was most assuredly among the govefmed, and in many re- 
spects to his disadvantage. 

Mr. Tomer, passing from a review of the general right of the people of 
the State to assign and distribute to the government of the Stale, and of the 
United States, such powers and functions, respectively, as in their judgment 
might be conducive to the public welfare, and having demonstrated the sov- 
ereign authority of the people, proceeded next to inquire into the nature of 
the grant of powers to the General Government, in order more definitely to 
determine the question where the power resides against which treason is 
committed ; contending that there cannot be two treasons — one against the 
State, and one against the United Stales ; but that the offence must necessa- 
rily be directed against the higher power in a union of States, like that un- 
der which we live, and which is something very different from a mere con- 
federation, or compact by treaty, of States retaining individually their former 
complete jurisdiction. 

He cited 3 Dallas, 76, (in 1795) — "Congress had an imperfect sovereisruty 
previous to the declaration of independence; and the articles of confedera- 
tion are only a definement of rights before vague and uncertain. On the 
declaration of independence, a new body politic was created. Congress was 
the organ of the declaration ; but it was the act of the people, not of the 
State legislatures, which were likewise nothing more than organs of the 
people. And it is absurd to say that both the Federal and St'ate govern- 
ments held sovereignty in the same points.-' — (Patterson J.) — P. 81 : "The 
truth is, that the States, individually, were not known or recognised as sov- 
ereign by foreign nations, nor are they now. The States collectively, un- 
der Congress as the connecting point or head, were acknowledged by foreign 
powers as sovereign, particularly in that acceptation of the term which is 
applicable to all great national concerns, and in the exercise of which other 
sovereigns would be more immediately interested." 

In 2 Dallas, 452, Blair J. remarked : " U sovereignty be an exemption 
from suit in any other than the sovereign's own courts, it follows that 
when a State, by adopting the constitution, has agreed to be amenrible to 
the judicial power of the United States, she has, in that respect, given up 
her right of sovereignty." 

Same book, p". 468, Gushing J. said : " Whatever power is deposited with 
the Union by the people for their own necessary security, is so far a cur- 
tailing of the power and prerogatives of States. ' This is, as it were, a self- 
evident proposition —at least, it cannot be contested. Thus the powers 
of declaring war," &.C., "are lodged in Congress, and are a most essential 
abridgment of State sovereignty. Again: the restrictions upon States, 'no 
State shall enter into any treaty, alliance,' &,c. ; these, with a number of 
others, are important restrictions of the power of States, and were thought 
necessary to maintain the Union, and to establish some fundamental, uni- 
form principles of justice throughout the whole Union. So that 1 think no 
argument of force can be taken from the sovereignty of States. Where it 



Rep. No. 546. 933 

has b^en abridged, it was thought necessary for the greater, indispensable 
good of the whole." 

Tlie limitation of State supremacy is ftirtlier explained by Chief Justice 
Marshall in 4 Wheaton, 4t(5 : "If any one proposition could command the 
universal assent of mankind, we might expect it would be tliis, — that the gov- 
ernment of the Union, though linjited ni iis powers, is supreme within its 
sphere of action. This would seem to result necessarily from its nature. 
It is the government of all ; its powers are delegated by all ; it represents 
all, and acts for all. Though any one State may be willing to control its 
operations, no State is willing to allow others to control them. Tlie nation, 
on those subjects on which it can act, must necessarily bind its component 
parts. But this question is not left to mere reason ; the people have, in ex- 
press terms, decided it by saying, 'This constitution, and the laws of the 
United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof,' 'shall be the sn- 
preme law of the land ;' and by requiring that the members of the State le- 
gislatures, and the officers of the executive and judicial departments of the 
States, shall take the oath of fidelity to it." 

The people of the States, in constructing the General Government, have 
not only seen fit to curtail the State governments of many powers before 
possessed by them, but of those higher powers against which treason can be 
committed. The State otficers take an oath to support this supreme gov- 
ernment, and cannot act till they have recognised it as such. 

Judge Story, 1 Comm. on Coiisiit. 191, says: "A State which possesses 
this absolute power, [jus svnimi imperii.] without any dependence upon any 
foreign power or State, is, in the largest sense, a sovereign State." And, at 
pp. 199, 2(il, 202, he goes on to negative the separate sovereignty and in- 
dependence of the individual States. In every one of our States, the high- 
est authority (not foreign, but from without) is exercised within their respec- 
tive limits, abridging their sovereignty. 

These authorities warrant me (said Mr. Turner) in laying it down as set- 
tled, that in this country, under the people, the supreme power, as it respects 
some of the highest attributes of gov^.rnment, is clearly vested in the Gov- 
ernment of the United States by the constitution of the United States. 

But it is contended that the several States which compose the Union are 
also, at least for certain purposes, sovereign within themselves; whicli is ad- 
mitted. But it is imjxjrtant to examine the reserved powers, and to com- 
pare them with the powers of the Union, to see more particularly what has 
been given up. If this State be sovereign, in the sense we have been con- 
sidering, it must possess the jus siinimi imperii; it must be a State that 
governs itself without any dependence on any other power, and without be- 
ing controlled by any such power. A State completely sovereign and inde- 
pendent, among other powers, may levy war and contract alliances ; send 
ministers, and receive foreign ministers; determine, through the people, the 
nature of its own government ; make all its own laws; divide, or even dis- 
pose of. its own territory ; raise and maintain armies ; t-siablish and regulate 
commerce; coin money, and regulate ii.^ currency ; establish an indepen- 
dent judiciary ; punish all offences committed within its jurisdiction ; estab- 
lish post offices and roads. 

These are essential powers and inseparable incidents to all fully sovereign 
States ; and yet nearly every one of them is expressly taken away from the 
individual States of the Union by the constitution of the United States, and 



984 Rep No. 546. 

those that are not so taken away and prohibited are more or less restn'cted 
or abridged. 

Can the State of Rhode Island levy war, or contract alliances? Can she 
send ministers abroad, and receive tort-ign ministers? Can slie adopt any 
other than a repubhcan form of government? Can she make all the laws 
in force within her limits? She cannot natnralize a foreigner, pass a bank- 
nipt law — certainly not while an act of Congress on the same subject is in 
existence. Nor can she pass a law relating to the branches of jurisdiction 
that have been snrrendered to the d-neral Government. Can Rhode island 
divide or dispose of her own territory ? Can she raise or maintain armies? 
Can she establish and regnlate commerce? Can she c(Mn money, and reg- 
iilate its currency? Can she establish a judiciary independent of that of 
the United States? Can slie punish all offences committed within her ju- 
risdiction? Can she establish post offices and roads? Every one of the.^e 
questions must be answered in the negative. This State has parted with 
the powers that have been described. 

What attributes of sovereignty then remain to her? There resides in 
the people of this State the sovereign power to adopt and change their con- 
stitution and form ot government, subject to the limitation in the consti- 
tution of the United Stales, that the new constitution shall be republican. 
The State also possesses and occupies the field of local jurisdiction over 
matters confined to its own limits. 

The amendment to the constitution (art. 11) which provides that 'Mhe 
judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any 
suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against any one of the 
United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any 
foreign State," is only an exception, and shows the extent of the national 
sovereignty, and the corresponding limitation on the other side. A Sinte is 
mU suable. It may be brought by a State before the supreme court of the 
United States, and adjudicated against. Could this be the case if it pos- 
sessed the highest degree of sovereignty? 

No individual State, therefore, either does or can possess the "jws summi 
imperW^ — the highest sovereignty in the last resort. As it is against this 
sovereignty that the offence of treason must be committed^ and this sove- 
reignty resides in the United States, then I am prepared (said Mr. Turner) 
to assert that no treason can be committed' aorainst a separate State, and, 
ronsequently, that no State can constitutionally punish as treason any act 
done toward a State. If the act amount to treason, the United States courts 
only have jurisdiction of the offence, as a crime against the United States. 
if it be not treason against the United States, then it can only be coNsidered 
and punished as a misdemeanor, or some less offence, by the State. In either 
case, the present indictment cannot be sustained, and the prisoner must be 
acquitted. 

Such I contend (said Mr. T.) is the true construction of the constitution 
of the United States, and such to have been the early and contemporaneous 
construction put upon that instrument by ilie States themselves. 

In the debates of the convention that formed the constitution of the Uni- 
ted States, Mr. Madison and other distinguished members expressed opin- 
ions to the effect that treason could be committed only against thi; United 
States, on the ground that it was an offence against the sovereignty, " which 
can be but one in the same community." 



Rep. No. 546. 935 

Does the constitiUion of the United Slates justify the construction which 
IS given to it ori this j)oitU ? 

Two great offences requiring to he guarded against as dangerous to the 
general safety and peace, are piracy and treason ; and it would seem that 
the framers of the constitution intended to put them hoth within the exclu- 
sive jurisdiction of the courts of the United States; for it is impossible to 
suppose that they deemed piracy more of a national offence than treason, 
when piracy has for its object a wrong to individuals only — being but " rob- 
bery on the high seas" — while treason, in this country, can be aimed only 
at political institutions, and is general in its effects, extending beyond the 
State where it originated. The apparent distinction made between these 
two offences in the constitution, doubtless arose from this circumstance — 
that, whereas the offence wliich they intended to punish as treason had 
been accurately and technically defined for above 300 years — in fact, ever 
since the act of the 25th of Edward 111, in 1350 — it could be clearly de- 
fined in the constitution, and so as to cut off all pretended and fictitious 
treasons. The constitution did so define it, and left to Congress the duty 
only of providing by law for its punishment. 

But with regard to tlie other offence — that of piracy — the case was en- 
tirely different. What'acts should or should not be deemed piracy, it was 
not well settled, and could not at that time be easily settled ; and what the 
punishment should be was also a matter of doubt. In England, formerly, 
piracy had been adjudged high treason, (3 hist. 8;) and our own history 
shows that other acts — the slave trade, for instance — are now declared to be 
piracy, which 50 years ago were no crimes at idl in law [See Federalist, 
No. 42, paires 209, 210; No. 43, page 216] The framers of the constitu- 
tion, therefore, deemed it expedient (as Congress, of necessity, would have 
to pass laws providing for the punishment of both offences, and as tlie slave 
trade was to continue to a later period,) to leave it to them both to define 
and punish piracy, while they were required only to punish treason. No 
State in the Union, it is believed, has ever pretended to any jurisdiction in 
cases of piracy, and to this day it is considered as within the exclusive ju- 
risdiction of, the courts of the United States; although every State in the 
Union, situated on the sea or navigable waters, has probably punished acts 
as larceny, which, if committed only a few leagues from the same place, 
would have amounted to piracy under the laws of the United States. And 
so of trt^ason : an act may be done against a State, which, if done against 
the United States, would be treason, ;md yet not be treason against the State; 
in the same way that, formerly, homicide would have been deemed petit 
treoson only in respect to the individual upon whom it was committed. 

What has been the practical construction put upon the constitution, on 
this point, by the several States? 

During: the war of the Revolution, and down to the adoption of the fed- 
eral constitution, the States considered themselves, and considered each 
other, as independent States; and that was the basis of the confederation. 
Yet New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Vir<j;inia, and North Carolina — all of 
which States adopted constitutions in 1776, and New York in 1777 — under 
tlie recommendation of the ("ontinenial Congress, made no mention of, or 
provision for treason, in either of their constitutions. The same may be 
said of Massachusetts, whose constitution was adopted in 1780; and the 
same of Vermont in 178(5; of Georgia in 1789; of South Carolina and 
Pennsylvania in 1790; of New Hampshire in 1792; being all the original 



936 Rep. No. 546. 

thirteen States of the Union, except Rhode Island ; and not one of them, by 
their original conslitutions, contemfilated treason as a State offence. Ken- 
tucky, a new State, in 1792 first made it a constitutional State otfence, de- 
fining it as in the constitution of the United States. But in 1799 she adopt- 
ed a new constitution, and omitted tlie provision altogether. Tennessee in 
1796 had no such provision; nor Ohio in 1802 ; nor Illinois in 1818. On 
the other hand, the new States, and especially those holding slaves, have 
copied into their constitutions the article in the constitution of the United 
States defining treason, and have made it a State offence; — that is to say, 
Louisiana in 1812; Indiana in 1816; Alabama in 1819; Missouri in 
1820; Mississippi in 1832; Michigan in 1835; and Arkansas in 1836. 

In the meanwhile, although all the old thirteen States, except New 
Hampshire, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, had adopted new, or amended 
their old constitutions, yet Connecticut in 1818, and Maryland in 1831, are 
the only States among them that have introduced such a provision. 

Therefore it may be said that the cotemporaneous and practical construc- 
tion of the constitution of the United States has been, that jurisdiction, ori- 
ginal and exclusive, of the crime of treason, was vested in the United 
States courts ; and that the assumption of a State jurisdiction over the same 
offence, as a crime against a State, is entirely a modern innovation, and in- 
compatible with the sovereignty properly belonging to the individual States. 

[Mr. Turner, being nsked by the court whether, in several of the States 
whose constitutions contained no definition of treason, the offence was not 
recognised and punished by statute, replied, that he had not been able to 
ascertain how far this was the case, not having the laws of the States ] 

Such has manifestly been the construction put upon the United States 
constitution, even by Rhode Island herself At the May session of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, 1777, during the wa%of the Revolution, and before the con- 
federation, when all the States were severally independent, and sovereign 
in the highest sense, an act was passed for punishing ^^ treasons og-abisi 
the Uniled States in general^ and this State in. paiticular.^^ No doubt, it 
is believed, can be entertained of their right to pass such an act at that pe- 
riod. The State then possessed \\\q jus snmmi imperii — the highest sover- 
eignty, in the complete sense of the term ; and it retained that right unim- 
paired down to the period of the adoption of the United States constitution ; 
because, by the terms of the articles of confederation, that was a compact 
between the Slates as such ; and they are, by one of the articles, expressly 
recognised as snverei^j^n and independent. The law alluded to continued 
in force as a law of the Slate during the whole time of the confederation. 
But after tlie adoption of the United States constitution by this Slate in 
1790, upon the Jirst revision of the statute laws, which took place in 1798, 
(having connnenced a year or two previous,) the whole act was omitted \n 
the then Digest, and repealed as obsolete; while the crime of petit treason 
was retained in the criminal code, and placed at its head. And thus, in 
point of fact, treason was not regarded by our laws as a State oflfence at all, 
until a revision of the criminal code in 1838; when, doubtless influenced 
by the modern notions and innovations of the ne^v States, treason was again 
declared to be a State offence, and placed at the head of the catalogue of 
crimes. From which we may learn that, for a period of forty years next 
succeeding the adoption of the United States constitution, and when its true 
intention and construction were most likely to be understood and practised 
upon, this State, both in its legislation and practice, abandoned or conceded 



Rep. No. 546. 937 

to the United States authorities, and left under the consritntion the sole and 
exclusive jurisdiction over tliat particular offence: thus furnishing one of 
the strongest cases of the surrender of an interdicted riorht that can well be 
imagined. It is both practical and cotemporaneous ; and, a^ was said by the 
court in the case of Stewart vs. Laird in 1803, (I Crancli, 299,) "It is sufficient 
to observe that practice, and acquiescence under it for a period of several 
years, affords an irresistible answer, and indeed fixed the construction. It 
is a cotemporary construction of the most forcible nature" (Patterson, J.) 
The length of time since 1798 to 1838 gave great force to the conclusion 
at which the General Assembly arrived at the first-named period. 

Mr. Turner then took up and examined the clause in the constitution 
that is commonly relied upon as recognising treason against a State, (art. 
4, sec. 2, providing for the delivery of fugitives from justice, charged in any 
State with treason, felony, or other crime, and found in another State, on 
demand of the executive authority.) This was borrowed from a similar 
article of the confederation. It will be recollected that, under the confed- 
eration, the States were completely sovereign, and had jurisdiction of, and 
might punish treason, as well as other crimes of an inferior nature; there- 
fore, tlie article of the confederation was necessary — in fact, indispensable to 
the States for the security against offenders. And as all the States were 
equally sovereign, no original process issuing from one State could take a 
person chargfd with crime away from another, without violation of its 
sovereignty. Nor could the States exercise their rightful jurisdiction in 
such cases without mutual consent and aid. Such considerations doubt- 
less dictated the article of the confederation. 

Under the constitution, treason against the United States, over which tlie 
courts of the United States have jurisdiction, might be committed in one 
State, and the person charged might flee into another, as before ; and there 
is no provision in the constitution to arrest the person so escaping, and take 
hiiu to the State where the act was committed, and where alone he must be 
tried, unless it be the article in question. So that the construction of this 
clause is not necessarily iiniited, by terms, to State offences as distinguished 
from United States offences. If the offence were murder, the State alone 
would have jurisdiction ; if it were a high misdemeanor, it might be, accord- 
ing to circumstances, either against the State or the United States, and 
might be prosecuted in the courts of the one or the other, according to the 
jurisdiction. If it were treason, then the United States court, sitting iti the 
State from which such person fled, and where the act was committed, would 
have jurisdiction, and the sole right to try ; and might make the demand to 
have the provision of the constitution carried into effect, in order to accom- 
plish the purposes of justice. 

If the reasoning which has been en)ployed be correct, and the views of 
sovereignty that have been expressed be well founded, there is nothing 
gained to the advocates of State treason from the phraseology of article 3, 
section 3 — "treason against the United States shall consist," <fe,c. If the 
words "aiiainst the United States" had been omitted, then the general ex- 
pression " treason shall consist," (fcc, would have het^n claimed as including 
equally the offence against a State and against the Union. 

Saturday afternoon, Mnij 4. 
After Mr. Turner had conchided his remarks for the defendant upon the 
point that treason is an offence against the United States, and not agauist 



938 Rep. No. 546. 

a separate State, he took up the second point, before adverted lo — that the 
Altreriiie law, (so called,) which makes political offences indictable out of the 
county where charged to be committed, is against common right, uncon- 
stitutional, and void; and claimed to be heard upon it. 

The court dechned to hear any argument upon this point, as they had 
already expressed an adverse opinion upon it in a former case. 

Mr. Dorr urged upon the court the importance of this point, and earnestly 
contended for his right to be heard upon it. If he were wrongfully in- 
dicted here, the whole proceeding was invalid and void ; and a fair trial was 
not a trial pursued contrary to law. 

The Chief Justice remarked, that this was not the proper time to hear an 
argument on this point ; but that it could be properly considered after ver- 
dict, should this be desired by the defendant. 

Staples J. remarked, that this and other questions, which would now in- 
terrupt the case, would be properly heard alter verdict, and before sentence. 

Mr. Dorr said he despaired of beinof able to say anything wtiich could 
change the determination of the court, though he had expected to be heard 
upon this question in this stage of the case, after htiving withdrawn his 
plea to the jurisdiction. He was now satisfied, from the action of the 
court, that they intended to withhold from him the fair trial to which by 
law and justice he was enlitled. 

Staples, J. — If I were in your place, Mr. Chief Justice, I would not 
hear such language as that from counsel, whatever the prisoner may take 
the liberty of laying. 

The defendant excepted to the ruling of the court. Mr. Turner, for de- 
fendant, then took up the third point : that, if the defendant were properly 
indicted liere, he could not, according to law, be tried here, as the Algerine 
act, in derogation of the right of trial in the county where the offence is 
charwed to be committed, had made no provision for a trial out of the 
county. 

On this point, the debate was renewed between Messrs. Dorr and Turner 
and the court. 

The atloniet/ getieral remarked^ that this and the preceding point were 
involved in the plea to the jurisdiction, which the prisoner had withdrawn. 

Mr. Dorr said the plea was withdrawn in order to obtain a speedy trial 
by jury ; but that fie had not waived his right to raise the question in an- 
other stage of the case. 

Mr. 1 urner referred to some authorities to sliow that this point respecting 
the jurisdiction of the court might be raised during the trial of the case. 

7Vie court refused to hear any argument until after verdict, as they had 
considered and decided this point in a former case. 

Defendant excepted to the ruling of the court. 

Mr. Bosv:orth, for the State, then proceeded to make some remarks on 
the question of treason, as being, in the opinion of the prosecution, a State 
offence. He admitted that treason could only be committed against the 
sovereign power of a State, and also that the sovereign power in a State re- 
sides in the people, as organized and defined by law ; and it was therefore 
unnecessary to consider or reply to the long list of authorities which the 
deft^ndant and his counsel had introduced. He must, however, deny in tola 
the doctrine of defendant's counsel, that the whole people of the United 
States are sovereign in this State. The States, he contended, were as sov- 
ereign as ever within their own jurisdiction, although they had given up 



Rep No. 546. 93^ 

certain powers to the General Government, which was also a sovereigi>, 
but not over the States. 

What reason is there why acts which amount to treason should not be 
punished as such by a State? Without this power to punish, a State can- 
not protect, defend, or preserve itself. 

Treason may as well be committed against a State as against the United 
States ; and the power of punishing it has not been surrendered to the 
United States. The constitution defines treason against the United States 
only; and it also provides that a person charged in any State with treason, 
&c., and who flees from the same into another, shall be delivered up on de- 
mand of the executive to the State having jurisdiction of the crime — thus 
recoa^nising the offence of treason against a State. Besides this, in many of 
the Slate constitutions, and in many more of the State laws, treason is de- 
fined and punished as a crime against a State, as well as against the United 
States, when it takes that direciion. Writers on law also so re^rard it; and, 
in proof of this, he read a number of authorities: 2 Swif's Digest, 264 ; 
1 Story's Commentary on Constitution, 199 ; 6 Dane's Abridgment, (386- 
7-8 ; 4 Tucker's Blackstone's Commentaries, Appendix, 20, 21 ; Rawle on 
Constitution, 142; 14 Johnson's Reports, 549; 1 Story's Reports, 614 — 
containing Judge Story's charge to the grand jury at Newport, in June, 
1842, which Mr. B. said contained a clear and decided view of the powers 
of a State, in a case like the present, to defend itself, and to try and punish 
tlie offence of treason. 

The prosecutor offered to put into the case the proclamation of General 
Jackson ajjainst South Carolina, at the period of a threatened nullification. 
The court said it was hardly an autliority. The defendant did not object ; 
but said, if it were admitted, he should offer other messages and docu- 
ments of that distinguished individual. 

The attorney general did not put it in. 

Monday morning, May 6. 

Mm Dorr spoke at considerable length, in the close of the question on his 
side, respecting i reason as an offence against the United States, and not 
against a State. 

There are, he said, three questions to be considered : What is treason ? 
What is the sovereignty against which it is committed ? Where does this 
sovereignty reside in our country 7 

Treason had been already defined and commented upon. It is the cri- 
men IcescB niajestniis, the accusation or crime of injured majesty, and was 
primarily aimed at the life of the king, as laid down in 3 Inst. 2, S. It was 
an attack upon the existence or authority of the liead of the State. The 
definition of it here, (though there was an extraordinary exception in this 
State.) was the levying of war, or aiding and comforting public enemies. 

The authority against which treason is committed is, according to the 
definitions of the books, the "j//s summi impcrii^^ the authority of the 
"supreme liege lord," or of the "supreme sovereign lord." Burlamaqni 
vests the sovereiirnty of a State in him who commands in the last resort. 
This rule applies to monarchies, and more especially to despo^isnjs, in 
which only it can be strictly s lid that an individual commands in the Inst 
resort with absolute poA'er. In every State there is and must be an ulti- 
mate power, beyond v.'hich there can be no greater, except the divine ; but, 
in a republican country, it is not vested in an individual, or in a number of 



940 Rep. No. 546. 

individuals ; but in the people, by whom and for whom governments are 
created, and unto whom they are responsible. 

In noticino; tiie attributes of this sovereignty, the author last cited goes 
on to say that there is no sovereignty where there are many to exercise it, 
referring to the kin^j as the head of the State. It is everywhere an un- 
divided power, of which there can be no share or partition. There cannot 
be two sovereignties in a State. The writer adds, that the sovereign has 
no superior on earth; that he is not liable to punishment; that he is above 
all human or civil law, and subject only to the divine law. 

Blackstone speaks of the sovereign authority as supreme, absolute, irre- 
sistible, and uncontrolled. 

One of the highest attributes of sovereignty is the power of war and peace, 
the surreiider of which by one State to another constitutes the latter a sov- 
ereign in a preeminent degree. 

The doctrine of foreign writers, though it does not apply, in f>rm, to 
American institutions derived from the people, yet applies in principle. 
The sovereignty here is not vested in emperors and kings, or in kings and 
parliaments, or in governments in any sense; but in the people themselves, 
who, throuifh certain ora^anizations of their own making, or approved by 
them, and with the aid of a representative action, constantly exercise what 
is commonly called self government — perhaps, more properly, the power of 
governing one another. 

Vattel recognises the right of the people to alter the arrangements of gov- 
ernment by a new edict ; and such a right is the foundation of all our in- 
stitutions in this country. To deny it, is to deny the riwht and the capacity 
of the people to be free, and to preier the aristocratic and monarchical 
systems, which were cast away, it was supposed forever, at the period of 
the revolution of 1776. 'I'lie sovereign power here resides not in the 
legislature, nor in either of its branches, nor in the governor, nor in the 
courts, nor in government in any mode or form. A sovereign legislature, 
or representative or senator, a sovereign governor, or a sovereign judge, 
are solecisms which would sound strangely in American ears. • 

[Mr. Dorr said that he should go into the American doctrine of the ulti- 
mate and supreme sovereignty of the people the more fully on this oc- 
casion, though the consideration might lead him away from the precise 
point before the court, inasmuch as his views had been misrepresented, and 
in reply to the questions which the judges had themselves propounded. 
While Mr. Turner was putting in and commenting on the authorities, 
several questions were asked by the court, and replied to by Mr. Dorr, such 
as the following: Dnrfee, Ch .J. — whether the people mentioned in the au- 
thorities as sovereign, were not the organized legal people, recognised as 
such by constitutions and laws ; whether the right to make, alter, and amend 
governments, asserted in the declaration of independence, was not a belli- 
gerent riij:ht, claimed for that occasion, and necessarily supposing force and 
war; whether the sovereignty of a State be not necessarily a unit. By 
Haile, J.— whether those who exercise the highest powers of government in 
a State are not sovereign. By Staples, J. — whether the people does not 
mean the legally recognised political people. By Brayton, J. — whether 
the sovereignty is vested in individuals, so that ten men (for instance) could 
make a constitution for themselves; whether the people at large, by a vote, 
independently of forms, could pardon an offender against the laws. The 
substance of Mr. Dorr's replies is here presented in a connected form.] 



Rep. No. 546. 941 

None of the definitions before given of sovereign power can apply to any 
of tile branches of a republican government, or to any of the officers under 
it, nor to the political or legal peo[)le themselves; for they are the creatures 
of the constitution, and act as they are there empowered. And yet there 
must be somewhere a power greater than political institutions, or they never 
could have come into existence. The people existed before the State. 
They were not created by it. How can there be a State without a people, 
before a people ? The doctrine of our adversaries strangely reverses this 
position of things. They look to the State for the rights of man. We look 
to the men oi the State themselves, as endowed by their Creator with cer- 
tain rights, which cannot be justly alienated or taken away, and in the ex- 
ercise of which political societies and states originated, can be changed, 
abolished, reconstructed, amended, as convenience or necessity may require. 

Of what constitution, government, magistrate, or voting body in this 
country, can it be affirmed that he or it has no superior ; is above all hu- 
man or civil law, and subject only to the divine law ; is supreme, irresist- 
ible, and uncontrolled? Of what magistrate or voter in any State in this 
country can it be affirmed that he is not liable to punishmetit ? We are 
driven to the conclusion, then, either that there is and must be a power great- 
er than any constitution, or any political body, or authority established un- 
der it ; or that there is no sovereign power in the peopje of any of our States, 
or of the United States. If the latter alternative be true, then a government, 
having come into existence some how or other, becomes a fixture, and is 
clothed with a self-perpetuating power; and the only advantage that we 
have gained over the institutions of the old world was in making a better 
start on the republican plan. If we had started on the aristocratic, then 
there could have been no change without the permission of the aristocracy, 
who would have possessed the government ; and if the republican constitu- 
tion should become defective, and a minority holding power under its form, 
possessmg the government, should not see fit to accede to the desired re- 
form, and deny the petition of the majority, there is no remedy but submis- 
sion or emigration. Will such a doctrine as this be tolerated for an in- 
stant by the American people? If so, then the principles of '76 are a 
mockery ; and the people of "76 are dishonored in their graves by their un- 
worthy descendants as successful traitors, instead of being venerated in per- 
petual memory as the asserters and defenders of the inherent, unalienable, 
and unchangeable rights of their race. 

If there be any sovereignty, (as doubtless there is,) it cannot be in the gov- 
ernment, but must be in the people, in their original capacity, standing on 
the outside of the political society, living under government by consent and 
for the general good, and possessing, of consequence, the right to change it 
when the greatest good shall so require. 

This sovereignty cannot be in the people as voters under a constitution ; 
for the constitution makes them such. They act according to the rule pre- 
scribed, and are subject to various regulations affecting more or less the 
right of suffrage; and they are punishable in several forms for misusing 
the right of suffrage. How, then, can they be, in this capacity, the sover- 
eigns of the State ? They can be such only as members of society, and as 
tenants in common of its reserved and ultimate powers. The voters of the 
State, so far from being the sovereign power, may be a minority ; and a 
small minority of the whole people, as in this State, under the charter gov- 
ernment, ruling the rest by sufferance, without responsibility; and, if the 



942 Rep. No. 546. 

doctrine of onr opponents be true, with an authority fixed and unalterable, 
except by their own mere motion or concession. In this State, we hnd 
either a sovereign minority, or a sovereignty of the people at large ; for the 
voters were but a fraction of the adult population. 

As it regards the exercise of this sovereign power itself, in the last re- 
sort, independent of all constituiional and legal provisions, although theoreti- 
cal difficulties may be suggested, the usages of the race to which we belong 
furnish a practical solution of them ; and it is not the friends of popular 
rights that find any difficulty in ascertaining who are the actual residents, 
the mature men, of this or any other community. 

What we contend for is, not a sovereignty of individuals, but a tenancy 
in common of one sovereign power, manifesting its will and action through 
the voice of the majority of the whole nnnjber of the people. The indi- 
vidual man cannot set himself up against the political society to which he 
belongs, and become, as one of the witnesses claimed to be, "a nation of 
himself" The natural law of the greater good here intercepts the con- 
flicting will of the individual and of the minority. It is a part of the natu- 
ral right, if not of the social instinct, of individuals to associate in the form- 
ation of government ; and the object of government is, the better to de- 
fine, secure, and protect natural rights. If the assent of every individual 
were requisite to the formation of government, this great end could never 
be accomplished. The majority stands opposed to the minority or to the 
individual. Natural justice dictates which party should yield to the public 
welfare. This is a rule anterior to all legislation or compacts, and lies at 
the foundation of the social system. 

It is true that the general mode of amending the governments existing 
in this country is through the action of those who are qualified to vote 
under them ; and why an exception to this mode occurred in Rhode Island, 
will be considered presently. But vi^e are now speaking of the ultimate 
right, HI the last resort, underived from government itself, original and sub- 
sisting in the nature of man, but only recognised in our own country. 
The body of voters, who obtain their authority to vote from a constitution 
which was made before they were born, cannot be said to be sovereign 
under it, in any other than a limited and qualified sense. When an amend- 
ment of a constitution, or a new constitution, is submitted to them, they 
exercise the high fimction of passing upon it, for ratification or rejection, 
as the agents and representatives of the whole community, of the whole 
body of the governed, and by their sufferance or acquiescence. The ac- 
tual voters may thus be said to perform a sovereign act, in behalf of the 
greater body, which includes themselves and the whole mass of the peo- 
ple. But the power is derivative and permissive, and the act- is secondary, 
and dependent for its validity upon the continuance of that assent of the 
whole people, upon which our form of government rests, and which is or- 
dinarily implied rather than expressed. 

It is only in a secondary sense that the State is sometimes called sove- 
reign. It is a political association, formed by the people and for the people, 
and represents their sovereignty, of which it is the reflection. The people 
may possess and reserve more powers than they choose to part with to the 
State. But the State, in this country, can never possess more powers than 
the people, except by usurpation, or gross neglect to repair the decays of 
existing institutions. 

The difficulty in this State of appreciating the true source of power, 



Kep. No. 546. 948 

arises from the want of any visible evidence of it greater than that of the 
lejrislature. In other States, the constitution stands forth as the permanent 
form of the popnhir will, it binds and governs the legislature as well as 
the people. It prescribes the limits of legislative action, and is a constant 
restraint upon tlie tendency of legislative bodies to strengthen themselves 
by absorbing new forms. In tliis State, we have been living since the revo- 
lution, without any check upon the General Assembly, except the constitu- 
tion of the United States and the election by the freeholders ; before the 
revolution, the home government was the superior, and might be appealed to 
to redress grievances. But even then, the old charter was altered at pleasure, 
and the elective right was enlarged and contracted at pleasure of the gov- 
ernment, representing a small portion of the connniinity. The General 
Assembly had so long acted according to their mere will and pleasure, that 
they deemed themselves, and became virtually, omnipotent within their 
sphere ; and we now hear the people, who had beconte tired of waiting to 
receive their right from ihe action of the minority Assembly, and who 
undertook to exercise the American right of sovereignty, denounced as con- 
spirators and traitors against the government! 

In oiher States, the legislatures have acted within bounds. They have 
been restrained by a fixed constitution — fixed till changed according to its 
forms, or by an act of the majority of the voters, or by an authentic act of 
the majority of the whole people, duly made known to the existing gov- 
ernment. And when the people on the outside have called for an extension 
of suffrage, and for still more extension, and for other reforms, they have 
been respectfully attended to; and all the changes have taken place that 
have been asked for. Rhode Island furnishes the exception ; and here all 
that has been obtained has been extorted. Let the blame rest where it be- 
longs. 

There is a gradation of powers in the State, and a harmony in the whole. 
The Executive carries into effect the laws, as decided by the court. The 
court is bound by the laws enacted by the legislature. The legislature can 
only enact laws conformably with the authority vested in it by the consti- 
tution. The constitution is derived from the people, and is voted for, ordi- 
narily, by the qualified voters at the time, acting in behalf, and with the im- 
plied assent, of the whole people. Behind all, stands the absolute sovereignty 
(above and greater th;«i all political forms and institutions) of the political 
community of the whole people, rarely, but freely and faithfully, to be ex- 
ercised as great exigencies may require. There, there is no confusion — no 
jostling of powers. The executive does not intrude himself upon the 
bench. The bench do not claim to legislate. The legislature does not 
pretend to alter the constitution. The qualified electors, who compose a 
part of the sovereign body of the whole people, but are not the ultimate 
sovereignty, will never, in the event of a great publib exigency, be found, 
without unjust aid, in opposition to the will of the majority of the whole 
number. 

Whatever may be the ultimate powers of the people who compose the 
sovereignty in the last resort, there is no probability that the people will de- 
viate from the natural order which has been suggested. It is wholly im- 
practicable, if not impossible, for the qualified voters, or the sovereign 
body, to take upon themselves the functions of making, interpreting, or exe- 
cuting the laws, or of pardoning offenders in States like ours. This work 
must necessarily be done by agents chosen to do what the people cannot 



944 Rep. No. 546. 

so well do for themselves— by legislators, judges, governors, and other magis- 
trates and officers. In this State, where the people have been so ninch 
abused for attempting to gain their rights, and where one might snppose, 
from the representations that have been made, that "chaos had come again," 
the whole proceedings were orderly and regular ; the whole system of laws 
was preserved, (so far as not inconsistent with the new constitution,) and 
subject to tlie action of a new legislature. All officers were continued in 
office until their successors should be duly elected and appointed ; and thus 
a natural and easy transition was provided from the old order of things to 
the new. The old machinery of the State, so far as laws, property, and 
civil rights are concerned, was kept agoing; and the change consisted in 
an enlargement of the premises for the sake of greater convenience, and in 
the application of a new moving power. 

The right asserted is not the right of stopping the wheels of govenmient, 
of intercepting the administration of justice, of overthrowing the legisla- 
ture, and producing anarchy. The government has tlie force of (Mje while 
it lasts — it stands till it is changed. Till it be changed in the manner 
described, there is no evidence that the people have acted : and they who 
assail it, do so at their own risk. The object of the people of Rhode Island 
was not to overthrow the government, but to continue it under the definite 
forms of a written constitution ; and when this new government went into 
effect, the other rightfully ceased. Those who held on to this old govern- 
ment, after it had been thus properly superseded, were the opposers of the 
governujent, were concerned in the work of pulling it down, and in re- 
ality committed all the treason of 1S42. 

This principle of popular sovereignty, as thus explained, is of inestima- 
ble importance and value to the American people. It marks the grand dis- 
tinction between their own and foreign nations. In the latter, the sove- 
reignty is vested, not by right, (for the natural rights of man are the same 
everywhere,) but by theory, in the government; while here, it is vested in 
the whole people. 

There is a guaranty in this principle, and by the effect of it, that all 
necessary reforms in government shall take place. The certainty that 
there is a mighty hand behind the scenes ready to be stretched out when 
justice has been long withheld and patience is exhausted, and reform through 
the ordinary ch.mnels is hopeless, is a perpetual caution to those who hold 
power to respect the will of the people, and to do right seasonably, and 
without the irritation of frequent refusals. 

Though it is to be hoped that all reasonable amendments in our political 
systems will take place as the general welfare and public opinion shall de- 
mand, and through the accustomed forms, yet it may become necessary to 
go out of these forms, and to exert the popular sovereignty in such manner 
as the people at large may deem expedient. Suppose the government of 
a State should fall through, from neglect or inability (as during an inva- 
sion) to comply with the provisions of the constitution for the election of 
public officers, or through the act of the legislature itself: the staunchest 
friend of "law and order" would admit that such a case, and, from the ne- 
cessity of it, the community, might set themselves at work to reinstate the 
constitution, and to set in motion the machinery of government. We ex- 
tend this rule of necessity for the public welfare still farther in extreme 
cases, setting rights above forms. 

Suppose, again, that in some State the representation, tliough originally 



Rep. No. 546. 945 

Fair in its distribution to the towns, has become grossly nneqnal, by changes 
of popuhitioii, so that the ni;ijority of re})resentatives are elected by a small 
minority of the people, and these representatives refuse to lake any steps 
to amend the coiistituiion: is there no remedy in such a case? What 
remedy is there, when others have failed, except the intervention of the 
sovereign power? 

Suppose the right of suffrage also to degenerate, througfi some arbitrary 
qualification of the voters, and to become confined to a small portion of the 
inhabuants, who persist in holding on to this inequality, against all remon- 
strance: is there no remedy for such an injustice in this republican coun- 
try? Put the two cases together, to make the difficulty more intense, so 
that the majority of the representatives shall represent but a small minority 
of the inhabitants, and a small minority of the inhabitants shall choose 
these representatives— while the great body of the people stand without, and 
knock in vain at the door of the legislature: again, is there no remedy? 
Must the people wait forever? Two-thirds of them would say no ; and 
would be for applying the sovereign power, after they had knocked long 
enouifh at the bolted door. Would they not be right in so doing? If it 
should be said that no suc?i case can happen, we reply thai it has happened 
in Rhode Island, in the compound form before mentioned ; and that it may 
happen again, in the mutations which-.time occasions, and even in a State 
possessing a written cunsiitution. 

Further, this doctrine of ultimate popular sovereignty is necessary to 
give a sense and a meaning to our State constitutions. The opponents of 
this doctrine are obliged to pass over, as mere surplusage, an important 
portion of the declaration of rights in these constitutions, or most of them ; 
while, on our side, we give eflect to the whole. Our opponents say, that 
the only way in which a constitution, containing a provision for its own 
amendment, can be changed, is through this article of amendment ; and 
they are consequently obliged to treat as a nullity the clause in the declara- 
tion of rights, which afSrms the right of the people, of the governed, of 
the community, of the majority of the inhabitants, to make, alter, and 
amend their government, when and how they please. We, on the other 
hand, construe these parts of the constitution together, and give full mean- 
ing and effect to both. We say that the political people, qualified under 
the constitution as voters, have a right to amend it in the mode prescribed 
fir the sake of convenience, and which, in almost all cases, will be followed 
and adhered to. We also hold that, when this mode does not exist, or has 
become defective, or is not permitted to operate for the end desired, the 
voters themselves, atjd, for a much stronger reason, the whole people, or a 
majority of them, have a right to intervene without forms, and to amend 
their political system — admitting, at the same time, that this is a work which 
can rarely be done; that constitutions are made to last, and, like the planet- 
ary system, are set in motion, witli inherent sustaining powers, which 
cannot often require the intervention of the hand that created them. We 
also give a meaning to the various declarations of rights that have been 
put forth in our country, commencing at the period of '76, which our op- 
ponents are obliged to explain away as "flourishes of rhetoric." 

And what is the answer to all this ? That the doctrine of popular sov- 
ereignty is untrue ; and the principal reason is, because it is dangerous. We 
deny both the conclusion and the reason ; and assert that it is both true and 
safe. 

60 



946 Rep. No. 546. 

It is the American doctrine, the doctrine of our denaocratic republic, which 
rests upon this basis. Mr. Dorr called the attention of the court to the 
declaration of American independence, which was re-adopted in this State, 
and to the declaration of the freeholders' convention in 1790 in this State, 
which was called to ratify the federal constitution, as most explicitly avow- 
ing the right of the governed^ and of posterity, to make, alter, and amend 
the forms of government. Mr. Dorr also contended, in opposition to the 
doubt expressed in the query of the Chief Justice, that the rights set forth 
in the declaraiion of independence are valid and subsisting, independently 
of the means to cairy them into effect ; that these rights are as just now as 
they were in 76, and were not then asserted rhetorically for a single oc- 
casion ; that although force was necessary to carry them into effect, as then 
avowed and exercised, the declaration would have been just as true if 
Great Britain had consented to a voluntary separation. Mr. Dorr said that 
what was a revolutionary right merely, a right of war, in countries where 
the sovereignty was not held to reside in the people, had here, by the act of 
the people, been transplanted into the pale of government itself, by our dec- 
larations and constitutions, which recojjnise the right of the people, on the 
outside of all organizations, to act for themselves. A right which is thus 
recognised, though in a general way, and, of course, without prescribed 
forms of proceeding, ceases to be revolutionary, and has become regular and 
definite. 

Mr, Dorr alluded to the opinions of some of the framers of the federal 
constitution, and of the most eminent statesmen and jurists of our country, 
of both political parties, as asserting, in the strongest manner, the ultimate 
sovereignty not merely of the voters and organized legal people in the 
States, but of the whole body of the people, who, in the language of Chief 
Justice Jay, of the Supreme Court of the United States, " are equal as fellow- 
citizens, and as joint tenants" (more properly, perhaps, tenants in common) 
"of the sovereignty." 

Mr. Dorr alluded to the consequence of the opposite doctrine, as expressed 
by one of the court, that "they are sovereign who exercise the highest 
powers of government ;" in which case, the legislature, being sovereign, 
might abolish the rights of suffrage and representation, dispense with the 
constitution, and vote themselves a permanent aristocracy. 

Mr. Dorr regarded the fact, that the political reforms that have taken 
place in our States have been made through existing organizations, not as 
disproving the right to make them in another way, but as showing a dis- 
position to do justice in time, so as to save the necessity of any unusual ac- 
tion ; a disposition which it was to be regretted had not been manifested 
in this State. 

[Mr. Turner alluded to the case of the people of Michigan, who, at vol- 
untary meetings, voted to accept the conditions of admission into the Union, 
after they had been rejected at legal meetings ; which vote was deemed suf- 
ficient by Congress, who looked more at the will of the people, than at the 
form in which it was expressed.] 

Mr. Dorr also recalled attention to the fact, that the convention who 
formed the constitution of the United States were not requested or author- 
ized to perform such an act, but only to amend the articles of confederation ; 
and that they proceeded on their general authority as representatives of the 
people. The constitution was submitted for ratification to conventions 
chosen by the voters in the States, notwithstanding that, by the articles of 



Rep. No. 546. 947 

€Onfe(3eration, no alterations were to be made in these articles, unless such 
alterations, after beino' approved by Congress, should be agreed to by the 
legislature of" every" State. The constitution was to be considered as rat- 
ified by the votes of the conventions of "nine" States. The people at large 
had more right to vote upon the constitution, than the delegates had thus to 
disres^ard the solemn pledge of the articles of confederation. 

The doctrine of popular sovereignty is true, and it is also safe. Mr. Dorr 
^ave some reasons to show that the fear and distrust of those who regard 
it as leading to the overthrow of all valuable rights and institutions, and to 
general anarchy, is groundless and imaginary. Mr. Dorr said, that men 
are nowhere disposed to resort to extreme measures, and, in the language 
of the declaration of independence, " all experience hath shown that man- 
kind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right 
themselves by abolisliing the forms to which they are accustomed." We 
belong to a race proverbially attached to old habits and usages, and who 
do not change too easily. The striking fact that the people of the States 
have always preferred lo look to the existing organizations (without, how- 
ever, looking in vain) for such jrolitical changes as they needed, is a very 
strong proof that they are in no danger of abusing the sovereign power, or 
disposed to interfere with any existing organizaiiot), but from what they 
consider extreme necessity, growing out of a long-continued, persevering, 
and hopeless denial of justice. 

The great security for the discreet exercise of this power lies in the es- 
tablishment of universal suffrage ; for where this exists, the sovereign body, 
the people at large, become so nearly identical with the political or legal 
people, that it becomes very difficult, or hardly possible, for any disputes 
conc':'rnin2: government or political reform to take place between them. 
The people except in some such extreme case as has been before alluded 
to, can accomplish, under existing forms, all the changes that are desired 
or desirable, and are not likely to fall into controversies about the mode of 
action. Universal suffrage thus becomes in the body politic like the broad 
base of a pyramid, giving such strength and permanence to the superstruc- 
ture that it cannot be overturned, and rendering it proof against time and de- 
cay. Universal suffrage, strangely as it has been disparaged and depreca- 
ted by some of our politicians, is thus a conservative element of our institu- 
tions ; and the free suffrage States are the strongest and the safest. 

In the review of political reforms, Rhode Island constituted the exception 
among the States. Here, the people at large and the legal people were 
widely distinct and separated — the latter being but a small minority of the 
whole, holding their privileges wilh a tenacious grasp, and refusing to 
share them with their brethren of the community. Two opposing interests 
and parties were thus created, through the default of those who neglected 
or refused, at different periods, to extend suffrage. Time widened the 
breach, and thus resulted the conflict of 1841 -'42. Such a conclusion of 
affairs was predicted by one of the ablest public writers of the State, twen- 
ty-two years before it took place. 

Mr. Dorr then proceeded to inquire against what form of sovereignty 
treason can be here committed. He said it can unquestionably be commit- 
ted against this State, unless some of the attributes of sovereignty, which 
draw after them the offence of treason, have been parted with from the 
States to the United States. 

The defendant then stated that he desired most expressly to repudiate 



948 Rep. No. 546. 

the centralizing doctrine of an all-absorbing national government, if, from 
the indefinite language of any of the authorities, or from any ot the re- 
marks of his counsel, such a doctrine had been inferred on the other side; 
inasmuch as he (defendant) adliered to the State rights construction of our 
national system. The National Government, under the constitution of the 
United States, was not formed by the aggregate mass of the people of the 
United States, but was in the nature ot a compact among the several States ; 
the people of which act in each, on all occasions, separately, by their own 
local majorities. As the constitution was not formed by a majority of the 
whole people of the United States, so neither could it be abolished by them 
by an aggregate vote, as if it were the constitution of a single consolidated 
State. The States do not stand in the relation of counties to the United 
States. It was not a matter here under discussion how the constitution 
could be changed in a manner other than that contained in its mode of 
amendment. What the defendant wished to be understood as contending 
for, was, that this State, at the Revolution, separate, sovereign, and inde- 
pendent, had voluntarily become a member of an association or union of 
States, and had, with the rest, conveyed to the General Government many 
of its most important original powers, retaining, fiowever, in a sovereign 
capacity, all the rest as completely as before. The United States, therefore^ 
could not exercise any general sovereignty over the people of this State, but 
only in certain delegated functions, and for certain definite purposes. The 
people of this State are still sovereign in making and altering their govern- 
ment, with the single distinction that it must be republican in its form. 

The question is, whether the power to define and punish treason be not 
vested in the United States exclusively, by the purport of the constitution, 
and from the nature of the powers conveyed. 

Under the confederation of the States, the General Government was a 
government over States. Under tlie constitution, the government reaches 
uidividnals; thus exercising one of the highest attributes of sovereignty. 
The defendant then referred to the numerous important powers which had 
been either given up entirely by the States, or much abridged. 

Among them, is the power of war and peace. A State cannot, without 
the consent of Congress, maintain troops and ships of war in time of peace, 
or engage in war, unless invaded. The President is commander-in-chief of 
the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia when called 
into the service of the United States ; and he is authorized to interfere with 
force in cases of insurrection and domestic violence in the Stales; though 
such interference is arbitrary and censurable when made upon the pretext 
of any right to suppress the action of the people to change their govern- 
ment as they may deem expedient. As treason is the levying of war, when 
auch an offence is really committed, it must be against the war-making 
power, which also defends against war. 'I'he offence is aimed at a State, 
but it involves the United States. 

Conjoint powers may be sometimes exercised by the States and the United 
States; but they must be compatible with each other, or there njust be some 
reservation, express or implied, to the States. The argument is, that trea- 
son, which is defined by the constitution, and punished by the laws, of the 
United States, excludes all separate State treasons, even if the exclusion be 
not in express terms. It Congress had not seen fit to legislate on the sub- 
ject, then il might be a question whether a State had not (he pov;er to do 
sc — at least until the legislation of Congress. Piracy has passed entirely 



Rep. No. 546. 949 

cnt of the jnrisdiction of ihe States, in consequence of Congress being em- 
powered to define and pnnisli it. 

A reason for confinino: the jurisdiction over this oflence to the United 
Stales, may be found in the muUiplicity of State treasons which may other- 
wise spring up for political purposes, as in England, and in the great abuses 
which may grow out of them. As Dr. Franklin observed in the conven- 
tion which formed the national constitution, '•'■prosecutions foi' treason are 
too generally irrelevant^ and perjury is made rise o/"." 

Though the debates in this convention are somewliat indefinite as to 
the settlement of this question, it should be stated that, in the opinion of 
Mr. Madison, (the leading member in that distinguished body,) treason 
against a State and against the United States involved each other; and, if 
both migiit exist, a person might receive two punishments for the same of- 
fence. To follow out the idea : Suppose a person captured in the act of 
levying war by the joint forces ot a State and of the United States: to 
whicli jurisdiction is he amenable? Can he be tried by a State court and 
acquitted, and tfien be tried by a court of the United States, convicted and 
executed, or the reverse? Can State and United States offences be possibly 
commingled in this way? 

As before observed by Mr. Turner, the early State constitutions did not 
recognise the offence of treason against a State, though it may have been 
punished by law in some of them. 

In this State, treason was made an offence by law in 1777; and the act 
was repealed in 1798. It was revived in IS38. 

Art. 4, sect. 2, par. 2 of the constitution is cited as recognising treason 
against a State ; and provides that'^a person charged in any State with 
treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in 
another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from 
which li€ fled, be delivered up, to be renwved to the State having jurisdic- 
tion of the crime." 

^J'his portion of the constitution is to be considered in reference to the 
state of things when it was formed. The States were tiieii connected, uii- 
-der the confederation, by a very slight bond. Treason could undoubtedly 
be co-Timitted against them. It was defined and punished by the States. 
In Rhode Island, the act of 1777 took cognizance expressly of treason against 
the United States. Now, as the constitution contemplated no such appara- 
tus of circuits and districts as was afterwards provided by Congress, and 
as the offence could only be punished in the State where it was com- 
mitted, the constitution could not otherwise provide than for a return of 
the fugitive to that State. Does it involve an inconsistency to suppose tliat 
the framers of the constitution then had in view the punishment, in and by 
a State, of the offence of treason, which they had established, and which 
had been so punishable bef)re? Wtiat the courts of the United States were 
to be, and how to be constituted, was then altogetiier a matter of conjecture. 
But the frnmers of the constitution were determined, at all events, that there 
should be one mode provided for recovering a fugitive to the State whence 
he had escaped, to be tried by whatever jurisdiction there might have cog- 
nizance of tlie offence. When the courts of the United States were after- 
wards estabhshed, a mode was provided, through the warrant of a United 
States judt^e, for transferring a person so charged to the State where the 
offence had been committed. But suppose no such provision had been made 
by law; could not the general power of the State executive, as described 



950 Rep. No, 546. 

in the part of the constitution that has been quoted, be made available for 
the same object? By the act of the United States of 1790, if any person, 
who has knowledge that any treason has lieen committed, shall neijleci to 
give information of it to the President, or to a jndwe of the United ^tatt^s, or 
to the govirnor of tlu State, fie shall l^e deemed gnilty of misprision of 
treason. If a governor may hold an inquisition of this kind, may he not 
also recover a fugitive to the justice of the United States? 

But, after all, perhaps the more natural construction of this paragraph of 
the constitution is, that it is only intended to provide for the recovery of 
fugitives for the higher offences, in which treason, felony, &,c. are included^ 
by way of definition, without affirming what are or shall b' Slate offences. 
'I'he paragraph would thus mean that fugitives, who are charged with the 
higher offences, be they whai they may, shall he. reclaimed in the manner 
thus provided. 

[It ought to have been before mentioned, that Mr. Dorr,at the commence- 
ment of his remarks on the subject of treason against a Stale, stated to the 
court his regret that, in consequence of tfie alienee of his principal counsel, 
Mr. Atwell, whose severe illness commenced just before the sUting of the 
court, and upon whom Ije Iiad depended for all the closing argnmems in 
the case, he was now obliged to take up a question of law of this great im- 
portance, with little opportunity to refiect upon it, and with no other knowl- 
edge of the authorities than from hearing tliem read over in court. Being^ 
nevertheless, under the necessity of going on, he felt it his duty to say thus 
much in justice to the subject and to himself.] 



REMARKS OF MR. TURNER. 

May it please your honors : 

Gentlemen of the jury : — When you consider the novel character of the 
circumstances by which I am surrounded ; the fiigh nature of the duties 
which liave devolved on me, as one of the counsel for our distinguished 
chent; and the deep sense of professional and personal responsibility which 
a faithful discharge of these duties creates in the mind, you will find, I trust, 
ample apology for whatever eml^arrassment may be betrayed by me in at- 
tempting their discharge, and will kindly extend to me such indulgent con- 
ssideration as my position requires. 

The circumstances I have said to be of a novel character; for trials for 
treason have, happily for ns, until the present time, been entirely unknown 
in this State, and of very rare occurrence in this country. 

The duties of which I speak, inasmuch as tfiey embrace the distinct as- 
sertion of principles of vital importance to the whole community, of which 
we are all members, as well as the vindication of the character of our client^ 
may well be pronounced of a high and commanding nature. 

And the responsibility, which it is impossible not to feel, arises from a 
contemplation of the con.sequences to him and to us, wfiich will result from 
the verdict you may render in the present case ; which verdict, in a greater 
or less degree, will de[)end upon the fidelity and ability with which the de- 
fence is conducted. 

In view of these circumstances, well may the defendant's counsel, there- 
fore, feel a degree of self distrust and embarrassment, which ordinary cases 
would neither call for nor justify. 



Rep. No. 546. 951 

Bat, orentlemen, in some respects, your own situation is not less difficult 
than ours; your position as jurors has also its novelty, its duties, and its 
responsibilities. It is your duty impartially and fairly to try, and irue de- 
liverance make, between the Stale and the prisoner at the bar; and this 
you, under your oa'hs as jurors, are to do, according to law and the evi- 
dence given you. It is your duty, therefore, attentively and patiently to 
hear, and seriously and carefully consider and weiijh the matter, whether 
of law or evidence, that may be submitted to yon for the defence; we look 
to you for that on your parts; and, on the other hand, we assure you, on 
our parts, that it will be our endeavor neither to tax your attention, nor 
draw on your indulgence beyond what a complete discharge of our own 
duties may require. 

In point of responsibility, gentlemen, there can be no comparison between 
lis. When we shall have faithfully acquitted ourselves of our duty to our 
client, all our responsibility ends; yours then begins. Neither he, nor the 
people of this State or country — notour fellow men of this day, nor thpse 
after generations that may succeed us, will have cause to inquire after or 
care for us. But it will be to you tliat he and they will all look; and all 
will equally hold you while living, and your memories after death, respon- 
sible for the verdict you may render. You are at this moment (and it is 
the first that has occurred in American history) standing in a position be- 
tween popular riglits and popular supremacy on the one side, and legis- 
lative assamptioii and oppression on the other; and although you will de- 
cide the immediate fate of one person alone by that verdict, yet upon that 
verdict hang suspended the destinies of Freedom herself. 

By the indictment, our client (Mr. Uorr) is charged v/ith the crime of 
treason. * 

Treason, gentlemen, is an offence that differs materially and essentially 
in its character from most other crimes; in them, (such as murder, rape, 
arson, &,c.,) the injury intended is merely of a personal and private nature ; 
they are directed against the individuals of a community only, and are pun- 
ished as such. But treason is a crime against an entire community collect- 
ively, and it is the highest crime that an individual can commit against a 
community or body politic of which he is a member. It is, therefore, a po- 
litical offence; and as such it ever has been, and still is to be regarded. 

Such being the nature and character of treason, from the principles and 
structure of American government, its object is generally, if not always, a 
change either in the form of goverinnent, or the admmistration of it. We 
are to look, therefore, for its origin in political causes. History will justify 
me in saying that treason has been most frequently created, and oftenest 
pimished, under the most arbitrary governments, and those whose adminis- 
tration has been most wickedly conducted. Could a full and perfect his- 
tory of all the proceedings against treason be written at this day, it would 
present to us such a picture of cruelty, depravity, oppression, robbery, and 
murder, (sometimes with and sometimes without the forms, but always wi- 
der color of I'liv^ and avowedly for the better preservation of order^) that, as 
Americans — the citizens of a free country, which has hitherto escaped its 
desoliitions — we should turn in disgust and abhorrence from the detail of 
its monstrous atrocities. 

Treason, gentlemen, you must be aware, is a plant of slow growth, for 
^'mankind are more disposed to sutler whilst evils are sufferable. than to 



952 Rep. No. 546. 

right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they have been accns- 
lomed ;" and where prosecutions for this and similar offences have been 
most frequent, it has been invariably found that injustice and oppression 
have ever been their precursors; it derives its origin most frequently ■' i^rom 
a long train of usurpations and abuses" on the part of government ; whilst, 
on the other hand, under good governments, well administered, treason is a 
crime scarcely known in history. 

It is of importance, therefore, gentlemen, that we should turn our atteif- 
tion a moment to the pohtical history of our own State, as well for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining the remote causes of tiie present prosecution, as to fix 
in our minds the great and broad principles upon whicli we intend to rely 
for the present defence. He would not himself, nor shall we in his behalf, 
seek, by any evasion or subterfuge, to shun the great question you are to 
try; it is not the act^ but the construction put upon it, which gives in)porl- 
ance to the cause; and the question, when stripped of its technical invest- 
mejits, and presented before you in its naked hneaments, is this — are the 
"pepple of a Stale dependent on the will of the leoislature alone for alter- 
ing' its fundarnetital laws, and reorganizing its government 7 This is 
the great question, and well deserving the deepest solicitude and the most 
profound consideration. 

[Here Mr. T. was interrupted by the attorney general, (Blake,) and told 
by the chief justice (Durfee) to confine himself to the indict /nent.] 

It was my purpose, gentlemen, to have reviewed to you the course of 
legislation pursued by the charter government on subjects out of which 
this prosecution has grown, and to have enlarged somewhat on the griev- 
ances under which about three fifths of our fellow-citizens have labored, in 
order to have shown to you that justice to them and fo their rights had long 
been not only neglected, but denied; and to have satisfied you that the time 
had actually arrived for the people themselves to take measures for estab- 
lishing a written constitution. But from all this I am debarred by the di- 
rection of the honorable court, and will ask your attention to matter of the 
indictment itself. 

Closing remarks of Mr. Turner. 

Gerdlemtn of the jury : Yoi} will recollect, in the first remarks that 
I made in opening the defence of the prisoner at the bar, that I proposed 
to rest that cjefence on five points, which were then stated to you. 

" 1st. That in this country treason is an offence against the United States 
only, and cannot be committed against an individual State.'" 

It was my purpose, and we deem it the rii'ht of the prisoner to have 
argued this, as well as the other questions of law, directly to you, as the 
judges, in all capital trials, as well of the law as of the fact; but we were 
overruled by the court, and permitted only to argue it to the court, in your 
hearing. What their decision may be, will be made known to you in their 
general charge. If it sustains the ground we have taken, then you can 
only acquit the prisoner, because the State courts can have no jurisdiction 
over the offence laid in the indictment. 

Upon the second point of (he proposed defence, viz: "That the fourth 
section of the act of Rhode Island, of March, 1842, entitled 'An act relating 
to offences against the sovereign power of the State,' is unconstitutional 
and void, as destructive of the common law right of trial by jury, which 



I 



Rep. No. 546 953 

was a fundamental part of the English constitution at the declaration of in- 
dependence, and has ever since been a fundamental law in Kiiode Island." 
The honorable court would not sutler us to use argument to you, as it was 
a question of law; nor would they, for reasons which you heard, permit 
us to argue it to them, on the ground that it was a closed question, decided 
by them after solemn argument in another case. 

A smiilar decision has been also made on the third point, "That that 
act, if constitutional, gave this court no jurisdiction to try this indictment 
in. the county of Newport, all the overt acts being therein charg^ed as com- 
mitted in the county of Providence;" because, being also a matter of law, 
to be argued to the court, they will not interrupt the progress of the trial to 
hear it reargued at the present time. 

Upon the fourth point, "That the defendant acted justifiably as gover- 
nor of the State, under a valid constitmion, rightfully adopted, which he 
was sworn to support," whicli was the right arm of our defence, and which, 
if made good by the evidence, (all which we had at command,) must have 
acquitted the prisoner, the court, by ruling out that evidence as irrelevant 
and inadmissible, have very much abbreviated the labors of us both ; and 
having deprived us of all the technical and purely legal grounds of defence, 
leave us none except the first and the last. — " that tiie evidence does not 
support the charge of treasonalile and criminal intent in the defendant." 
On this point alone has all the testimony, as well for the government as for 
the defendant, been introduced. 

It fias at no time constituted any part of the prisoner's plan of defence 
against this indictment, to disavow or deny any act by him done ; nor 
would he allow us to do for him that which he would not do himself. All 
the ]jrominerit and leading facts of tfie case he avows and justifies ; and to 
save liimself from misconstructions and false imputations, he has himself 
presented evidence before you, for the purpose of removing false impres- 
sions, disabusing the minds of the jury and the public, and of placing him- 
self, his character, and his cause, before you in a right point of view. With 
the same view, also, it is, that 1 will ask your consideration of some parts 
of the testimony in the case. If the defendant, in what he has done him- 
self, or cnmmanded others to do, has not acted justifiably, aVid from a high 
sense of right and duty, he must suffer the consequences of his acts ; but if 
the whole evidence and circumstances go to show that he has throughout 
acted justifiably, without traitorous intent, and believing himself to be right, 
with every reason so to believe, then you will give a verdict in his favor ac- 
cordingly. 

The counsel on behalf of the State have been permitted to introduce 
testimony before you to show a criminal intent on t\<.e part of the prisoner 
as far back as the 3d of iMay, the time when the legislature first met under 
the people's constitution at Providence, for the purpose of organizing the 
State government according to the provisions of tliat constitution ; it is 
proper, therefore, for me to carry your attention to the testimony back to the 
same period. 

It is in evidence, that on that occasion Governor Dorr and the members 
elect of the legislature passed from the Hoyle Tavern on Christian hill, 
through several of the streets of the city of Providence, to a building called the 
Foundry, where they were to convene, attended by a numerous procession 
of citizens ; and an attempt was made by the witness Burrouo;hs to give 
tlie affair something of a warlike character. But the testimony of Salisbury 



954 Kep. No. 546. 

and Carter places it in its true li^ht. It was a civic procession, with a mili- 
tary escort in honor of the occasion, and to manifest respect in the nsnal 
way. There was nothing extraordinary or unusual about it: it was just 
like that which in a few days will, in all probability, attend the Assembly 
here, at the organization of the State government for the ensuing political 
year, according to a long-established custom. And all the testimony agrees 
that it was conducted in the most orderly manner. The evidence of the 
witnesses as to the transactions and proceedii]gs at the Foundry fully es- 
tablishes the facts, lliat the votes given in the election were duly returned, 
committed, counted, and reported; that Mr. Dorr, with others, vvas declared 
duly elected; that he took an oath of office; that proclamation of his elec- 
tion vvas made; and that all was done for the full and complete organization 
of the government, required by the constitution, with the formalities and 
ceremonies usual on such occasions. The organization was perfected; and 
all, the governor and the two houses, acted in every respect like other legis- 
lative bodies, and as though they had a perfect right so to act. Governor 
Dorr delivered an address of the usual character ; laws were enacted, and 
others repealed or amended; resolutions were passed; officers both civil 
and military were elected under the new constitution, and according to the 
ancient usages of the State: tlie usual committees were appointed to attend 
to the transfer of the public property and records from the old to the new 
officers; in fact, everything that a new legislature could rightfully do, was 
done in a legislative and proper manner. The prisoner was called and 
treated as the governor of the State; and having received a greater major- 
ity than had ever before been given to any one for the same office, he had 
every reason to believe, and did truly believe, that he vvas the constitutional 
and legal governor, elected by the free votes of a free people of a free State. 
There can then be no presumption drawn from these facts, that he possess- 
ed at that time the traitorous intent cliarged in'the indictment. It he was 
vested with rightful authority as governor, then he acted rightfully in at- 
tempting to enforce that authority. His intention to take possession of the 
public property for the uses of the State, was fully warranted by the provi- 
sions of the constitution under which he acted, and which, as has been 
shown, he was 'sworn to support, as well as by a resolution passed by the 
foundry legislature at that time. 

Shortly after the adjournment of the foundry legislature, it is in evidence 
that the prisoner left the State ; and it has been charged by the prosecution 
that he escaped from the State to avoid apprehension, to excite sympathy, 
and to solicit aid in New York, Philadelphia, and elsewliere, in furtherance 
of treasonable purposes, and, by the introduction of /omo-/< mercenaries, 
to subvert and overthrow the charter government of the State by force of 
arms. Upon this point, gentlemen, the evidence is, that, in consequence of 
indications received that the power and force of the United States would be 
put in requisition to sustain the charter government, and to defeat the ope- 
ration of the people's constitution, at a larije and numerous meeting of the 
Suffrage Association of the city of Providence, a resolution passed unani- 
mously requesting the prisoner to go to Washington and disabuse the Presi- 
dent of the gross misrepresentations under which he was supposed to act, 
and to explain there and elsewhere the true nature and points of the ques- 
tion at issue between the two parties who were contending for supremacy 
in this State. The prisoner in a few days left the State and went to Wash- 
ington, in compliance with the request before mentioned ; and, on his re- 



Rep. No. 546. 955 

fiirn, whilst in New York, he addressed a very o:reat assetnhlage at Tam- 
many Hall, explanatory of the situation of affairs in Rhode Island. The 
counsel for the State have said that it was a harancrue soliciting aid in men 
and money to carry on a war against his it-llovv citizens in tliis State. But 
It is in evidence by Burrington Anthony, esq., who was present and heard 
the address, that Governor Uorr in express terms '■'■repudiated the idea''' of 
nsing any force from withonl the Slate, except in the contingency of the 
troops of the United States being bronght to snpport the charter govern- 
ment ; in which case, he shonld expect and gladly receive the aid and as- 
sistance of the otlier States. 

Pnrsning the chronological order of events, the evidence proves that 
on the ItJth ot May Mr. Dorr arrived in Khode Island by the Stonington 
train of cars, attended by a iew friends who had met him for that pnrpose 
|f at Stonington. He was received at the depot in Providence by a large con- 
course ot his fellow citizens and friends ; the whole number, assembled 
from curiosity or sentiments of respect, was unqiiestionably very great, al- 
though no witness has attempted to fix the number. A procession, liow- 
:'«ver, was formed to escort him to the place of his temporary residence, at 
Mr. Anthony's, on Federal hill, in that city. This procession, according to 
the testUDony o{ the witnesses, was composed of from 1,200 to 1,800 men — 
in all probability, considering the population of the ciiy, they might have 
amounted lo 1,500 — a portion of whom (say 300 or 400) were under arms, 
and, as is usual in Rhode Island, (and 1 believe everywjiere,) did escort 
duty on that occasion. There was an attempt on the part of the govern- 
ment, but wholly without success, to prove that on this occasion the mili- 
tary portion of the procession was furnished with ball cartridges^ and 
tliereby to give it a warlike, hostile, and treasonable character; but the 
whole evidence on this point, when taken toijether, shows that, like the one 
before mentioned, its sole purpose was respect ixuA honor \o the chief magis- 
trate, and not icar upon the citizens, or treason to the State. 

When the procession arrived on Federal hill, it is in evidence tfiat the 
prisoner, from the carriage in which he rode, surrounded first by the mili- 
tary, next by the unarmed procession, and last by the spectators at large, — 
except that a very few personal friends were surrounding Uie barouche 
within the military lines, — ^that the prisoner, I say, addressed the assem- 
blage at considerable length, giving in detail a report of his proceedings 
during his visit to Washington, his reception in Philadelphia, New York, 
and elsewhere. 

The address delivered by Mr. Dorr on the occasion has been the source 
of mucli misrepresentation, not entirely confined to irresponsible newspaper 
publications, but widely circulated throughout the State and the country. 
He is represented as having, while abroad, excited sympathy, and solicited 
the aid of men and money to carry into effect the government under the 
people's constitution, aiiainst that portion of the citizens of Rhode Island 
which adhered to the charter government; and, through the instrumental- 
ity of such means, to effect his purpose by force of arms and civil war. 
The o;)euino: counsel tor the government took the same ground, and the 
effort on iheir part was made to support such representations by proof. The 
falsity of these statements, gentlemen, is clearly established by the testi- 
mony of the governnnnit witnesses. On iliis point, the testimony of Mr. 
Pierce, (who was in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington at the same 
times with Mr. Dorr, and who was also one of the comniissioners sent to 



956 Rep. No. 546. 

communicate with President Tyler on the subject of Rhode Island af- 
fairs) is clear and explicit: "The prisoner repudiated the idea of bringing 
force from other States, unless in the event of the interference of the Gene- 
ral Government." Mr. Burrington Anthony, who heard Mr. Dorrs address 
delivered at Tammany Hall, in the city of New York, the tenor of which 
Mr. Dorr was recapitulating at Federal hill, uses this language: "He repu- 
diated the idea of bringing forces from without the State, unless to repel 
the force of the United States." These two witnesses, both summoned by 
the government, testify to the expressions of the prisoner, made before and 
at the time of the Tammany Hall address ; while the only testimony of a 
contrary character is that of Col. W. P. Blodget and Edward H. Hazard — 
to which, as it is relied on by the government, I will ask your attention (or 
a moment. Blodget says: "The prisoner said he had been accused of 
having procured the aid of 5(J0 men from abroad, but the charge was 
false. He had been promised the aid of 5,000 men, and could have them 
at any time. He drew his sword, and said it had been dipped in blood, 
and. rather than yield the rights of the people of Rhode Island, it should be 
buried in gore to its hilt. I cannot recollect his other expressions used at 
that time." "I heard no reference to the General Government." Mr. Hazard's 
tesiiiijony is to the same effect, and in nearly the same words; he, however, 
added, "I am not positive that he made any explanation;" and, on cross- 
exammation, he said : "1 have no recollection that the prisoner said the 
aid would be furnished him in the event of the interference of the General 
Government — he might have so qualified it." These are the only wit- 
nesses sworn in behalf of the State who have testified to this point, except 
Orson i\h:)ffatt, whose testimony is quite vague and indefinite. On the 
other hand, gentlemen, and in confirmation of the statements sworn to by 
Messrs. Pearce and Anthony, we have the testimony of Col. B. M. Darling, 
Col. S. Wales, Mr. Anthony, and Mr. N. Porter. Col. Darling sat in the 
barouche in which Mr. Dorr was standing at the time; the other three wit- 
nesses stood around it, within the space occupied by the armed escort ; 
whilst, by their own showing, Blodget and Hazard, as mere spectators, or 
rather hearers, were situated entirely without the circle formed by 1,500 or 
1,800 men who had composed tlie procession ; they must, therefore, have 
labored under gr^ at disadvantages in hearing accurately, and maij have 
been wistaken. I think, and I fancy you will think, they must have been 
mistaken: because, gentlemen of the jury, you will recollect what was 
sworn to by Mr. James Thurber, jr., in relation to Col, Blodget, who, smart- 
ing under a conviction of kidnapping at a court in Dedham, came up here 
to procure the conviction of the prisoner, if he could. You can judge, then, 
under what feelings he must have testified on this trial ; and yon could not 
but notice the manner of Mr. Hazard, his apparent willingness to put into 
this case much that, as a lawyer himself, he must have been sensible was 
not leual testimony. What had the foolish fears of Joseph Sweet to do 
with the crime of treason charged ao'ainst the prisoner by this indictment? — 
what a cutler said about Parmenter buying a pistol; or the floods of tears 
that deluged VVeybosset street — and who, on another judicial trial before 

him, is reported to have said that he "did not care a d n for the letter of 

the law !!" The evidence is with you, and wi'll decide whether, in any de- 
gree, the expressions ol the prisoner, on that occasion, support the allega- 
tion of crinunal and traitorous intent charged in the indictment. It is in 
evidence that, when speaking of the apprehended interference of the Presi- 



Rep. No. 546. 957 

dent with the United States troops, in favor of the charter partj^, Mr. Dorr 
represented such to be the state of public feeling abroad, that, in that event, 
he sliould call on otlier States for aid, in the cause of the people against 
the President ; and such had been the assurance given him, that he could 
rely, not on 500 only in such event, but on 5,00U or more if he wanted 
tliem ; but as between the two parties in this State — the suffrage party and 
the ciiarter party — the former, being a large majority, needed no aid; and, 
if they did not clioose to maintain their own rights, they were unfit to enjoy 
them. But, if the President should employ United States troops to suppress 
the people's constitution, and the governujent under it, other States would 
be then equally interested, and would be called on for aid. In such case, 
the question wonid be entirely changed ; because, if the President could, 
in this summary way, decide on the validity of the new constitution of 
,.| Rhode Island, he might do the same of other States also. How far the 
President, by the course he did pursue, by the aid he gave and promised, 
and by ordering at that lime United States troops of a certain description 
into Rhode island, succeeded in the overthrow of the people's constitution, 
is not a fit subject of inquiry here; it is, however, a subject now undergoing 
inquiry before a committee of Congress. 

But. gentlemen, further use has been made of the proceedings on the 
16ih of May, and, in order to give plausibility to the charj[e of long pre- 
meditated treasonable intents on the part of the prisoner, the same wit- 
nesses have sought to Represent iiim, in manner and action, as a desperado 
and a fit nd ; a man bent on destruction, reckless of civil and social duties, 
wantonly regardless of human life, and a slave to the worst sort of mad 
ambition : they have commented on liis fiendish looks and appearance 
wliilst making his address, and have spoken of the cheers with wliich some 
passages of it were received by the audience, as the yells of fiends from the 
infernal regions. Although 1 lived through the log-cabin and hard-cider 
campaign, 1 have little knowledge of such things; these gentlemen, how- 
ever, seem well acquainted with the appearance and yells of fiends; but 1 
shall leave you to compare their testimony with that of Darling, Wales, 
and Porter, Who describe the day as dusty, the wind very fresh, and Mr. 
Dorr as having been riding, bare-headed, in an open barouche, through 
nearly the whole city of Providence; and you will then say whether the 
facts in proof before you will warrant you in drawing the same conclusion 
that they seem to have drawn from the prisoner's appearance. 

It next appears in evidence, that on the afternoon of the next day, (the 
17th of May,) the prisoner, in broad and open day, sent a small detachment 
of men from Federal hill to take possession of the cannon of the United 
Train of Artillery, in the name and for the use of the State — the result of a 
deliberation previously had by Governor Dorr and a council of his officers. 
It has been cliarged by the prosecution that these guns were stolen, and it 
constitutes one of the many calumnies which have been heaped npon the 
head of my distinguished client. If the prisoner was governor of the State, 
he not only had a right to order possession of these guns to be taken, if 
they belonged to the Sttite; but he was bound to do so by his oath of office, 
as well as by a special resolve of the foundry legislature. 

There was, however, nothing secret, felonious, or like stealth, to mark 
the transaction, notwithstanding Colonel Blodget says they were stolen. 
In the first place, the guns did not belong to the State, but to the company; 
they were taken, as appears from the testimony of Captain Reed and Lieu- 



958 Rep. No. 546. 

tenant Stndley, by an arrangement mnde with the prisoner, by consent of 
all the members of the company; the key was passed to them to open the 
door for the purpose; and, as htis been stated, all was done in open daylight, 
in the very heart of the city of Providence, without any attempt at privacy 
or concealment. Upon such evidence, can you believe that these guns 
were feloniously taken ; that the prisoner, to accomplish any object, how- 
ever important in his estimaii(m, could commit a felony of that description? 
You do not believe i(, gentlemen ; nor does any one who has ever known 
hiu). The fon! and slanderous charge has been made and reiterated 
against him, solely for the purpose of attaching a stigma to the purity of 
his motives and the honorable consistency of his character. 

It has also further appeared in evidence, that, at the council of officers 
mentioned, it was determined that on the same night of the 17th of May, 
1842, an attack should be made on the State arsenal, situated not far from 
Federal hill, where were kept in deposite the arms belonging to tlie State, 
with a view to obtain possession of them, and thereby prevent their being 
turned bv the charter government against that established under the people's 
constitution, and secure the use of them for its support against any unwar- 
ranted interference on the part of the President in the pending difficulties. 
It was known that aid and support had been pledged from that quarter to 
Governor King; and it was also known, as has been sliown by the evi- 
dence, that the arsenal was manned (to what extent was uncertain) and 
under the command of a brave officer, Colonel Leonard Blodget, who has 
been examined before you as a witness for the government, (you are in no 
danger, 1 think, of mistaking him for the other Colonel Blodget,) with a 
view to the contemplated attack, the cannon mentioned had been procured, 
and other necessary arrangements made or ordered by the prisoner. It 
also appears by the testimony of Colonel Carter, a witness summoned on 
the part of the State, that when it was understood that Governor Dorr in- 
tended to conduct the attack in person, he (Carter) and a number of the 
officers present endeavored to dissuade him from so doing, as unnecessarily 
exposing the person of the commander in chief; to all which the prisoner, 
so liberally slandered for cowardice, made this pithy reply: "That he had 
often publicly stated at the town house, that when danger should happen, 
he wished to be found anywhere but in the rear ; that he should be as good 
as his word, and would not send others where he was not willing to go 
himself." 

You will bear in mind also, gentlemen, as relating to this period of time, 
the testimony of Walter S. Burgess, esq., by which it appears that the 
prisoner, on the evening of that day, previous to the advance upon the 
arsenal, had an interview with his confidential friend, the witness, and with 
him made all the necessary arrangements of his business concerns, private, 
professional, and fiduciary, for the worst and most fatal event. It seems 
the prisoner, at that time, held several important trusts; yet, on the very eve 
of a desperate adventure, as though to give the lie to all the floating calum- 
nies against him, could deliberately arrange and securely guard all the 
diversified trusts confided to him, whether of a pecuniary or public nature; 
exemplifying by that act the high and honorable character of his own 
mind. 

To return, however, to the attack on the arsenal. The number of men 
engaged in that attack has been greatly exaggerated, and is differently es- 
timated by the witnesses who have been called to the stand, as well by the 



Rep. No. 546. 959 

prisoner ns by the government. On the part of the government witnesses, 
they are varionsly estimated at from 3U0 to 500. Henry S. Hazard says 
400 or 500. George 0. Bourne says 400 or 500, and a larije body un- 
armed. On the other hand, we have the testimony of Colonel Carter, Dar- 
hng, and Aldrich, all of whom were present taking part in the affair ; and, 
as you will observe, had much better means of knowing the actual num- 
ber — who estimate them at from 200 to 250. None go beyond that number ; 
and Colonel Carter swears that before they left Federal hill he counted 
them by sections, and found their number to be 234. So that it seems cer- 
tain that it could not have exceeded 250 men. It had also appeared in 
evidence before you, that the night of this attack could not have been se- 
lected on account of its darkness, as the first part of it was moonlight ; and 
that after the moon set, a heavy dense fog came on, settled on the earth, 
and enveloped everything in its folds. So noticeable was it, that Colonel 
Carter, in speaking of it, said "it seemed like an interposition of Divine 
Providence." 'I'he witnesses agree that the force under the command of 
the prisoner, on arriving near the arsenal, took their position in its front, 
within musket shot of its walls; the two pieces of artillery on a line at some 
distance asunder, levelled at, and flanking the door or gateway ; and a 
small party of infantry lying in ambush on the ground at the left, in ad- 
vance, and quite near the gate, so as to rush in whenever that should be 
opened, to return the fire of the assailants. These dispositions having been 
made, the prisoner directed the usual and proper formalities in attacking a 
garrison to be observed. An officer with a flag of truce was sent to demand 
a surrender of the arsenal, which was refused. Nothing then remained 
but to take it by force of arms, or for the prisoner to suffer the people's con- 
stitution, and the government organized under it, to fall to the ground ; .so 
far as it depended on him, he resolved on the former alternative. The 
plan was, to make a simultaneous attack with the artillery, for the purpose 
of forcing the doors of the arsenal, or cause the defenders to throw them 
open, to return the fire, and then for the flanking party lying in ambush, 
as has been stated, to rush in at once and overpower the men who were in 
possession of the lower floor of the arsenal — the number of whom must 
necessarily be very limited; when all those in the upper part of the build- 
ing could, in the end, do nothing but surrender. It was, however, ascer- 
tained, in consequence of the density of the fog and darkness of the night, 
that a change of position of the two pieces of artillery was desirable, and 
they were severally removed nearer each other, and more directly in front 
of the arsenal gates — remaining, according to the testimony, about twenty 
feet apart, or as near as they could be conveniently worked. In the 
mean time, it appears that portions of men, especially after the return of the 
flag of truce, availing themselves of the surrounding obscurity, began to 
retire ; some leaving the field entirely, and others seeking shelter behind 
piles of wood that were somewhere near. Even the gallant Colonel 
Dispean, (according to Carter's testimony,) who commanded a volunteer 
company of ninety men, about two fifths of the whole force then before the 
arsenal, awakes suddenly to the idea that there ivas danger there, and 
marches his men from the field. Colonel Wheeler, who had been intrusted 
by the prisoner with the immediate command of the attack, who had him- 
self sent to demand the surrender of the arsenal, and who probably thought 
" discretion the better part of valor," before Colonel Carter could look to 
the further end of the line and back, " had gone off in the fog." Finding 



960 Rep. No. 546. 

that the commanding colonel (Wheeler) and Colonel Dispean with his com- 
mand had left the field— covered by the fog, if not with laurels— parties of 
other men followed, and passed Carter, who had gone to persuade Dispean 
to return ; so that when the moment arrived for the firing to commence, 
the force of the prisoner had dwindled down from 250, to from 40 to 50 
men only ; and the command of them was by the prisoner conferred on 
Colonel Carter. 

When the order was given to fire, the pieces in succession ^osAerf only; 
and being reprimed, flashed again — both pieces thus proving imserviceable, 
ai least for the time being. In consequence of these misadventures, and 
the delays occasioned by them, the time for successful action had passed. 
It was now after daylight; the force remaining was totally inadequate; the 
men hungry and tired ; the fog liable to disperse in a moment, and the city 
troops might place them between two fires, whenever they chose to do so. 
Under this accumulation of untoward circumstances, the prisoner felt him- 
self compelled to order a retreat, which was accorduigly executed vvitti 
only about 50 men ; Colonel Carter with a part of them carrying off one 
of the guns, and the prisoner with the remaining men assisted in taking 
off the^last — reaching Anthony's, on Federal hill, at about sunrise on the 
morning of the 18th. 

Sach, gentleiriMi, is thehistory of the attack on the arsenal, furnished 
by the evidence in the cause. You will however recollect, gentlemen, that 
you were told by the opening counsel for the State that " the prisoner 
sought the bad eiuinence of distinction in crime," "and descended from the 
dignity of a rebel commander^ and condescended with his own hand to ap- 
ply the match to light the torch of civil war." The uncalled-for and un- 
warranted coarseness of these epithets will be passed over without notice; 
the language was used as applying to the conduct of the prisoner on this 
occasion, and, with much of a similar character, was doubtless intended to 
create in your minds the most unfavorable prepossessions towards him, and 
his general character and conduct. The prisoner is charged with having 
taken in his own hand a torch, and touched ofi'one of the guns at the arsenal 
himself. Had such been the case, in my opinion, it would have been neither 
criminal nor derogatory for the prisoner, under the circumstances, to have 
done so; the counsel for the State have thought otherwise, and have intro- 
duced a witness, Orson MofFatt, to prove it. This witness swears that the 
order to fire was given by the prisoner, whilst he (witness) " was in the 
midst of his lines," and " near enough to have touched him easily" when 
the gun flashed; "heard Mr. Dorr call for the torch" — "saw him holding 
the torch," and "saw the other gun flash." Yet, gentlemen, this witness, 
who swore that he had once or twice that night made report to Colonel 
Blodget, at the arsenal, of movements on the outside, and also that he knew 
the prisoner perfectly, upon his cross examination could not name another 
person on the ground — could not tell whether the prisoner wore a bat or a 
cap — a belt or not — nor describe the position of either of the guns. You 
will recollect, gentlemen, that these guns were about twenty feet apart, and 
within musket-shot of the arsenal, which was thoroughly defended by ar- 
tillery and infantry both ; and, in case of an assault, the doors were to be 
thrown open, and 5 six-pounders were to be run out and fired; that the 
witness, it his statement be true — which, by the way, is far from being 
confirmed by that of Gen. (then Col.) Blodget— must have been aware of 
these facts; yet this witness tells you that he'stood near enough to Mr. Dorr, 



Rep. No. 546. 961 

to touch him, when he flashed the orim — at a moment, too, when he mie;ht 
instantly expect to receive the whole deadly fire from the infantry and ar- 
tillery of the arsenal — without any possible motive, other.than mere curiosity. 
ISow, gentlemen, can you believe one word of the testimony of this Mr. 
Moffiitt ? I do not ; and upon the testimony taken by itself, no man but a 
madman or a fool could or would needlessly put himself in such a situation ; 
it is not in human nature to suppose it possible; and I trust that you will 
not give to his testimony a particle of weight, the more especially as the 
testimony of several otlitr witnesses proves it to be groundless. Capt. 
Wade stood within two feet of Mr. Dorr when the first gun was flashed, 
and swears that he did not know the man, but that it was not Mr. Dorr. 
Col. Carter, then in command, swears that he himself gave the several 
orders to fire; that Mr. Dorr stood close by him all the time, between, and 
a little in the rear of the guns ; that a man named Andrews flashed one, 
and a man named Hathaway the other; that Governor Dorr had no torch 
or port-fire in his hand that flight; and that Mofiatl's testimony, which he 
had heard, was false. Thaddeus Simmons was one of Gov. Dorr's body- 
guard, was near his person all night, and swears positively that Mr. Dorr 
did not flash the gun. The statements of these witnesses are confirmed by 
the negative testimony of several others, all of whom would be more likely 
to know the facts than Mr. Orson Moftatt. 

At about 7 o'clock on the morning of the 18th, after the return to An- 
thony's house on Federal hill, it was ascertained that 27 men only remain- 
ed under arms, attached to the cause and the fortunes of the prisoner. In 
the mean time, the guns had been examined, bored out, and reloaded ; no 
phig^s were in them, according' to the testimony of Hathaway, who bored 
them out with a giinblet, as had been reported and sworn to by Hiram 
Chappell. His testimony on this point, however, was sufficiently contra- 
dicted by that of Col. Dispean ; upon the examination it appeared that the 
powder was bad; that in consequence of the dampness of the night, it had 
first dissolved, then hardened, and would not ignite. 

By this time the charter troops of the city of Providence, reinforced by 
those from Newport, Bristol, and Warren, were in motion. The concerted 
signal (a gun on Federal hill) had been fired for a rally of the supporters 
of the peo/^le^s government; but, instead of being answered to by men in 
arms, as had been pledged to Gov. Dorr, he received a written communi- 
cation from some of his friends in the city, that he could not expect such 
support under present circumstances. Those circumstances were, thestrength 
of the charter military force then embodied in the city, the aid promised 
them of U. S. troops from Fort Adams; and the apprehensions entertained 
by many, of the legal consequences of coming in conflict with the General 
Government. Under all these circumstances, according to the proof in the 
cause, the prisoner, urged'by the advice of the few gallant officers who still 
adhered to him, and his hopelessness of maintaining a position on Federal 
hill, issued orders for the few remaining men to retire and disband them- 
selves, and withdrew himself beyond the lines of the State ; assuring his 
officers, however, at the same time, that whenever the people were ready to 
support their own government in the great cause in which they were en- 
gaged, he should be prepared to return and join thein. And for this act of 
prudence and necessity, also, had the prisoner been branded as a coward ! 

From this period up to about the 20th of June following, the prisoner ap- 
pears to have remained out of the State ; it is in proof, however, that in the 
61 



062 Rep. No. 546. 

north and northwest part of the county of Providence, a determination still 
existed to sustain and establish the government under Mr. Dorr ; and as the 
people's lewisiatnre had adjourned to meet again on the then coming 4th of 
July, a collection of military officers and partisans met at Woonsocket, it 
was resolved to purchase a suitable lot of land for an encampment, and put 
themselves in a situation to sustain, and, if need be, lo defend the legislature 
during its proposed session, 'i'his was as early as about the 12th of June, 
A committee was appointed ; and Acote's hill, contiguous to the village of 
Chepachet, in the town of Glocester, about sixteen miles from the city of 
Providence, was the spot selected. It appears to have been understood, 
gentlemen, that the people's legislature would convene and sit in that vil- 
lage. According to the evidence, companies and parties of armed men be- 
gan to assemble there on the 22d of .June. Gov. l)orr was known then to 
be at Killingly, in the State of Connecticut. It furtlier appears that a writ- 
ten communication was made to him by some of the nnlitary officers, ur- 
ging his immediate return to assume command, and giving assurances 
that 1,500 men were detailed from different parts of the State to support 
him — such, at least, is the testimony of Col. Carter — 600 of whom were to 
be furnished from the city of Providence alone. 

Upon such representations and assurances, thus urged, the prisoner, es- 
corted by a very few officers, who had gone from ('hepacliet to Killingly for 
the purpose, arrived at the former place on the morning of Saturday, June 
2.5th — the day on which the overt act of levying war, in the third count of 
the indictment, is laid. Upon his arrival, instead of the fortified camp, and 
a gartison of 1,500 men, which he had a right to expect, he found in arms 
about 200 men ; a camp, on two sides partially defended by very slight em- 
bankments or breastworks composed of brnsli and earth, and five moimted 
and one unmounted old pieces of artillery, of different calibres and descrip- 
tions Evidence has been introduced on the part of the prosecution, how- 
ever, (the court overruling our objection that it was irrelevant to either 
count in the indictujent,) showing that, several days before Mr. Dorr came 
into the State, and before he was in any way connected with the military 
movements at Chepachet, in consequence of a rumor that the charter troops 
were about to attack the place, and arrest Lieut. Gov. Eddy, who resided in 
Cliepachet. Charles J. Shelley, an emissary from Providence, had been on 
the 22d taken as a spy, and detained as such until the next day, when he 
had been discharged two days before Mr. Dorr arrived there; which, as I 
have before said, was on the 25th. This evidence was thrown in as nsatter 
of aggravation, although it is manifest that the prisoner could in no way be 
legally implicated by it, nor held responsible for it. 

"it lias appeared in evidence that Mr. Richard Knight was also made a 
prisoner o!j the evening of the 25th of June, the day of Mr. Dorr's arrival 
at Chepachet; and 1 call your attention to this 'testimony, with a view of 
noticing some of his statements, which are calculated to create false im- 
pressions on your minds, and intended to confirm newspaper assertions. 
He has testified, that on his entrance into the village, he was fired on by one 
of two men who were running down the hill, as if with design to liead hirn 
off. Upon this point, we have the testimony of Mr. Don's adjutant general, 
(William H. Potter,) who was on the ground, and swears that he never heard 
of it, and that, if such had occurred, lie 7Tiust have known it. Mr. Knight 
also «5Wore that, at the same time, he saw three black men on the hill, oneof 
whom had a gun also. Gentlemen, you all know how often, during the pe- 



Rep. No. 546. 963 

f\od of these troubles, it had been asserted that Gov. Dorr's forces at Chepa- 
chet were the offscoanrjijsof the h\iid — black, white, and gray] and this tes 
timoMy is given by Mr. Knight, who had been a prisoner there, to give color 
to sn€h reports, and to convey the idea that blacks constituted a part of the 
soldiery, and were on the hill serving as troops, that a prejudice might be. 
raised in your minds against the prisoner. Bnt what is the true state of the 
case, as shown by the wliole evidence on the point? That there were bnt 
tiiree blacks connected m any way with the troops there, and that they were 
merely waiters or servants, attached to the conuT.issary department of the 
camp, iis sv/orn to by B. M. Slade, who acted at the head of that department. 

The evidence produced relative to the jrathering at Acote's hill, from the 
time when the prisoner arrivcid there, (and it is with that otdy we have to do,) 
shows that it was throughout conducted in a most orderly and proper man- 
ner^ orders were iirmiediately issued by him, (hat all private rights and pri- 
vate property should be respected; and three instances oiily of the violation 
oi those orders occurred; they were msiorniiicjmt in themselves, but promi>t- 
ly repaued by the prisoner's orders, and in one instance he made pecuniary 
reparation out of his own pocket. As one means for the preservation of or- 
der, he caused the bar of the tavern of Gen. Sprague to be shut, so that no 
liquor should be sold, and none was furnished to the men. It appears in 
evidence, that on the afternoon of tiiat day (the 2.5th) the governor examined 
the works of defence on the hill, and the munitions of war there collected; 
reviewed and ascertained the number of effective men assembled, and made 
a speech to them. Very exaggerated and extravagant accoutits of the num- 
ber of those men have been made and circulated by those opposed to Gov. 
Dorr and the cause he was engaged in, as an additional pretext for charging 
hira with poltroonry and cowardice, in abandoning the post as he did, on 
the evening of the 27th. But it appears by the evidence of Potter, Corn- 
stock, and Carter, confirmed by others, that the force of men under arms 
was fluctuating — constantly cominir and going. On Saturday, the 25th, 
there were 225; on Sunday, the 26th, somewhat more; on Monday, the 
witnesses agree that they did not exceed 250 in all. The proclamation 
which had been issued by the prisoner, calling for the men promised before 
he came into the State, and on the military of the State generally, was not 
responded to. Of those present, about two-thirds were sufficiently armed ; 
the residue were miserably equipped. 

Some expression used by the prisoner in the speech delivered to the troops 
has been seized on. and tortured into fancied evidence of traitorous malignity, 
derogatory to the character and to the purity of the motives of the prisoner ; 
and two witnesses (Willis Bowen and Caleb E. Tucker) have been called 
on to establish the fact, and prove the expression. The attempt, however, sig- 
nally failed of success, and was disproved by a number of witnesses called 
(or the prisoner. 

On Sunday, the 2(3th, the interview took place at General Sprague's (then 
Governor Dorr's head-quarters) between the prisoner and Mr. D. J. Pearce, 
the particulars of which have been fully detailed to you by Mr. P. on the 
stand, giviiig expressions and statiurf the views, objects, and intentions of 
the prisoner; and 1 leave you to judge, gentlemen, whether the testimony 
does not negative, in the clearest and strongest terms, the corrupt and trait- 
orous intent with which the prisoner by the indiciment is charged. 

You will bear in mind also, gentlemen, some important facts sworn by 
the witness as having been stated to Governor Dorr in that interview, that 



964 Rep. No. 546, 

he had seen 2,300 charter troops pass by his boardins'-hoiise in Providence 
the day before; that 500 or 600 in addition were then expected from the 
counties of Kent and Washington ; that a requisition had been made on 
the President, which would, witllout doubt, be favorably answered on Tues- 
day morning; that Colonel Bankhead was in Providence awaiting the ar- 
rival of orders; and that many of his warmest political friends, and officers 
under the people's constitution, had not only resigned their offices, but he 
had seen some of them the day before in the ranks of the charter troops. 

Some stress has been laid on the attack which it is supposed was intend- 
ed on the advanced post of the government troops stationed at Greenville; 
but it does not appear by any evidence that such an attack was ever con- 
templated by the prisoner. His object throughout appears to have been,, 
and was avowed to be, to protect the people's legislature which was to be 
convened at Chepachet on the 4th of July; and it was clearly intended \o 
adopt, as far as practicable, every measure necessary for that purpose, and 
to sustain and defend the people's constitution and government, and nothing 
more — the purpose being defence, not offence. The private opinion of 
Colonel Carter, respecting the taking possession of the colleges in Provi- 
dence, converting them into barracks, and preparing a furnace for heating 
shot, is not material to the issue yon are trying, and, in fact, has nothing to 
do wiih the present indictment. The prisoner had no knowledge of, and 
]3 not implicated, in such intention ; nor is there the slightest proof or ground 
for supposing that he ever contemplated any such movement. 

Early on Monday, June 25th. the prisoner received intelligence that the 
charter troops were at Greenville and Scituate ; in the mean time, his friends 
in the city of Providence were deserting him and the cause; fourteen mem- 
bers of the people's General Assembly had resigned their offices at one time ; 
no additional force coming to liis aid and support; the charter and govern- 
ment force then, according to the information of Mr. Pearce, amounting 
probably to 3,000 men, within six or eight miles of him ; his own position 
nnskillfully situated ; other heights in the vicinity commanding his slighs 
fort; having no extensive or adequate commissary department ; not ammu- 
nition sufficient for an action of more than fifteen or twenty minutes dura- 
tion ; his military chest, containing only $70, raised among the officers by 
voluntary contribution ; — under these pressing circumstances, the prisoner 
deemed it his duty to call a council of war, and disclose the true situation in 
which they were placed. A council was accordingly called and held al 
General Sprague's, his head-quarters. All these facts were fully laid open 
to his oflicers, and deliberately discussed. The final result of their deliber- 
ations was a resolution to disband the forces forthwith, as a measure dic- 
tated by the severest necessity. The order for this purpose was issued at 
about 4 o'clock the same afternoon, sent to the hill by General D'WoIf, ac- 
companied by Colonel Comstock, and was then and there duly read to the 
soldiery ; upon which, the men immediately separated, and, as expressed by 
Colonel Comstock, '-dispersed as is usual after dismission ;" and, as stated by 
Colonel Carter, "without any haste or disorder." It appears also, by the 
evidence of General Sprague a\id Colonel Carter, that Governor Dorr him- 
self remained in the village (at Sprague's) until about sunset, which, at that 
season, would be about half-past 7 o'clock ; when, accompanied by Colonel 
Carter and a driver, he went to Thompson, Connecticut, passing in the 
route several parties of the retiring men. And yet, gentlemen, Governor 



Rep, No. 546. 965 

Dorr has often been charged with precipitately running away from his tnen 
at Chepachet. 

It is also in evidence, that on the same day, after the order for disbanding 
had been issued by the prisoner, he enclosed a copy of it for publication, in 
a letter to his friend Mr, Burgess. It will be recollected that the prisoner's 
headquarters were in Chepachet, sixteen miles from Providence ; that one 
i)ody of the charter troops were at Greenville, on the direct road, and an- 
other body in Scituate, on the south road ; so that the messenger (Mr. Ed- 
dy) was intercepted, and probably somewhat delayed ; yet Mr. Burgess 
states that he received the communication at about dark the same evening, 
whilst he was reading a newspaper by the remains of dayhght ; that he 
read the letter in the presence of the two officers who brought it to liini, 
and inimediately submitted both the letter and, the copy of the order for 
disbanding to General McNeill^ and to the governor and council. The 
next day, at about 8 o'clock in the morning, their troops took possession ot 
the evacuated tort, and (I liad almost said) sacked the village of Chepachet, 
While the place was in possession of the forces of the prisoner, the rights of 
person and of property were lield sacred, with the slight infringements be- 
fore explained ; and when thei/ left it, they left it in peaceful security. What 
the condition of the village and its inhabitants was when the charter troops 
abandoned it, I am not permitted by the court to prove or state. And such 
was the victory of the charter troops at Acote's hill, and the termination of 
the Chepachet war — entering a deserted fort twelve hours ajter it was 
known to be abandoned ! ! 

But, gentlemen, it lias been charged upon the prisoner, here and elsewhere, 
that he brought to Chepachet, from New York, the Spartan band, with 
the design of leading them to the city of Providence to sack the city and 
cover themselves with spoils. Of the Spartan band I know only that, ni 
the popular slanj; of the day, they, with Governor Dorr and all his friends, 
and the adherents to the people's constitution, were classed under the gen- 
eral name of rowdies, and these were said to be foreign rowdies ; and it 
has been said they were to advance to the work of violation and havoc un- 
der the watchwords of " The baitks and the beauty of Providence.'^ Of 
all the thousand slanders circulated in the community to the prejudice of 
the prisoner, this was the most infamous, and as base as it was false. But, 
with regard to the Spartan band, the only evidence in the cause, touch- 
ing the point, is, that there were from ten to fifteen (being differently 
estimated by different witnesses) who joined the encampment at Chepachet 
on the 24th of June, the day before the arrival of Mr. Dorr from Con- 
necticut. They came direct from New York ; and there is no evidence 
ooing to show any connexion or concert between them and the prisoner. 
He found them, as he found the others, on the hill at his arrival ; they were 
there as military men; they were treated, and did their duty, in common 
with the others, as such ; and, for aught that appears, u ere as orderly and 
well behaved. They may have been foreigners, or they may not ; they 
were not Rhode Ishmders ; and there were also two persons there from tlie 
adjoining State of Massachusetts — General D'Wolf and a private. If, 
however, this be matter of reproach to the prisoner, the charter government 
are equally liable to it. Major General McNeill and some of [lis officers 
were nivited here from other States; and why, I can scarcely tell. It could 
not be from any deficiency of native military talent or capacity. That we 
tiave men among us " fit to stand by Cassar, (or Napoleon,) and to give di- 



966 Rep. No. 546. 

rections." we have the very best evidence. It may be derived from the 
months of some of the government witnesses themselves, when speaking 
of their own exploits ! With tlie exceptions, however, that I have men- 
noned, the men composing Mr. Dorr's force were all Rliode island men — 
men of landed estates, or hard handed, enierprisinir mechanics; men who 
had voted for the adoption of the people's constitution, and for Mr. Dorr as 
governor under that constitution — such- men (and 1 can say nothing aga'wsi 
those excepted) as would be no disgrace to the .service and the cause of polit- 
ical freedom. 

I have now, gentlemen, briefly gone over the prominent points of the 
testimony in the cause, so as to give you a clear and connected view ot all 
the transactions in which the prisoner was concerned during the period of 
time embraced hi the several counts in the indictment, which charges the 
overt acts of levying war against the State on the 17th and 18ih days of 
May, and the 25th and 27th days of June. 1 have done this for the further 
purpose of calling your attention more particularly to the question oi crim- 
inal and malicious intent on ilie part of the prisoner. 

There can be no crime where there is no criminal intention. Intention 
is the very essence of all crime. There can be no treason where there is 
no trailorous intention. The mere act of levying war, whether it be actual 
or constructive, does not necessarily amount to treason. To constitute 
that crime, it must be levying war with a 'malicious and traitorous intent ; 
and such is the averment of each count of the present indictment. If no 
such averment were there, the indictment would !>• fatally defective, and 
you could not find the prisoner guilty under it ; and the question here is, 
Does the evidence offered on the part of the prosecution support the alle- 
'jation, so as to justify you in finding a verdict against the prisoner? 

You have been already told by the court that there was no evidence or 
pretence cf express malice or treasonable design on the part of the traver- 
ser ; but that such malice and such* intent, wliere an overt act of levying 
war was proved, was a presumption of law, and changed the burden of 
proof from the government to the prisoner ; — as in homicide, the intentional 
killing a man the law presumed to be murder, until the person charged 
offered evidence that should reduce the oiFence to manslaughter, or some- 
thing less. This presumed traitorous intent, after all, is but a presump- 
tion — not a fact proved ; and may be rebutted by facts and circumstances 
disproving the possibility of its existence. Such, gentlemen, we contend 
IB the present case. You will recollect that, according to the testimony of 
the witness, it was with much reluctance, and after at least three other per- 
sons had been put in nomination and declined, that the prisoner consented 
to a nomination as governor at the election in April, 1842; that he received 
upwards of 7,()()() votes for that office; that the votes were duly returned 
to the Foundry legislature; that a committee was appointed to count them; 
that the committee reported thai the prisoner was duly elected; that the usual 
proclamation of such his election v.^as made; tfiat he took the required oath 
of otfice; that he delivered an inaugural address, or message, to the legisla- 
ture; and that a government under the people's constitution was fully or- 
gitViized and put in operation, supersedini::, as we (•.o)Ueiid, all other govern- 
ment in this State. You will also bear in mind an admission made by the 
attorney general, (Blake,) that "if the pri.-oner was in fact governor, he was 
justified hi all he did." Now, gentlemen, taking that evidence and that ad- 
mission along with you, trace every act done, every expression used, and 



Rep. No. 546. 967 

•every measure proposed by the prisoner, from the assemblage of the people's 
legislature on the 3d of May, to his leaving Chepachet on the evening of 
the 27th of Jnne, 1842; compare and weigh the evidence whenever it con- 
flicts, and say, if yon can, where you find any evidence calculated to sup- 
port this charge of Ireasouable intent. On the other hand, gentlemen, you 
will find him actuated hy principles of the highest standard ; intent, not on 
suhvertin.^^ but on establisliin^; the government of the people; controlled 
by an all-pervading sense of official duty, and governed by a religious sense 
of the oath he had taken to supjiorl tlie people's constitution, and discharge 
his duty faithfully to the people of the State. I shall not attempt here to 
recapitulate the evidence of these particulars, having somewhat glanced at 
them in passing ; but it is such as frees the character of the prisoner from 
every imputation upon the purity of his motives and tlie unshaken consist- 
ency of his conduct. You have the evidence all before you, gentlemen ; 
and, under your oaths as jurors, you are "true deliverance" to •• make be- 
tween the State and the prisoner at the bar." 

After all, gentlemen, who is the prisoner at the bar? and how came he 
now before you for trial? Mr. Dorr is an educated sfentleman of the most 
respectable family and connexions. It is also in evidence that he, person- 
ally, has stood high in the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens. He 
has represented tlie city of Providence in the General Assembly. At the 
time he is charged with having levied war against the State, he was the 
treasurer of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and had in his hands the 
funds of that iistitufion to a large amount. He was a commissioner of the 
Scituate Bank, havin": coi-iirol ot its funds and securities, under an appoint- 
ment of the legislature; and he was president of the school committee of 
the city of Providence. It appears also that, as administrator or trustee, 
he had in his hands large amounts of the property of private individuals. 
During the troubles that followed the affair at the arsenal — the destitution 
of men, arms, ammunition, provisions, and money of the Chepachet cam- 
paign — during his protracted exile from the State, — did Governor Dorr em- 
bezzle, divert, or misap))ly these funds, or a farthing of them ? No, gentle- 
men, as is shown by the testimony of Mr. Burgess, he guarded the whole 
with the most scrupulnus care, guided by the highest sense of honor, and 
placed them, undiminished, beyond the reach of the perils which environed 
his own position. With this evidence before you, does he carry about with 
him any of the marks of that rmodyisni of which we have heard so much? 
Has not his whole course of life, his sentiments and his actions, been such 
as to free him from the imputation of havinof, in anything, been governed 
by other motives tiian a desire and a zeal for the best interests of his fellow- 
citizens and of the State? 

It has been uri^ed by the opening counsel for the State, that the prisoner, 
taking counsel from his fears at Chepachet, ran anay from the Stale. It 
would have been an act, not of wisdom or courage, but of the wildest folly, 
for Mr. Dorr to have bared his devoted head to the whirlwind of popular 
fury that then swept over the State; or, under legislative martial law, to 
have confided his fa» to the tender mercies of a drum head court-martial. 
But when the tempest had apparently passed over — when the excitement 
had become somewhat allayed by time — when martial law no longer fet- 
tered the legal tribunals of the State — he came voluntarily back to the State, 
and submitted himself to its tribunals. He came (when large rewards failed 
to bring him,) because this was his native State — his home — and because 



968 Rep. No. 546. 

he expected, and had a right to expect, that he should be tried by a jmj 
of his peers of the vicinages amongst vvFiom he had always lived, and for 
whose benefit alone he had acted. He is now in pour hands ; and 1 repeat, 
gentlemen, that, in deciding on his case, you may decide upon your own 
fate and that of your posterity; your decision 7nay involve the fate ot 
American freedom — nay, of civil liberty itself. 

Finally, gentlemen, it the evidence to which I have directed your atten- 
tion should fail to satisfy your minds fully as to the purity of the pris- 
oner's intentions, and the absence of treasonable design on his part, and 
doubts remain on the subject, you are bound (and will be so instructed by 
the court) to throw those doubts into the scale of the prisoner, and retain a 
verdict of acquittal. I now leave him with you, under the conviction that 
the moment you take his life and liberty into your hands, you, at the same 
time, commit your characters through life, and your memories afier death, 
to the award and decision of the great tribunal of public opinion ; and I 
hope and trust that at its hands you may receive that justice which, in be- 
half of the prisoner, I claim at your hands. 



CLOSING REMARKS OF MR. DORR. 

After Mr. Turner had concluded his summing up upon the evidtnee, 
Mr. Dorr addressed the jury for three hours in the close of the defence. 
The following is a summary of his remarks : 

Having addressed to the court all he had to say on the subject of treason, 
(which he had contended was an offence against the United Stales, without 
admitting that any such offence had, in this instance, been committed,) he 
now turned to the jury, and thanked them for the patience which they had 
thus far manifested in attending to the proceedings of a trial necessarily 
protracted beyond the usual length. Although the duration of the trial 
had been more than once alluded to by one ot the honorable court, he de- 
sired to assure them that he had not intentionally trespassed on their time. 
Much of it had unavoidably been spent in empannehng the jury, wliich, in 
a case of this moment, could not be hastily done. The defendant had a 
right by law to twenty peremptory challenges ; and a large number of those 
who had been called as jurors had disqualified themselves as they were 
called, by replying to the questions proposed to them, that they had formed 
and expressed an opinion upon the charges laid in the indictment, render- 
ing it necessary to issue new process for summoning an additional num- 
ber. It would also be recollected fliat the defendant had been brought 
here from the county to which he belonged, professedly for a more impar- 
tial trial, and among those with whom he was but little acquainted, and 
whose qualifications and opinions could not be investigated and ascertained 
without special inquiry, which it had been sometimes necessary to make 
through witnesses, to whom the jurors were belter known than to himself. 
The jurors now emi)anneled had severally responded, tmder their oaths, that 
they had neither formed nor expressed an opinion ufTon the matters now in 
issue; and only through their avowed impartiality could the object be ob- 
tained for which the case had been, in this unusual manner, removed from 
the county where the offence was charged to have been committed, iiuo 
another, which had been equally pervaded by the political feelings and dis- 



Rep. No. 546. 969 

cnssions which had pervaded the whole State in the eventful period of 
1«42. 

As so much had been said about foreign notions and foreign interference, 
it was proper for him to remind them that he was no stranger in their 
midst. He had not come here from abroad to proclaim new and strange 
words, at war with the original doctrines upon which our government was 
established. He was a native citizen of Rhode Islatid ; and a portion of 
those from whom he claimed descent had been among the earlier settlers of 
the State. He was by birth, and still more, he trusted, in principle and 
feeling, a Rhode Island man. He did not stand before them as an alien to 
the common inheritance; and he was ready to meet his opponents in any 
attempt liiey might make to show that his efforts had been directed to any 
other object than the reassertion of the ancient liberties of the State, and 
the inherent rights of the people. 

The Case now presented to the jury is one of no ordinary importance, 
and is not lightly to be disposed of by a hasty and inconsiderate judgment. 
It is not a matter of dollars and cents, to be decided by an average of opin- 
ions ; but a question affecting: the rights and freedom, and, to all intents, the 
lif(3 of the accused. The seiiience consequent upon conviction is perpetual 
imprisonment, with the attending deprivation of -the social and political 
privileges of a man and a citizen — an infhctinn which might induce some 
minds to prefer the more friendly missive of the military tribunal. It is the 
duty of the jury to contemplate the results of their verdict. For though 
they are not directly responsible for the law, and sit here not to make, but 
to administer it, they may well be inspired, when they regard the personal 
rights which are now put in issue, with a solemn caution, with a spirit of 
sincere and earnest inquiry ; fearful themselves of doing a greater wrong 
than that which is alleged against the individual they are called upon to 
try, and bearing in mind that the justice of the law is not revenge, and in- 
sists upon no doubtful constructions of the acts of the accused. Tiie jury 
must be satisfied, beyond a reasonable doubt, not only of the facts, but of 
the legal meanii.g and purport of the facts; and they are not called upon to 
offer sacrifices to kState policy or to the dignity of the law. At this dis- 
tance of tmie from the date of the transactions in controversy, a more dis- 
passionate and candid investiofation was to be expected and demanded. 

The offence charged \s polilJcal — not against individuals, but against the 
State, under a system now no longer existing, "^rhe defendant necessarily 
does not stand alone. He acted for others. In trying him, you try also 
the 14,(J0il citizens who voted (or the people's constitution in 1841, and 
who, if there be any guilt in the doctrines of '76, are equally afuilty with 
him. Nay, more : you will try the principles of the American Governn:ent 
and the rights of the American people; and you yourselves will in turn be 
tried for any wounds you may inflict upon American liberty. You are not 
sitting here in one corner of a small State, out of the reach of observation ; 
and beware that no political bias incline yon to do atiy injustice to the defend- 
ant, by way of retribution to the party with which he is connected ; or how 
you permit yourselves to def^'at the ostensible object of a fairer trial in the 
removal of this case; and let the public have reason to believe that it has 
been more fair than was intended. 

The opening counsel tor the State (Bosworth) had not been satisfied with 
the customary epithets which the forms of indictment bestow on those who 
are brought within the pale of the courts; but he had launched out into 



970 Rep. No. 546. 

the hins^uacre of vituperation and calumny, the not uncommon substitutes 
for ivasoiiing and aryiimeiit. These ebuMitiuns of mahgrjity do not so much 
indicate tlie character of the object upon vvfiich they are poured, as the con- 
dition of the source from which they spring. Real vahir never seeks to 
magrnfy itself by depreciating the character of those who have been over- 
come by the fortune of the day, and avoids all questionable exultation. An 
honorable mmd, in a great political controversy like this between the two 
parties of the 8tate, conscious itself of good motives, will be slow to impute 
tlie reverse to a fair and open political opponent. The coarse remarks of 
the assisiant lo the prosecutor are left to you, with all the weight to which 
they are entitled. It he he not ashamed of them, they may cause some of 
his friends to be ashamed of him. 

Without any proof that it was known at the time to the defendant, the 
aid of ihe prosecutor lias laid much stress on the fact that some of his rela- 
tives by law or blood were tbund in array against him on the 17th of May, 
lb42 ; and it is insinuated, by way of arousing the prejudices of the jury, 
that the object of the delendant was the destruction ot his own relatives 
and friends. In re[ily to this false and malicious charge, Mr. Dorr said, 
that, in periods of excitement, it mij'.ht happen, and sometimes did happen, 
to tlnxse who were near, and painfully to those who are also dear to each 
other, to be widely se[)arated even to the conflict of war. He stood almost 
alone in his political opinions among those who were connected with hini 
by blood. VVithout consulting interests, he had asked for himsell what was 
riu:ht, and pursued it. If his views of the sovereignty and action of the 
people were correct, then they who placed themselves in opposiiion to the 
government, and attempted to prevent the recovery of the public properly, 
whether strangers or relations, did so in their own wrong, and miirht with 
equal propriety be said to have been bent upon his own particular destruc- 
tion. He left them to their motives, and claimed respect for his own. 
"^rhere are obligations of duty from which no interest or consanguinity can 
furnisfi a discharffe. Mr. Dorr said that he was not aware at the time that 
any person related to him was enQfaged in the defence of the arsenal ; but, 
from wti.it had fallen from one of them, he had supposed that he intended to 
be. This person was not his brother, (now absent from tlie country,) whose 
name had been forced in iiere with a very apparent object, and who, though 
opposed in poHtics, was entirely capable of appreciating his moiives, as he 
was of making the same estimate in return. But, if he had been aware 
that all his clan were enlisted against the law and constitution of the State, 
he should not have been deterred from discharging the oath of duty which 
rested upon him. 

The offt-uce charged is somewhat of a vague nature. What is levying 
war? It is not a gathering of men merely with arms in their hands. 'J'his 
is the description of every military training or review. Against whom is it 
levied? The State. Who rejiresented the State at the time in Rhode 
Inland? Which was the true tjovernment? or, more properly, which was 
the aovernment? And, ajjain : for what object was war levied, if at all? 
Was it for any lawless, unjustifiable purpose; or in defence of government, 
and the most valued rights of the citizen? Here we have, in addiiion to 
the mere question of fact, Were certain things done or not? the much larger 
and more iaiportant questions of rigfits, of motives, and intentions. The 
indictment charges that the acts laid in it were maliciously and traitorously 
done. To constitute a levying of war. as it was held in 4 Granch, To, &c., 



Rep. No. 546. 971 

there must be an assemblage of persons for the purpose of effectinjr by 
force a treasonable |)uipose. Ii^ulistiiieiit of men to serve aj^ainst govern- 
meiit is not sufficient. It is not treason, it thus seems, to enhst men lor 
service, even aijainsi a lawful jjovernment; much less is it to enhst ihem 
and to bring them into service against an nnlavvhil one, existing by usurpa- 
tion, and contendniff with Ibrce against that by which it has been rigbt- 
fuMy supplanted. You will also bear in mind the admission of the attor- 
ney general, who properly stated, in the ouisel of the case that, if the de- 
fendant were the governor of the State, he had a rigiit to do wtiat lie did. 
It is thus perfectly evident that the true question essential to a fair trial is 
that of riif/iis anti niotives. There must be a treasonable intent in the 
levying of war, to constitute any treason at all ; not a mere knowledge of 
what one is about, but a deliberate, set purpose and treason of the mind ; 
as in cases of homicide, the act njay be murder, or man.slaughter, or no 
offence at all, according to circumstances and intentions. 

Mr. Dorr said, that, in the argument ot this case, he had the disadvan- 
tage of appearing before the jury without the aid of his principal counsel, 
Mr. Atwell, upon whom he had relied for all the closing arguments, who 
had been overtaken and disabled by a severe illness just before the com- 
mencement of the case, when it was too late for the defendant to niake any 
preparation. While he desired to acknowledge the zeal, fidelity, ability, 
and industry of the genileinan who assisted him, he could not but feel the 
absence of a counsellor, whose letjul eminence and eloquence, practical ex- 
perience, and just weight as a lawyer in this court, were of so much im- 
portance to his clients. 1( the defendant have anythinof to advanc ■ in his 
own fivor, it will be said to come from a too partial source, and it weighs 
nothing. What he admits, is taken strongly against him ; and what he may 
say concerning himself, may be, for the most part, better said by another. 

The defence, as well as the prosecution, has drawn out upon the exam- 
ination of witnesses a Ions detail of facts. My sfreat objtH^t, said Mr. Uorr, 
has been to have all the facts of the case correctly ascertained ; to disalaise 
it of all the falsehoods and calumnies with which it has been invested by 
the malignant ingenuity of puliticai enemies; and to disprove ail tlie |)re- 
tended charijes that have been so often repeated against myself, my political 
associates, and the political party with whom we have acted. 1 have aided 
by questions and by witnesses in bringing all the fiicis to light. There are, 
and have been, no secrets in the cause in which I have been engaged ; 
there is nothitiij, so far as 1 am aware, that might not safely be brouijht to 
the liirht of day. In August last, I published, over my own name, a state- 
ment of all the transactions now in controversy, from beginniuii to end, which 
was generally circulated in this State. It does not difier perceptibly from 
the present testimony. I am willing to put it into the case, as a part of it, 
il the prosecutor do not object. I should liave been willing to save (fiis 
investiifation by so doing; but it was not for the defendant to prescribe the 
mode of proceeding by the prosecutor, who, of course, would not have ad- 
mitted the account of the defendant to be correct, and expected to make a 
case much more favorable to his own side of the question. 

And here, let it be asked of common candor and fairness, after listening 
to the testimony, what has become of the shameful and groundless imputa- 
tion conveyed in the fabricated watchword of "l)eauty ;ind the banks;" of 
the " foreio;!! desperadoes," who were to plunder and burn the city of Prov- 
idence, and to invade the domestic purity of its homes ; of the intervention 



972 Rep. No. 546. 

of citizens abroad for any other object than to arrest the unjustifiable inter- 
ference of the President with State rights ; of the general appropriation of 
private property to miUtary uses; of "the lawless and intemperate charac- 
ter" of those engaged in the people's cause; of the "forcible enlistments;" 
of the "Stale scrip;" of the "sword dyed in blood;" of the "waiving of 
the torch and the firing of the gun ;" and the hundred other stories and 
inventions that were got up by political managers and editors for effect, and 
have had their day. and have answered all that was expected of them? 
They were no doubt believed by some, with that credulity which alarm 
creates. And there were others who availed themselves of this slight pre- 
tence to go over, and basely and treacherously abandon the cause of the 
people to the enemy. Henceforth, let the retailers ot these calumnies, which 
have been put down in and out of court, hold their peace. 

The alleged invasion of private property by the sufl^rage men at Chepa- 
chet, of which so much had been attempted at the time to be made by their 
opponents, was reduced to three instances : a horse borrowed, used, and re- 
turned; a cow taken and paid for; and a lew boards burnt on the hill ! 

The question was asked, whether the village of Chepachet, the day after 
it was left by the suffrage men, was not sacked by the charter troops? But 
this, we were told, had nothing to do with the issue, and could not begone 
into ! It was irrelevant ! There was a contrast to be disclosed. 

Of all that was really done by me, said Mr. Dorr, (aside from the fabrica- 
tions alluded to,) or that I had a part in doing, I deny nothing. 1 should 
disdain to make such a denial here or elsewhere, to preserve either liberty 
or life. Defendant said that if any fact had not been brought out in the 
testimony, which the jury were desirous of knowhig, and which was with- 
in his knowledge, he was ready to state it. 

My defence before you, said Mr. Dorr, is a justification throughout. What 
I did, 1 had a right to do ; having been duly elected governor of this State 
under a rightfully adopted and valid republican Slate constitution, which 
1 took an oath to support, and did support to the best of the means placed 
within my power. 

He then alluded to the extraordinary embarrassment in which he was 
placed in this portion of the defence, by the refusal of the court to permit 
him to make good his justification, by exhibiting the proofs of his election 
as governor, and the proofs of the adoption of the people's constitution, un- 
der which he had been elected ; the votes given upon it having been 
brought here for the express purpose of authenticating it to the jury. Nor 
was he permitted, directly or otherwise, than in incidental remarks, to main- 
tain, either to the court or jury, the right of the people of Rhode Island, 
upon American principles, to form and adopt this constitution ; nor to argue 
any other question of law to the court or jury, than whether treason be an 
offence against a State or against the United States ; nor to introduce pro >fs 
of his election, and of the constitution, to repel the charge of malicious and 
traitorous motives; nor to show by authorities that the jury are, in capital 
cases, the judges both of the law and of the fact. 

It was with extreme surprise and regret that he thus found himself de- 
barred from his true defence. The fdcts being thus plain before the jury — 
that the defendant had, on several occasions attempted to carry into effect, 
by military force, the constitution and government of the people, and as 
the chief magistrate of the Stare — the jury will very naturally ask, how did 
ail this come to pass? By what authority did the defendant these things? 



Rep. No. 546. 97S 

The reply to your very natural inquiry is a blank. The defendant is most 
anxious to proceed before you, and to eslabhsh all these rights; but he is not 
permitted. He must look to you to take care of them. He is in the con- 
dition of the mariner whose bark has been stripped by an adverse gale, and 
who, in directnig his course to the land, can expect to reach it only with 
the aid of a jury mast. 

The votes that were cast for the people's constitution are at hand. They 
who gave them are not flir off. The acts of the people's legislature, under 
this constitution, can be proved in a moment. These and the unanswera- 
ble proofs that popular sovereignly is the just source of government, were 
what It was desired lo lay directly before you. By the refusal of the court, 
the defendant feels that he has been deprived of a great right, and that jus- 
tice has been denied him. Whether the doctrines on which the republic 
rests be admitted here or not, they are unchangeably the same. The de- 
fendant has no desire to r^ract his subscription to them. 

Some ages ago, a natural philosopher was accused and silenced before 
the inquisition, for teaching that the earth turned on its axis. As he re- 
tired, alter his forced confession to the contrary, from the presence of the 
officers of the justice of that day, he exclaimed "Still it turns:" and, in 
spite of all opposition of f^ilse philosophy, ii has turned ever since. There 
are other immutable doctrines, and other honest convictions, which cannot 
be forced out of a man by any human process. 

The sun will not rise, said Mr. Dorr, upon any recantation by me of the 
truths of '76, or of any one of the sound principles of American freedom. 

The servants of a righteous cause may fail, or fall in the defence of it. 
It may go down ; but all the truth that it contains is indestructible, and will 
be treasured up by the great mass of our countrymen. 

If I have erred in this Rhode Island question, said Mr. Dorr, I have the 
satisfaction of liaving erred with the greatest statesmen and the highest au- 
thorities, and with the great majority of the people of the United States; 
and I have the satisfaction also of reflecting that all errors of judgment 
here will be corrected by the great tribunal of public opinion, which as- 
sures to all ultimate and impartial justice. 

Here the defence might end. The facts are before you. You cannot avoid 
the question of right, imperfectly as it comes to you. But there is one re- 
maining point — tlie amount and purport of the evidence. It is due to him- 
self that the defendant should make some further allusion to it, by way of 
explanation of his conduct and motives during the period of affairs that 
has been passed in review. To this subject the" remainder of his remarks 
will be confined. 

Monday Afternoon, May 6. 

Mr. Dorr resumed his remarks. 

It had been charged against him, that he had originated an unnecessary 
movement in this State, and that it had been persevered in without good 
reasons. Both these charges he proposed now to consider. 

It is impossible that any man should stand alone in any attempt at po- 
litical reform like that which has recently taken place in Rhode Island. It 
is not within the compass of human ability to create a set of circumstances 
to suit a scheme of ambition involving any considerable change in the 
affairs of a State. The utmost that any individual can do, is to be present 
and to take a part, more or less efficient, in a movement originating in gen- 



974 Rep. No. 546. 

eral causes, and afFectitior large portions of the people. The people of this 
country, and of this State, and, it may be added, of the race to which we 
belong-, are not addicted to change ibr the sake of change merely. It is a 
libel upon thetn to say that they are not capable of thinking and acting for 
themselves. In all those movements relating to the organization and the 
amendment of forms of government, there are deeply-hiid causes beyond 
the control of individuals, and most frequently of remote origin and long 
continuance, to which the final resrdt is to be attributed. "^I'he events of 
1842 grew naturally out of a long train of evils and abuses running far 
back, and which require a brief consideration, m order fairly to indicate 
the remedy which was proposed, and to explain the conduct of those who 
were concerned in applying it to the existing condition of affairs. A 
glance at our political history will exhibit the origin of all the troubles 
which fiHve of late agitated and distracted this State. 

Mr. Dorr said he desired to repel the imputation which had been cast on 
those with whom he had ncted, and himself; that they commenced their 
undertaking with a disparagement of their ancestors, the venerable founders 
of our civil polity. Much had been said about the charter government, 
and the early institutions of the State. He then paid a tribute to the char- 
acter of Roger Williams, as the founder of American democracy, and the 
author of the true system of religious liberty, in its relation to the political 
systtm. and tlie inalienable rights of conscience and private judgment. 
To this illuslrious man (the greatest in the ante-revolutionary history of 
the country) was the colony of Rhode Island mainly indebted for the un- 
exampled degree of freedom here enjoyed, and for democratic institutions, 
to the origin of which every right-minded son of this State must look with 
a just and honorable pride. In the heat of political controversy, the sins 
of the royal grantor of the charter, and of those whose mal-administration 
of the government under it had subsequently planted the seeds of futute 
evils, had been laid upon the charter itself, which was in its day, and long 
subsequently, a monument of liberty. The charter had well done its office ; 
and, at the period of the revolution, or as soon afterward as circumstances^ 
would permit, should have been consigned to the archives of the State, to 
be held in perpetual veneration for the benefits that it had bestowed. Mr. 
D. referred to his past addresses and appeals to freeholders and non free- 
holders during the course of the controversy, from the first period of his 
connexion with it, in proof of the statement he had made. 

It was the patrimony of Roger Williams and his associates which this 
colony long enjoyed. It pos5;essed the freest government on earth, with a 
remote dependence on Great Britain. The result of the efforts and doc- 
trines of Williams was the formation here of a peculiar people, in advance 
of the times in which they lived, jealous of their rights, fixed in their 
opinions, disposed to think and act for themselves, and to exercise freedom 
of speech without regarding personal consequences. This spirit was con- 
firmed by the local position of the colony, with a limited domain betweea 
two stronger neighbors, bent on aggrandizing themselves at its expense, 
and never relinquishing, down to the period of the adoption of the federal 
constitution, the design of annexing it to their respective territories. The 
way of our fathers was to hear freely, to discuss openly, to conceal nothing, 
and to act without fear. They were not to be driven by authority or dicta- 
tion of any kind. This old-fashioned spirit, it is to be regretted, has been i 



Rep. No. 546. 975 

depressed by recent events ; but, let it be hoped, not beyond the possibility 
of oltimate recovery. 

This originally free democratic g^overnmeiit passed ihroiiffh a period of 
deijeiieration, from which it has of late been partially restored. It is now 
120 years since the first detinite landed qualification of voters was estab- 
lished bylaw. It was at first a (pialification lor siirt"rage; it became at 
length a hmitation of sntfrage, and a badge of exclusion from poliiical 
rights. Nearly all the adult inhabitants were at first, as now among the 
western settlements, the owners of land. 'I'his landed qualification may 
have been justified at the time, by the State policy of resisting undue in- 
fluences from abroad, through a requisition upon all who came to incor- 
porate themselves with the colonists, that before they became a part of tlie 
political body they should identify themselves with the population by this 
visible sign of adhesion and permanent residence. But such a policy has 
long ceased to exist; and through the property restriction, as this quali- 
fication at length became, the government of the State was transformed 
into a landed oliijarctiy. 

Up to the period of the revolution, when the population was about three- 
fifths of its present number, there were no complaints. But with the in- 
crease of population, they were manifested ; and, through neglect, were 
deepened mto a sironyr disaffection toward the existing order of the State. 

A committee, consisting of the governor and other distinguished indi- 
viduals, was appointed, at the breaking out of the Revolution of 1776, to 
inquire what changes in the government were requisite to adai)t it to the 
new order of things. But the committee made no report. The subject was 
again revived about the period of 1799, without a result. In 18M a bill 
(draughted by the present district judge) to extend suffrage to all persons 
paying taxes and performing military duty, was passed by the Senate, and 
was laid on the table in the House of Representatives. A bill of half a dozen 
lines would at any time have accomplished the desired end, and have pre- 
vented all the subsequent difticulties. In 1819 the defects in the State gov- 
ernment v/ere again brought under consideration, principally as connected 
with th« grossly unequal representation in the lower house; the county of 
Providence, in its ratable property, being liable, through direct taxation, to 
the princi[ial burdens of the State, while it was entitled to a disproportionate 
force in the body by which they v/ere imposed. [iVlr. Dorr here read an 
eloquent passage from the political writings, in the year 1820, of the late 
lamented .lames D. Knowles, in which the consequences of this unwise de- 
lay of a political reform of the State were strongly pointed out ; and the ne- 
cessity which might occur to the people of taking the matter into their own 
hands, as an ultimate resort, for the redress of grievances, was clearly pre- 
dicted.] 

In 1824 a freeholders' convention was held for (he formation of a State 
constitution, which was rejected. A proposition made in this body to ex- 
tend snfiVage beyond the landed qualification, received three votes. The 
next attempt to obtain an extension of snfirage was commenced in 1829 by 
the non freeholders, whose memorials to the General Assembly were treated 
with contiiinely in the report of a committee of the House, which descril:)ed 
them as unworthy of any serious consideration. In 1834 the attention of 
the freeholders was again called to the restricted condition of suffrage in 
the State. In that year the defendant was elected a representative irom 
Providence, as the advocate of political reform, and of a republican State 



976 Rep. No. 546. 

constitution ; and should his political life be now brono;ht to a close, as one 
of the results of this protracted contest, it will end as it began — in the just 
cause of the disfranchised inhabitants claiming their due share of the birth- 
right of American citizens. Tlie constitutional party of freeholders, .which 
was lliis year formed, received but little encouragement, and expired after 
an ineffectual struggle of nearly four years. 

The condition of things brought to the consideration of the legislature 
was hardly to be paralleled in any of the States. A majority of tlie House 
of Representatives in this body was chosen to represent less than one third 
of the inhabitants of the State; and the electors of these representatives 
were about a third of the adult male population in the towns that sent them ; 
so that the conjoint operation of unequal representation and of limited suf- 
frage was to vest all the political power of the State in about one-ninth part 
of the resident citizens of the United States in Rhode Island — an inequality 
too unjust and oppressive to be much longer tolerated in the land of Roger 
Williams, so long as there survived among the people any portion of the an- 
cient spirit of the State. 

A freeholders' convention was again called in 1S34, in which, as a mem- 
ber from Providence, the defendant, as he had before done in the legislature, 
urged upon his associates the immediate duty and expediency of redressing 
the political inequality of the State, through the forms of law. A proposi- 
tion made by him for the extension of suffrage, received but seven votes ; 
and the convention dissolved without proposing any constitution to the 
freemen. 

The natural conclusion, from this brief view of the facts, in the mind of 
every man of ordinary intelligence and candor, will be, that the responsi- 
bility for all consequences is on the heads ot those who have so long denied, 
or have exerted themselves to defeat, the just rights of the people of this 
State. And everyone will see at a glance the futility of the attempt to 
ascribe to the dissatisfaction or to the ambition of any individual, or a few 
individuals, the rising up of the men of Rhode Island, under a sense of 
common wrongs, for the final attaimnent of just and equal rights. 

It was in vain, on the part of those who undervalue the right of suffrage, 
and who flatter themselves with the ability to govern others better than 
they can govern themselves, to repel the non-freeholders with the answer 
that they were better off under the protection of the landed system. While 
the British subject claims to be well governed, it is the birthright and glory 
of American citizens to govern themselves. The right of suffrage is the 
guardian of civil liberty. The only security for just and impartial and 
beneficent legislation is in the universal right to participate in choosing 
those who make and administer the laws. The non-freeholder, who was 
worthy to be counted among the represented population, felt himself equally 
worthy to vote for the representative himself. He came to this conclusion 
from a just estimate of his own character ; of his worth and natural equality 
as a man ; of his proportionate contribution to the support of the public 
burdens. State and national ; of his productive industry in creating the com- 
mon wealth, and contributing to the common welfare of the State; from a 
view of the free institutions of other States, by which he was constanlly re- 
minded of his own privations, and which held up before him rights irom 
which he felt himself to be debarred by no natural mark of inferiority or in- 
capacity, but by the arbitrary and selfish exclusion of men no belter than 
himself. 



Rep. No. 546. 977 

The result of this long denial of justice was the creation of two distinct 
■classes of citizens — the people at large, claiming, by virtue of the revolution, 
the sovereignty of the State ; and tlie qualified freemen, who possessed and 
exercised tlie political power, and governed the rest, accordino; to their will 
and pleasure. And this state of things, always dangerous to the tranquillity 
of a country where all are professedly equal, led to a collision between the 
two classes, and to the events of l841-'2. 

The next and final attempt to obtain their rights was begun by the non- 
freeholders in 1840, through the general orgauiziiion of a political partv. 
With its proceedings you are already aoquaiiUed. The non freeholders 
were excluded, as they always had been, from any participation in the 
choice of delegates to the convention to frame a constitution, which was 
called by the General Assembly in January, 1841. They knew from ex- 
perience what was to be expected from such conventions; but, before they 
proceeded to assert their own rights, they looked once more to the legis- 
lature for a concession to their reasonable chtims. At the subsequent May 
session, a bill was presented to the House of Representatives by Mr. Atwell, 
which was drawn by the defendant, and which provided that the citizens 
generally sliould be authorized to vote for the delegates to the convention. 
At the June session it was amended of his own motion, by the member who 
had introduced it, so as to confine that temporary extension to tax payers 
only — a proposition which received but ten votes. 

The door was thus closed upon the non-freeholders of the State, and 
they turned away from the existing government with the entire conviction 
that the lime had now arrived to redress their own grievances through that 
power which is the superior of all others. They called a popular conven- 
tion on a free basis. That convention framed a republican constitution, 
which, three months before the rejection of that of the landholders' conven- 
tion, was adopted and ratified by the votes of a vast majority of the whole 
people. This would have been demonstrated to you, if the court had per- 
mitted the votes, which have been brought here for the purpose, to be pre- 
sented for your examination, as the defendant most earnestly desired. 
Under this constitution, the defendant was duly elected to the office of gov- 
ernor of the State — a fact which he is debarred from proving by the pro- 
hibition of the court. In the name and by the authority of those who are 
the true source of power, he has acted in the capacity to which he was as- 
signed, not to do his own will, but the will of the people of this State. 
This is his true and sufficient defence. 

Mr. Dorr then passed to the remaining topic — the manner in which his 
duty had been discharged, in connexion with the question of motives ; 
giving an outline of affairs relating to the organization of the people's gov- 
ernment, and of the subsequent proceedings. 

The defendant was nominated for governor shortly before the publication 
of the letter of President Tyler, in wliich he threatened his intervention in 
the political affaip of the State. The defendant accepted the nomination, 
though his means did not warrant him in so doing, at the urgent request 
of political friends, after three others, (one of them connected with the op- 
posite poHtical party in general politics) had declined it, and it had become 
apparent that, unless the defendant accepted, there would be no candidate,. 
and an organization under the constitution might be defeated. This he 
would not sutler to occur, if he could prevent it. As c-liairman of the Stale 
committee, he would not see the constitution die in his hands. He did not 
62 



978 Rep. No. 546. 

seek the nomination, nor did he dech'ne it when the absohite necessity fiad 
arisen, nor shrink from any duty or responsibility connected with ihe office. 
He was elected by the people. At the appointed time the General Assembly 
was convened, and was attended by a military escort to the place of meet- 
inw. It is unnecessary to repeat the proceedings of that body, many of 
which have been detailed to you. By a remarkable oversight, they per- 
mitted the judiciary to remain unchanged. 

Upon a proposition, made in the House of Representatives, to instruct the 
sheriff to take possession of the Slate-house for the use of the Assembly, 
there was a division of opinion ; three fourths of the members being op- 
posed to such a step, and in favor of a simple request only for the opening 
of the building. This ill judged omission was of fatal consequences. The 
day was thus lost, and ultimately the cause itself, through the vacillating 
and retreating disposition of its friends. They held, on that day, everything 
in their own hands. All might then have been accomplished without loss 
or injury to any one. 

My views to the contrary of the course then adopted (said Mr. Dorr) are 
well known to you and to my fellow citizens. 1 have been accused of dic- 
tating to others the conduct of our affairs. If this had been the case, and 
it had been in my power to enforce an implicit compliance on their part, 
it is not a little singular that, at this most important crisis, my associates 
should have sacrificed my judgment to their own. Believing that a gov- 
ernment on paper was no government at all, I desired to see it put imme- 
diately into action, by taking possession of the public property, and bring- 
ing the whole case to a practical issue at once. This was my opinion, 
desire, and advice. They yielded to other feelings and opinions, dreading 
also the interference of the national Executive. The first and best oppor- 
tunity was suffered to pass by. The cause declined and died. Had the 
leo-islature been disposed on that day to avail themselves of that "tide in 
the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune," the people's 
government would have gone fully into operation, and the Stale would have 
peaceably acquiesced. But, although the legislature did not incline to 
active measures at this time, they nevertheless, very near the close of the 
session, passed a resolution requiring all persons having possession of any 
of the public property to surrender it to their successors in office, leaving 
to the defendant, as governor, the responsibility of carrying this act into 
effect, under his oath of office to execute the laws. 

The time of the defendant was occupied with the signing of commissions 
and with the other business of the executive, until he left for Washington, 
at the request of a number of his friends, and of a large public meeting held 
by the suffrage association in Providence. The object of this visit to Wash- 
ington was to make a true representation of our affairs to the President, 
and to avert his intervention to suppress the rights of the people. No 
flivorable result was attained. 

The defendant remained some days on his return at New York, and con- 
ferred with friends in that city, irpon one special subject, by wliich he had 
been mainly induced to leave Providence at this interesting period of events. 
He referred to obtaining assistance of men from abroad to repel this threat- 
ened interference of the President ; which he and others believed to be un- 
constitutional, and a most unjustifiable outrage on the rights of the people 
of Rhode Island. He addressed the democratic citizens of that place at 
Tammany hall ; stating to them, most explicitly, the sole ground on which 



Rep. No. 546. 979 

ih^.y were called upon to act — not as intermeddlers between two political 
parties in a State, but only in the case distinctly proposed ; freely avowing 
that, if the people of Rhode Island, when left to themselves, without the 
interference of the United Slates, were not capable of maintaining their 
own rights, they did not deserve to be free. The appeal was cheerfully 
responded to. 'I'he answer was tlie outburst of warm and generous tiearts 
devoted to tlie great cause of popular rights. Five thousand — nay, almost 
any rumiber — were disponed to pour themselves out to arrest this ureal in- 
justice now threatened to the more numerous party in Rhode Island, by 
throwins: into the opposite scale the military forces of the United States. 

The deffsndant then alluded to his interview at New York with Major 
William G, McNeill, who had stated here in his testimony that defendant 
had, in a half-jesting way, offered to him the command of his men, and 
who, as defendant supposed, was friendly to the suffrage cause. The com- 
ments on Mr. Pearce's testimony, which fell from McNeill, had been occa- 
sioned by a misapprehension by Mr. Pearce of defendant's conversation 
with him. Defendant did not say that at Chepachet he had been, a few 
days before, advising with Mr. McNeill respecting military affairs. De- 
fendant meant to be understood that he had seen this gentleman not a long 
time before— alluding to this meeting in the city of New York. Defend- 
ant had never seen him since, nor had any correspondence with him du- 
ring the recent difficulties, nor had he any reason to suppose that he had 
not been faithful to the charter government', though defendant was sur- 
prised to hear of his appointment as the charter general, having supposed 
him to be favorable to the other s'.de. 

Mr. Dorr then passed to the public meeting on Federal hill, upon the 
day of his return to Providence. The reason of his producing a nuiTiber 
of witnesses, who stood very near him when he made his address on that 
occasion, was to refute the testimony which had been given by two politi- 
cal opponents, respecting ''the sword dyed in blood"— an expression which 
they liad attributed to him. This testimony was not founded in fact, and 
had been clearly and sufficiently contradicted. The object evidently was, 
to hold up the defendant as blood-thirsty, and desiring destruction for its 
own Sake — a representation which would not be readily credited by those 
who were acquainted with him. 

The defendant alluded to the taking of the cannon of the artillery com- 
pany on tlie afternoon of the I7th of May, as having been done by his 
order, and with the consent of the company themselves. 

Affairs had now arrived at that point where the defendant must either 
surrender to the charter government who aimed at his arrest, resign his 
office, or enforc^e the laws under the government of the people. The de- 
fendant had no disposition to abandon the cause, while there was any ground 
to stand upon. He could not retire from the contest, believing himself to 
be on the jnst side of it, and encouraged by the voice of the citizens, who 
had so often and unequivocally avowed their intention and readiness to 
support the government, whenever they should be called upon. Not to 
have proceeded, would have been to incur itnpntations which no honorable 
man would suffer to rest upon him. 

The time had now come to carry the laws into effect. The Assembly 
had directed that all the public property should be delivered up. This 
resolution had not been complied with. It was of great importance that 
the arms of the State should be recovered from the opposing government, 



980 Rep. No. 546. 

which had riorhtfnlly ceased to exist. After consultation with the military 
officers present at a meeting in the evenino- of the 17th of May, the de- 
fendant ordered that a movement should be made to sjain possession of the 
arsenal in Providence, where these arms were deposited. A force of 234 
men proceeded to execute this purpose, not far from 2 o'clock on the morn- 
ing of the I8ih May; first repeating the demand, which had been already 
niade by the General Assembly, foj the surrender of this portion of the 
pubhc |)roperty. 

Mr. Dorr then described the proceedings at the arsenal, after a demand 
for its surrender had been made and refused ; the placing ot the men and 
pieces in position ; the change of position in consequence of the darkness 
occasioned by a dense fog, whicii had come up after the force had been 
put in motion for the arsenal ground ; the detachment of a body of men 
to lie very near to the building, to carry it by assault, so soon as the door 
should be opened to return the first fire of the artillery without; the order 
to fire; the flashing of the pieces, which were rendered unserviceable by 
dampness or water, and could not be discharged; the immediate disorgan- 
)z;ation and retreat of the men without orders; the withdrawal of the 
pieces, and the return of the defendant, after daylight, with the last of the 
men, about thirty in number, to headquarters at Anthony's house. 

The statement that the defendant had attempted to fire one of the artillery 
pieces was not true. The tendency, if not the intention, of this story, was 
to show a development of destruciiveness on the part of the defendantj 
which could not intrust to subordinates the performance of duties whicli 
they were ready and more competent to discharge. The defendant did not: 
that night wave a torcl), or apply it to either of the guns. A commander 
may be placed in a position vi^here it devolves upon him to do the work of 
others. No such necessity there occurred. Tfie defendant gave the order 
to fire the pieces. The whole responsibility rests on him. 

The defendant then further proceeded to describe the occurrences of the 
morning of the 18ih ; the return to Anthony's house of only sixty men ; 
the appointment of new officers ; the preparation to maintain the ground ; 
the firing of the signal suns at 7 o'clock, without the return of more men ; 
the receipt of a letter from several members of the legislature in Providence, 
stating tfiat the members in the city had resigned their places, and that all 
support was withdrawn from the aovernor; the report to defendant of the 
commanding officer that the men who had remained were leaving; the al- 
ternatives of a surrender or a retreat; the order to the commnndmg officer 
to fall back with those who were left, and to dismiss them in his discretion ; 
the departure of defendant at half-past 8 o'clock ; the arrival of the charter 
forces, 6(JU to 81)0 in number, from one to two hours afterward in the fore- 
noon ; the conduct of the 27 suffrage men who fell back with the pieces 
and kept them ; the pretended " compromise," with which defendant had^ 
and could have, nothing to do — the suggestion to compromise a constitu- 
tion bearing absurdity on its face. 

Defendant said that, if a rally had taken place in Providence after he 
left on the 18th, it was his intention to return. Defendant went directly to 
the city of New York, where he remained till the 2lst of June, when he 
left, that place for Norwich, in the State of Connecticut, 

It will here be asked, why, after so unpromising a result, and such a 
failure of support, any further attempt was not abandoned as iujpracticable 
and hopeless, and the defendant did not regard himself as discharged from 



Rep. No. 546. 981 

any further obligation to the cause and the government, which he had thus 
iiiefFectiialiy endeavored to carry into effect. The reply is, that rights and 
duties are not to be measured by degrees of success or faihire. The cause 
was the same ; the obligations restnig upon the commander-in-chief were 
not reheved by any events which liad as yet occurred. The constitution 
ivas vahd and subsisting. The people could abandon it by their votes or 
by their acts. They had done neither. This uiisadventure in the city of 
Providence v/as attributed to unforeseen circumstances, to accident, to the 
want of a more general notice iu the country towns for a general rally at 
the headquarters of the State, to a temporary panic in the city, to the pusil- 
lanimity of leading friends M the cause in that place, from whoai better 
things were expected, and whose hearts had failed them iu the moment of 
trial. Encouraging reports and statements were received by the defendant, 
through letters and by visiters, from various parts of the State, all indica- 
ting an earnest desire to retrieve the late disaster, to regain the position 
that had been lost, and to carry into complete effect the constitution and 
government of the people. A second opportunity, he was assured, would 
not be lost upon the defenders of the common cause, whom defeat had 
aroused to new exertions. Favorable expectations were entertained by 
them from the transfer of the legislature to the country from the city; and 
which would have the effect of drawing together a great body of men for 
its protection, and to overcome resistance to its laws. The quotas of men 
in the several towns, including Providence, wh.o were pledged to support 
the defendant whenever he should again call upon them, amounted to 1,3()(). 

It was my duty (said Mr. Dorr) to give the people another opportunity to 
sustain their government; and if it had not been given, the loss of the 
cause and the death of the constitution would have been laid at my door, 
and by many who had promised to stand by them to the last. No such 
charge now rests upon me, or can impeach my memory. 

1 left New York (said Mr. Dorr) with the general intention of carrying 
into effect the government under the people's constitution, but not without 
a proper consultation as to the time and manner of proceeding. 

The defendant reached Norwich on the 22d of June, and sent an order 
to Glocester to convene a council of military officers, who were to consult 
whether any steps could nov/ be taken, and, if so, what. It they should 
deem it expedient to select a spot of ground for defence, they were caution- 
ed to find a position that was tenable. No council was held. A precipitate 
gathering of men took place at Chepachet, without orders, on the 23d. The 
capture of Shelley and his associates gave the first impulse. They were 
supposed to be the scouts of an attacking party on the village of Chepachet. 
When Col. Comstock in his tesimiony stated that this was an " accidental 
meeting," he meant to be understood that it was voluntary, and without 
command, or the specification of any definite object beyond the present pro- 
tection of the place. 

Hiving been inf )rmed that 500 men in arms were already thus assem- 
bled at Chepachet, the defendant set out and arrived there on the morning 
of the 25(h of June. He forthwith issued a proclamation to convene the 
legislature at that pi ice, instead of Providence, on the 4th of July. He also 
issued and repealed special written orders to the military in all the towns 
of the county ol Providence, and as much firther as practicable, to repair 
!o headquarters, and support the governmeni of the State against all op- 
position, preseut or intended. Ample notice was given to a large majority 



982 Rep. No. 546. 

of the friends of the constitution of the exigency which now required theh 
services; and those wIjo had pledged tlieinselves to respond to tlie call ol 
their commander, had now the desired opportunity to manifest the sincerity 
of their professions, and the reahty of their devotion to the cause of ilie 
people. 

The appearance of things on liis arrival was to the defendant justly the 
occasion of surprise and disappointment. A slight breast work was found 
thrown up on two of the sides of a iiill, whicli was commanded by several 
other heights. There were then about 140 persons in arms. Un Satur- 
day afternoon an order was given on the lull, by defendant, to count all the 
armed men ; and the return consisted of one hnndred and eighty or ninety ; 
some thirty of whom shortly after left the ground, and returned to tlieir 
homes. It was a volunteer movement. None were forced into the ranks, and, 
until Monday the 27ih, all were at liberty to depart as freely as they came. 
On that day all who took up arms were required to retain them, and to sub- 
mit to the usual discipline of the camp. 

Of the large number of spectators from various quarters, few remained 
to share the forUmes of the field with those who occupied Acott's hill. 
1'heir curiosity was satisfied, and they departed. Of the 4U0 to 6Ul) who 
were pledged in the city of Providence, 35 men and lU officers arrived at 
the camp. The greatest nunjber of the military at any one lime, during 
the affair at Chepachet, including all in the place v/ho were under arms 
and subject to orders, was about 225. This was the average statement 
also of all the witnesses who were in the best position to know ; and you 
have heard their testimony. Among thi uj, are the colonel in command, 
the acting adjutant general, one of the aids of the comu)ander-in chief, and 
several spectators wlio visited the hill, and who took no part in the trans- 
actions of the tinie. 

Tlie defendant alluded lo the perversion, by political mahce, of some of the 
expressions in an address to the troops; to the 13 "Spartans," as they were 
called, from New York, (whose numbers and designs were so much mag- 
ijified at the time by our opponents f )r political effect,) as a company of 
mechanics, whose leader was an engraver, and a man of remarkable abilities; 
to the capture ol Mr. Knight as a spy, from whom it is now first heard that 
he was fired upon before his capture by one of the guards ; to the national 
flag under whicli the men were assembled ; to the defective supply of pro- 
visions, sufficient only for a (ew days, and received by contribution, or pur- 
chased with means collected on the ground ; to the want of balls for the ar- 
tillery, there being only enougli for an engagement of about 15 minutes; to 
the means for carrying on a campaign, which were too smtill to be named,, 
the reliance being on tlie prompt action of the great mass who voted for the 
people's constitution ; to llie tenjperance which was maintained by closing 
and keeping closed, at defendant's request, the bar of the public liouse ; to. 
the respect paid to private properly, which was enjoined on all by the com- 
mauder-in chief. 

Will) regard to the desian to take the city of Providence, of which so 
much has been said, all that could have been implied in it Was to seat the 
legislature in the house which was appropriated to them, and to deiend ihem 
there; to place the public officers where they belouged, and to sustain them 
and the government generally by all necessary means. But there was 
nothing in the condition ofafiiurs at Chepachet to suggest this step; and no 
such plan was ever suijgested among the oflicers, whatever might have 



Rep. No. 546. ' 983 

been the wishes or the words of individuals. Of course, there was no 
proposition for occupying the collejje buildina^s in Providence as barracks; 
thouo^h they were tendered by the president of that institution to the char- 
ter troops, and occupied for this purpose. All the surmises of an intention 
on the part of the suffrage forces to enter Providence, with the watchword 
of "beauty and the banks," and to invade the pro{)erty and the homes of 
the citizens, were the base inventions of the enemy. 

The defendant pointed the jury, with feelings of just pride, to the gene- 
ral af^pearance of the " men of Chepachei" who had been summoned here 
as witnesses, if the jury were desirous of seeing what description of per- 
sons they were who took up and retained arms for the constitution and 
rights of the people. It appears from the testimony, that these brave and true- 
hearted men were, for the most part, hard-handed farmers and mechanics, 
already possessed ofsuffrage tliemselves, and coming forth to contend for the 
rights of their imfranchised fellow-citizens, who chose to stay at home. Let 
no reproaches be cast upon these men of Chepachet, said Mr. D. Let them 
rather fall on me, in whatever form, or upon whatever pretence, rather than 
on the associates who so nobly responded to the call of duty, in the dis 
charge of which they were ready to sacrifice their lives. They were not 
only, with the vast odds against them, ready to defend their post, but to 
meet their opposers halfway on the road. When the rumor of an approach- 
ing force reached tliem, they stood at their quarters, to return with interest 
what they might receive. However it might now be the fashion to dispar- 
age the men of Chepachet, the time was not distant when a general public 
opinion would attribute to their agency all the political liberty that is now 
possessed in Rhode Island. It is a fact, that may be denied, but which is 
fully sustained by evidence, tluit the bill to call a convention to frame a 
constiiution was not introduced and passed in the charter legislature of 
1842, until the legislature had become satisfied that an actual gatheri/ig of 
men in arms had taken place at Chepachet. Tlie shield of their attack 
upon one constitution, was the promise to substitute another. 

'^rhe defendant then referred to the mortifying but indisputable evi- 
dence presented to himself and his associates, that the people of the State 
had ceased to desire that their government should be defended and carried 
into effect. They had been called like " spirits from the vasty deep," but 
they did not come. No attention had been paid to the military orders sent 
lo the towns. We were not supported by the people. We had assembled 
at Chepachet, not as a faction, to contend for our own special interests, but 
for the common welfare. We were not only abandoned by our party 
men, but remonstrated with, denounced, and condemned by them. They 
were even taking up arms against us. VVe were reduced to the necessity 
of fighting both our friends and our enemies. The will of the people thus 
manifested was olieyed, and we ceased to contend. 

The defendant then went on to describe the call and proceedings of the 
council of military officers, and their deliberations on tlie course which it 
was most proper to pursue. The defendant laid before them the state of 
affairs, and his own opinion that it was impracticable for them, of them- 
selves, and in the midst of a general desertion, to maintain the position 
which tfiey had assumed. The conclusion of the council was, that duty 
required ns to disband. The order to this effect was approved by the sepa. 
rate voice of the members. It was communicated to tfie men in camp by 
the general commanding, between six and seven o'clock in the afternoon 



984 • Rep. No. 546. 

of Jnne 27th. As it had not been discussed among the men, it may have 
occasioned surprise and dissatisfaction with some who were not aware of 
all the facts. But the feeling was momentary. And we separated, tliono;h 
with hiiter regrets, yet with the conviction that onr duty had been fully 
discharged to ourselves and to the cause. The order to disband was given 
when no enemy was near, and it could be issued and obeyed without dis- 
honor. The charter forces did not present themselves in the village of 
Chepachet till the next day, thirteen hours after the disbandment ; and then 
they would have found no trophies, had the order to dismantle the hill 
been complied with. 

A letter containing the( rder to disband was forthwith communicated to 
Mr. Burgess, a friend in Providence, for publication in the Express, the 
paper of the suffrage party; but the order was intercepted in Providence, 
delivered to Mr. B, read by him in the presence of the captprs, and shortly 
after, in the same evening, before the governor and several of his council 
and the commanding general McNeill; all of whom were thus early in- 
formed that they had no enemies to contend with, and were able to govern 
their future movements accordingly. 

The defendant left Chepachet about an hour after the disbandment had 
taken pbice, at a quarter before eight, in company with Colonel Carter^ one 
of his aids. 

Thus ended all attempts to carry into effect the government set up under 
the constitution of the people. It was abandoned by those who had most sol- 
emnly resolved to maintain it by all necessary mear]S, and who had given 
to the defendant the assurance of their prompt and unfailing support, when- 
ever it should be called for. He retired from the field conquered, not by his 
enemies, but by his friends. 

Defendant then proceeded to speak of his motives in returning to this 
State. He had intended to do so before the revocation of martial law; and 
aware of the consequences, but not at liberty, in the view of honorable con- 
siderations, or desiring to avoid them, he a'fdressed a letter to some of his 
frit^nds in Providence early in August, 1812, to ask them if any duty in their 
political service remained undischarged, and if they had any further claims 
upon him. The reply was, that his personal liberty was still of value to 
them, and that he might serve their cause by preserving that liberty, and 
prolonging his absence from the State, while they were exerting themselves 
to retrieve their losses, and save themselves by the power of the ballot box. 
But this instrument the sufiVage men of Rhode Island seemed to hesitate in 
employing at the vitally important election of April, 1843, as they had before 
hesitated to employ the cartridge box when force had become indispensable 
to the safety of their cause. Tiirongh desertions, they were overthrown at 
this election. "^Phe defendant's resolution was immediately taken to return 
to the State; and his return was deferred to the month of October only by 
his private concerns and by bodily illness. He returned here, not in the 
spirit of defiance, or courting persecution, but as a Rhode Island man, who 
had a right to be here, who desired or sought no domicil abroad, and was 
unshaken by defeat in the avowal of the doctrines of liberty, which he had 
inefiectually attempted to reassert in the land of Roger Williams. The re- 
turn of the delendant was voluntary and free. He was not forced back by 
the efficacy of rewards promised his captors, or by any compliance abroad 
with the requisition of this State, in a case when no wrong was deemed to 
have been committed. The consequence of having thus obeyed, by his re- 



l^ep. No. 516. 985 

turn, a sense of honor and duty, is alt(!sled lo yon Ly the proccjcdings which 
havf3 now so iotif^ occutncd your atlentioii. 

Mr. Dorr enforced upon the jury the conchision which fairly and una- 
voi(Jahly resuhed from tliis rapid survey of the course of action which he 
h.id pursued ; that, as the rijihifuliy (iUjcted chief nm^nsirate of the Slate, he 
held .-K'tf^d strictly ni conforniiry wiili his duly and (ibliu'atinns — not oniiliing 
on the one hand what the constilulion and laws rcijinn^d <»( hnn, or exci'edinjr 
on th(! other IIk; hounds of aiithdrity in the adojttion of in(!asur<is which the 
iieccssity of Ins |)ositioii recjuin'd ; not inviting olh(;r ukmi into daiigtMs which 
he was not ready to share with them ; not drawing the sword for mere de- 
struction, but in the support and defence of the government wtnch had been 
intrusted lo his charge, "^['fje jury were thus brought l>ack again to the great 
and vital rpKistion of llie case — a cpiestion of rights and of principles, affect- 
ing nol merely the fortunes of the defendant, l)Ut the liberty of tlie people, 
and reaching to the fbutidation of our r(;|)ublican instiiuiions. 

Hut Ih; had already tres[)as.sed upon their tiiiK;, and would hasten to the 
close of his r(!inarks. 

Gentltunen (said Mr. Dorr) if 1 am in the riii:ht, as 1 then believed, and now 
believe, with an unshaken confidence in the irullis for wfiich I have con- 
tended in this Slate, then ihe blame, if any, is, not tfiat I served too W(;ll, but 
that I did not serve, still heller in Ifiis righteotis cause, (claiming no ex- 
emfitioti from the frailties of our common fuimaiiity, but, at the sami; time, 
conscious of having be(!ii animattMl by good rjioltves iti the |)ursuil of justi- 
fiable and honorable en(Js, 1 eomiriil my cause into your liands, will) a just 
fiope of your lavor;ible consideration, and witli a firm c(jnhdence in the final 
verdict of my countrymen. 



closing argtjmknt for ttle stati-; i',y joseph m. blakr, attorney 

geni-:ral. 

Mr. niake b(>gaii by rem;irking that there had been intrf)duced such a 
mass of testimony in the case, xo many motions made, and iiKiuirics started, 
with which iha Juri/ had nothing to do, that fie feared ihey might lose sight 
of the true, question, and the only one they fiad to decide — wliether, in fact, 
the defendant levied war against the Slate, as alleged in the uidictment. 
He said there were many subjects iniim;itely connected with the crime for 
which tlie definidaiit was on trial, about winch great diversity of of)iniou 
iiad been enlertaiiHid, and which, on a proper occasion, were worthy of 
serious dis(;ussion, bin thiit on tfie trial of tfie issue before tfiem, ilio jury 
were nol reipnrc^d or expected to give any opinion. 

Mr. niake, then went on lo enumerate some of them — sucfi as, whetfier a 
majority of the male adults of the State actually voted for the so called peo- 
pie's consiiiulion ; and if they did, whetlier they intended anything more 
than a simple expression of opinion in favor of u written constitution for ifie 
State ; how far sjiffroi^r. shoiil(J be; (;xteii(Jed ; and what irslihinci- should be 
required as a quaiificaiion ; whether a riitijorUi/ of the peo[)lt,' of a State, 
witliout tfie assent of the •ininorily, and without an atiifioiiiy hy law, liav(! a 
natural right, at ifieir pleasure, to change a government (oiinded on compact, 
and declare and make such new government binding on all. With all 
these, however important, and greatly as they had fieen agitated during the 
lale disturbances, the jury were nol to meddle ; ail evidence on those [loints 



986 Rep. No. 546. 

havino- been ruled out by the court, leaving them only to decide whether 
the defendant had levied war ao-ainst the State. If he did so levy war, then 
he was guilty of treason — the highest crime known to the law. That it 
embraced or led to all other crimes — murder, rape, robbery, and tlie whole 
cataloo^iie of human transgressions. That it aimed at the sovereignty of the 
State, and the subversion of all government. ' That no attempt atrevolution 
can, by any government, be admitted as legal. That there could be no 
ranker absurdity than a le^al or cnnslidttioual rebellion. That the success 
of rebellion gave it its legality. That, in despotic governments, attempts at 
revolution were often morally right and patriotic, even when unsnccessfnl ; 
because, in them, there might be no other available mode of redress of griev- 
ances ; and justifiable, as in the lauijuage of the declaration of indepen- 
dence, when government becomes destructive of the true ends of govern- 
ment — the security of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happuiess — and when 
all other means of redress have been resorted to perseveringly, in good faith, 
and failed. In no case can such an attempt be justified, unless the change 
would promote the getjeral good, or utdess the weans are obviously ade- 
quate to the end. Bad government is better than none; and no condition 
of a people can, from oppression, be so bad as not to be made worse, by fre- 
quent insurrections and civil war. 

Mr. Blake next spoke in terms of commendation of the principles of Rhode 
Island government, as securing the people from oppression, and of its cor- 
recting itself throucrh the force of public opinion ; and instanced the exist- 
ing State constitution, made and adopted by the freeholders, liberally ex- 
tending and securing the right of suffrage. 

He (Mr. B.) next took up the history of the suffrage cause in this State, in 
reply to the remarks of the prisoner. He denied that there was any evi- 
dence that the legislature had at any time refused to conform to what they 
kneic or believed lo be the wish of a majority of the people upon this sub- 
ject. That prior to 1841 tliere never had been a majority in favor of a 
written constitution; he stated that even a small party in its favor could 
keep up its organization but for short times; and that the prisoner himself, 
after he had been instrumental in that organization, had once been a candi- 
date for Congress, witiiont making that a test question, or placing his pre- 
tensions to support on that ground; that he was run as a democrat merely, 
and on that principle received the support of the democratic party. 

He then proceeded to a review of the legislative proceedings upon the pe- 
tition of Elisha Dillingham and others, presented in January, 1841, praymg 
for an extension of suffrage; stating that the General Assembly promptly 
responded thereto by calling a convention to frame a constitution ; and went 
on in attempting to show that the object was defeated by a few scheming 
politicians, and by creating an excitement to restore the ascendency in pow- 
er to the defeated democratic party of the State, by taking exception to the 
mode in which tlie delegates to the convention were, by the act of the As- 
sembly, to be elected, and by thwarting in everything the action of the 
General Assembly. 

After disposing in his own way of this part of the subject, he went on to 
a consideration of the connexion subsisting between the General and State 
Governments, attempting to show the great superiority of the American over 
all other forms of government, and the confidence felt in the stability of the 
former, derived from the general diffusion of intelligence among the people ; 



Rep. No. 546. 987 

their unlimited confidence in public opinion as a corrective; and in their 
reveretice fur the laws until chunked in conformity to law. 

But (said Mr. B.) the Sii;n;es who Ibiinded our institutions were fully 
aware of the danger, and, with the wisest forecast, provided against it. And 
constructed as our National Govenitnent is, and as our State governments 
are, and connected together as they are, we have a more effectual safeguard 
against revolution than is possessed, or ever was possessed, by any other na- 
tion on earth. We look to the Federal Government to regulate our inter- 
course with foreign nations, and to protect us against f)reign aggression; 
but it is not a more effectual defence against assaults from without, than 
against domestic faction and insurrection. The States are sovereign within 
their spheres, but all are intimately connected together. The sovereignty 
of one cannot be affected, without affecting the sovereignty of all. No one 
of them can be stricken from its orbit, without disturbing, if not destroying, 
the whole system. 

By the federal constitution, the United States are to guaranty to the 
several States the republican forms of government existing; wlien the con- 
siitution vas adopted, and protect them against domestic violence. The 
State governments being thus protected by the General Government, it is 
hardly possible that n faction can ultimately prevail by force in any of the 
States. F'rom these premises, Mr. B. argued that no successful rebellion or 
revolution could ever occur in tliis country, however it might originate, or 
however widely spread, until a great majority of the people of a majority 
of all the Slates shall become infatuated for the horrors of war, rather than 
resort to the peaceful r<'medy of the ballot box. 

Mr. B next proceeded to say that the defendant was aware that the 
United States would, be bound, upon application of the governor or the 
legislature, to protect the State against d(>mesiic violence; and intended to 
call in forces from other States to resist the power of the General Govern- 
ment, and commit treason against the United States also ; and insisted that, 
adujiiiinir tlie extent of the grievances to have been such as would justify 
revolution, still he had no ri^^ht to resort to arms, unless he had adequate 
means to insure success, or strong reason for believing so. That, with all 
the aid derived from the sympathisers at the Pewter Mug and Tammany 
Hall. New York, his whole force (either at Federal hill or Chepachet) was 
but 3i)() or 4()U men I This was the extent of his means, and with them 
he commenced a revolution of this State and the United States. But (said 
Mr. B.) the prompt action, of onr oivn antJtorities, and of our own citizens^ 
rendered the interposition of the poiver of the General Government un- 
necessary. Rhode Island proved able to take care of herself The spirit 
that was with her early citizens in their struggle for regulated liberty is still 
alive, and her sons still possess hearts to cherish, and arms vigorous to de- 
fend her institutions against assaults from within or without. 

[At this point, Mr. B. intimated to the court that he proposed now to con- 
sider the question which had been previously argued to them by the pris- 
oner's counsel and himself, viz: whether treason can be committed against 
an individual State.] 

Duifee, Ck. J.— it is unnecessary for you, Mr. Attorney, to take up any 
time on that point. The court are unanimous in opinion on that point. 

Mr. Blitke. — Since, then, gentlemen of the jury, the court deem it unneces- 
sary for me to say anything on that subject, we may well take it for granted 



988 Rep. No. 546. 

that treason may be committed ag.iinst a State ; that levying war against a 
State is not necessarily treason agamst the United States," hut is treason 
against the State. There is no dispute as to vviiat is levying war. "An 
a!>sen]blage of men for the purpose of making war against the government, 
and Ml a condition to make it, (not to make it success{ully,)is levying war — 
is treason. Fiiilisting and marching men are sufficient overt acts, without 
coming to battle. If an army, avowing hostility to the government, should 
march and countermarch before the enemy, and then disperse without firing 
a gun, it would be levying war." Mr. B. said he had intended to go into 
an examination of the testimony, but the defendant had admitted the facts, 
and he did not know that he might not with safety have asked for a verdict 
against him, as upuii a confession made hi o/je>i court. It was, however, 
lie said, proved and admiitfd that the defendant collected forces, commis- 
sioned officers, and directed the troops as their commander, in May at Prov- 
idence, and in June at Chepachet ; that he attempted to take the public 
property, and ordered the guns to be fired upon those who defended it; that 
the troops under his command took prisoners of war, and conducted in all 
respects like a hostile army; that the object of all these movements was to 
overthrow the existing government, and to establish another in its stead ; 
that the whole case was made out. But it is contended (said Mr. B) that, 
in all these proceedings, the motives of the defendant were pure and patri- 
otic, and not traitorous. You can judye of a man's motives only by his 
acts. There is no process for seeing the workings of tlie heart, by which 
to determine the secret springs of action. The defendant says he did not 
intend to commit treason. But he intentionally levied war against the 
State, and the law makes that treason, whatever else he might have in- 
tended. The law affixes the intent to the act. A man who should burn 
his neighbor's dwelling might as well set up in defence that he did not in- 
tend it should be arson. A man accused of theft might have a good de- 
fence on the ground that he took the goods by inislake; but it would hardly 
do for him, at this day, to admit the intentional taking, and contend that he 
did not intend to commit theft, for the owner was rich, and he sincerely be- 
lieved a more equal distribution of properly would promote the public wel- 
fare. 1 suppose (said Mr. B.) there never was a rebellion in which some of 
the parties implicated did not believe their conduct justifiable. But a jury 
cannot consider that question; the pardoning power may ; juries and courts 
must be governed by the law and the evidence. Did the defendant levy 
war? is the only question you have to answer by your verdict ; and there 
is no way for avoiding the question, for the facts are all proved and admit- 
ted. He has given you a history of his arraying troops, of the attack upon 
the arsenal, of his leaving the State, of his encampment at Chepachet, and 
his plan of attacking the forces of the United States. Is it not astonishing 
that a man of intelligence, in a country like this — more blessed in her po- 
liticctl institutions than was ever any other country on earth — should openly 
admit his intention to overturn the government of his native State by civil 
war, and carry on the war, if need be for the attainment of his purposes, 
against the United States, and detail the particulars of the whole affair, as 
though it were a matter of every-day occurrence, and as coolly, and with as 
liitle emotion as he would detail the progress of a negotiation for merchan- 
dise, or any other business transaction ! He would even arraign the coun- 
sel who opened for the government, and place him on the defensive, because 
he characterized the treasonable acts of the defendant as they are charac- 



Rep. No. 546. 989 

terized by law. He would have had him concede that, in his attempts to 
shoot down his fellow-citizens, his motives were most honorable and tiisin- 
teresied, and, for ang:ht I know, niost benevolent and cliristiayi. 

Mr. B. proceeded to say that no small portion of the defendant's testimony 
was irrelevant to the issue the jury were trying, but intended lor effect out 
of court ; that, aitliough he well might, he did not object to its introduction ; 
yet that, on the |)art of the government, none had been offered which had 
not a direct bearing on the question before the jury. Such matters as had 
been thus thrown into the case by way of embellishments, he should not 
stop to discuss, but merely allude to some portion of the testimony in jus- 
tice to some of the witnesses whose credibility was impeached. 

[Here Mr. Blake, at some lengfih, attempted to sustain the testimony of 
Mr. Orson Moffalt, but offered no additional light on the subject. By the 
time fie concluded the topic, it was quite dark; and the court took a recess 
until half past 8 o'clock p. m., at which time Mr. B. continued his argu 
ment as follows :] 

Mr. Blake next commented on the testimony of Colonel W. P. Blodget 
and Fi. H. Hazard; that they without doubt heard what they swore, aitliough 
none of the defendant's witnesses should have heard the same ; they miglit 
also have sworn to expressions used by the prisoner, whicli neither Blodget 
nor Hazard could recollect; and that the character of the two government 
witnesses was too well known to require any vindication. 

Mr. B. next reviewed and commented on the testimony of Richard 
Knight, taking occasion to sneer at the prisoner for attempting to vindicate 
himself from ttie charge of the opening counsel, that some portion of the 
troops at (Jhepachet were blacks; and because the attempt was made argu- 
ing that the prisoner did not admit that blacks had any sonls^ or any civil 
or political rights. 

It is contended (said Mr. B.) that whatever acts were done by the de- 
fendant, connected with the charges laid in the indictment, he did as the 
agent, in the name and for the benefit of the people, and therefore you are 
urged to infer the purity and patriotism of his motives. Now, what portion. 
of the people was he the agent o( ? and how many of them were in favor of 
civil war? There could not at that time have been in the State less than six 
or seven thousand men in arms. How many of them were his followers? 
Why, 234 at the arsenal, and 2.50 at Chepachet : these were for subverting 
the State government by a civil war, and their will he was willing to regard 
as law, and to sacrifice himself in effecting it. 

His own legislature, in May, would not give him countenance in using 
force ; so, soon after, he, on his own responsibility, resorted to it, in open de- 
fiance of their will and authority. And here Mr. B. commented witli some 
severity on the prisoner's motives — urged to it, as he said, by the attack made 
upon tlie counsel ; and concluded by saying that "he (the prisoner) may 
have been governed by principle. If so, it was a cold, abstract principle — a 
principle which f)etrified the heart." 

The counsel for the defendant has undertaken to ridicule the testimony 
of Mr. Hr.zard, as to the alarm which pervaded the city of Providence on 
the night the arsenal was attacked. And here Mr. B. gave the jury a hii;hly 
wrought picture of the real or imaginary terrors that pervaded the city at 
that time ; but as it did not seem to bear upon the guilt or innocence of the 
defendant under the indictment, no attempt is here made to trace it. 

Mr. B. resumed the argument, by stating that the defendant declared he 



990 Kep. No. 546. 

should not resort toother States for aid, unless, upon a requisition, ihe Presi' 
dent should order United States troops to support the State authorities: in 
that event, he did expect aid. and intended to resist the troops of the United 
States; and he very coolly tells you his design was, in that event, to conn- 
mit treason as well against the United Stales as a^rainst this State. For 
such is the law, as laid down by Judge Story in his charge to the grand 
jury, in this court house, in relation to this very case. 

[Here the attorney general read a part of the charge found in 1st Story's 
Reports, and then proceeded.] 

It was the defendant's intention, then, as he admits, to levy war against 
the United States, at the risk of involving the whole country in all the hor- 
rors of civil war. Was ever so great a work undertaken with means so 
disproportionately small — with so little prospect of success? Was there 
ever a calamity so great, produced by so trifling a cause? Admitting the 
establishment of the people's constitution to have been just and desirable 
after the question of suffrage had been conceded — I ask, if the cost of effect- 
ing it, as estimated by the defendant himself, would not have been greater, 
infinitely greater, than the good sought to be obtained? 

Mr. Blake next drew a picture of some of the consequences that must 
have been caused by such an attempt; and went on to say that many of 
the original members of the suffrage parti/, when they found the defendant 
intended a resort to force, deserted, denounced him,, and took up arms 
with the charter troops to oppose him; ascribing, after all, the bloodless 
issue of the contest to the overruling care of a special Providence, that 
would still continue to guard and protect us. 

But it is urged by the defendant, (said Mr. B.,) that in trying him, you 
also try the 14,000 men who voted for the people's constitution. If you were 
trying him for voting for the constitution, that might be true. But you are 
trying him for levying loar; and if anybody else, it would be more proper 
to say the 200 or SUO who were with him, and willing to carry out his 
plans by force. You, however, are not trying the validity of that constitu- 
tion, or the legality of the existing government, but a naked question of 
fact. Did the defendant levy war, or not? If he did, lie committed treason. 

Mr. B, next enlarged on the duty ot the jury in standing by the law, 
their own interest and the peace and security of the whole alike requiring 
it. Mr. B. conceded there miffht have been brave men with the defendant, 
but very few ; and Colonel Wheeler, who ran off in the fog, he considered 
a good type of the hisurgents, as he styled them generally. 

x\lr. B. told the jury that all the points of law raised by the defendant had 
been ruled against him by the court; but the defendant, after a verdict 
against him, could move the court for a neiv trial, or in arrest of judg- 
ment, or apply to the legislature for a pardon. That if the defendant did 
levy war, they must find him guilty — that had nothing to do with the law ; 
the court would take care of that. That the defendant himself had con- 
fessed all the facts ; and if they refused to find him guilty, it would be the 
severest blow which they could inflict upon the judiciary of the country, the 
palladium of their rights and liberties. The defendant says that the public 
will hold you responsible for the verdict you inay render in this case. Well, 
be it so, gentlemen ; and recollect that nothing will so brace up a man, 
amidst friends or foes, in the conflict of parties, as being conscious that in 
trying times, regardless of consequences to himself, he had performed his 
duty. 



Rep. No 546. 991 

Gentlemen, you are the sworn guardians of tlie law, in a case of mo- 
mentous importance — one involvino- principles that reacli to the very foun- 
dations of civil government. I will not doubt that you wiH prove true to 
the trust, without regard to personal or pohtical or party consialerations, 
nor suffer them to deter you from a faitliful performance of the obhgations 
imposed upon you by your oatlis. 



The charge of the court to the jury was then given by Chief Justice 
Durfee. 

Gentlemen : In delivering the charge in this case, I shall confine myself 
very strictly to the notes v/hich 1 have prepared for the purpose — making, 
however, such remarks, in illustration of the general propositions which 
may be advanced, as may seem necessary in order to render them more 
intelligible. 1 take this course, that we may not be misunderstood here, nor 
misrepresented elsewhere, without baving it in our power to apply a cor- 
rective. We find it necessary in this case to guard against misrepresenta- 
tion — not particularly against misrepresentations made to the people of this 
State, who know us, but against those which may be made to the people 
of the United Stales, and perhaps to posterity, t'or no one wishes to dis- 
guise it — ay, let it be proclaimed to the whole world, and through all time 
to come, that the principle which is involved in this issue lies at the very 
foundations of all our political and social institutions, and that upon your 
verdict does the future confidence of all considerate men in the durability 
and safety of our institutions depend. We have, therefore, some ambition 
to appear as we really are. 

The constitution of this State, and the act under which this court is 
organized, make it our duty to deliver to the jury, in all cases, the law in 
charge — no very desirable responsibility in any case ; least of all in one 
that has so roused the passions, and deeply stirred and agitated the popular 
mind ; but bound, from the nature of our organization as a court, and with 
the oath of God upon us, we shrink from no duty, we recoil from no con- 
sequences. 

Ill discharging this duly, (I speak not for myself merely, but for the 
court,) it is of some importance to know what the duties of a court are, and 
what the duties of a jury are; for they cannot be one and the same in rela- 
tion to the same case. If it be our duty to decide what the general law of 
the land is, it is not your duty also to decide it. If it be your duty to ascer- 
tain what the facts are, and then apply the law to tlie facts as you find 
them, it is not our duty to do the same. A judicial tribunal, which is but 
a growth of the wisdom of ages, is not so absurdly constituted as neces- 
sarily to bring the court into conflict with the jury, and the jury in conflict 
with the court; and thus to defeat all the ends of justice. If such were 
the state of things, we could have no law; what the court did, the jury 
might undo; what the jury did, the court might undo ; and thus at the 
very heart of the system would be found in full operation the elements of 
anarchy and discord. Let us see if our duties are so jumbled together, 
that we, as a court, can perform the duties of a jury, and you, as a jury, 
can perforin the duties of a court. It is the duty of this court, and of all 
other courts of common law jurisdiction, to decide upon what evidence 
shall pass to the jury, and wliat shall not. Questions as to what is evi- 



992 Rep. No. 546. 

dence, and what not, will arise; and in all time it has been made the dnty 
of the court to decide them. It is the duty ot this court, as of all others of 
like jurisdiction, to decide what shall pass to the jury as the law of t!ie land, 
touching the indictment on trial, and what shall not ; for questions as to 
what is law, and what is not law, will in like manner arise, and the law 
has appointed none but the court to decide them. If it errs in its decisions, 
it can correct them on a motion for a new trial, if the verdict be against the 
prisoner; if it wilfully decides wrong, its members are liable to impeach- 
ment and disgrace. When the evidence has passed to the jury, it is their 
duty to scan it closely — to decide what is entitled to credit, and what not; 
and when they have determined what the facts are, that are proved or con- 
fessed, they itpply the law which has been given them to the facts thus 
ascertained, and then, acting as judges both ol the law and the evidence, re- 
turn a verdict as to them, deciding under their oaths, may appear to be 
right. Here is no conflict of duties. The jury acts in harmony with the 
court, and the court with the jury. 

Gentlemen, it has been our desire in this case to adhere strictly to our 
ordinary course of ruling upon all questions that were brought before us. 
We were determined, if possible, to go not one hair's breadth beyond our 
duty, nor fall one hair's breadth short of it. In the eye of the laW; all men 
who stand at the bar of this court, accused of crimes, stand equal. We 
have no favors to deal out to the man of distinction or notoriety, which we 
deny to the lowly and obscure. In the eye of this court all are equal ; and 
while we allow them the same rij^hts, we subject them to the same rules. 
We have been earnestly pressed in this case to depart from our ordinary 
course of ruling in criminal cases. This I attribute mainly to the want of 
familiarity on the part of the accused and his counsel with our usual course 
of ruling here in criminal trials. We have been urged to permit them to 
argue questions of pure law to you, gentlemen — questions touching the 
jurisdiction of this court; questions touching constitutional law; to argue 
over again questions which have once been solemnly decided after full 
argument by eminent counsel, and which we considered closed questions — 
and that, in the midst of a jury trial ! All these motions we have been 
obliged to overrule, reserving to the accused the right to be heard, should 
it become necessary, on a motion for a new trial. Not that we have any 
doubt of the correctness of our former rulings, but that we will not refuse 
him a hearing in the proper stage of the proceedings. And now, after 
those rulings, the case comes to you to be decided according to the evi- 
dence which has passed to you, and the law which shall be found applicable 
to it. 

What is the crime set forth in the indictment? It is treason against the 
State — the highest crime known to the law ; in this State, punishable with 
imprisonment for life; in all others, where it is named, punishable with 
death; and if we pass from our own to foreign lands, and particularly to 
that country whence we derive all our political and legal institutions, pun- 
ished with death inflicted under circumstances calculated to strike the great- 
est terror, and to fix on the memory of the criminal the most histing infamy. 
I mention this, not forgetting that many noble hearts have fallen victims to 
the accusation of treason under arbitrary governments ; but simply that you 
may estimate the universal sentiment of abhorrence with which this crime 
is regarded, and that you might, while you thus estimate it, feel that it is 
your duty to require the most satisfactory evidence that it has been com- 



Hep. No. 548. 993 

^l\ulecl, and that the defendant is guilty, before you return a Verdict against 
hiai on the one hand, and that you may fee!, on the othel", the necessity of 
discharging, with firmness and fidelity, that duty which every juror owes to 
his country, under the oath which he has taken to return a verdict of guilty^ 
on legal proof of guilt. It is no less the duty of the jury than of the court 
to secure the peace of the State, by aiding in the firm and impartia'i admin- 
istration of the laws. 

Now, the first question is, can this crime be committed againf,t one of the 
States of this Union ? This question can be considered wholl y irrespective 
of this indictment, wholly irrespective of the guilt or innocence of the pris- 
oner. It involves no fact in pais. It is a question of mere constitutional 
law, and for the court alone to decide. And as the organ of the court, I say 
to you, gentlemen, that wherevet allegiance is due, Uiore treason may be 
•committed. Allegiance is due to a State, and treason may be committed 
against a State of this Union. The defendant and bis counsel have gons 
into an argument to show where the sovereign power is ; and that it is iu the 
people of the United States, considered in their primary or natural capacity 
and that it is that people which is sovereign in the State of Rhode Island, 
and not the organized people of the State itself In answer to that, it is suf- 
ficient to say that we know of no people of the United States, save that 
which the constitution of the Union has organized and formed, and they art • 
sovereign only to the extent, and in the qualified sense, which that instni . 
raent expressly giants and defines. Against the natural people, the primar, j 
capacity people. (I wish I could command a better phrase,) no crime whal .. 
ever can be committed, save that which, in violation of the laws of God, or le 
man may perpetrate on another. It is against an organized people only th; u 
any crime, and especially the crime of treason, can be committed. Wecai.j- 
not enter into those speculative inquiries as to the origin of government. 
Sufficient for the court and jury is it, that government exists. They mtjst? 
take it as it is ; and where the plain letter of the law prescribes to them thej»- 
course, that course they are bound to pursue, no less from a sense of d' ^ 
than by the requirements of the oath of God which is upon them. n}^ 
constitution of the United States itself — an instrument in which if ' ', , 
to be sought for — recognises the fact that treason may becomip' l^ hardly 
a State, by an implication too strong to be resisted. It ex*- '' , against 
that a person accused of treason in any State, who shal' fl*^*^^^^ ^^ provides 
and be found in another State, shall, on demand of ih ' ""^^ .^'^'^ justice,, 
of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, Xc , '^ executive aiithority 
having jurisdiction of the crime. ^ ^^ ^^mov^^ to the State 

The result of the debate in the conventior ,. . r , ,, . . 

the United States, in reference to the art^ ^.'ff ^""'"^f the constitution of 
ance with this view. The decision of ,,,'ji' tllT^ ^^'"'''2' '' ^ VT'"^- 
had occasion to touch the question the ont inn f ""ll ''' ^''''' '^^' ^"^^ 
constitutional law, recognise th' same fa?f Th «."^. commentators on 

ted States who presides in ^' .is diXt Hn.nl St '!.' •'';'^^' ""^ ^^l^"^" 

delivered in this district n/conte^nlatiin n thp /h°^ '" uf^f "' '^"'^^ 
ir. tKie «t„.o vor^oot;r- ' cou templatiou ot thc then unsettled disturbance 




guisr.erj, the one from the other, by the immediate objects and designs of the 
conspirators. If the blow be aimed only at the internal and munrcipai reff- 

63 r & 



994 Rep. No. 546. 

ulations or institutions of a State, without any design to disturb it in the dis- 
charge of any of its functions under the constitution of the United States, ii 
is treason against the State only ; though, if the object be to prevent it from 
discharging those functions, (as the election of Senators or electors of Presi- 
dent, and the like,) it becomes treason against the United States. If any fur- 
ther judicial opinions, delivered with reference to our recent troubles, were 
wanting in order to confirm these views, we have them in the opinion of the 
same court, and the same judge, deciding on the sovereign authority of this 
State to proclaim "martial law. Can it be doubted that that power which, 
of its own constitutional authority, can proclaim martial law, is sovereign, 
or a delegated sovereignty, and that it may define and proclaim what trea- 
son is? If any further authority were requisite on this point, we have it in 
the fact shown in the argument of the question to the court — that eleven 
out of twenty six States of our Union have inserted an article in their con- 
stitutions, defining the crime and providing for its punishment, and that 
two others have made the same provision in their statute laws. The stat- 
utes of no other of the States have been referred to, nor have been exam- 
ined by the counsel. The probability is, that, if they were examined, we 
should find, not that thirteen only of the States, but that the whole twenty- 
six have defined this crime, and made provision for the punishment of it. 

The power to provide for the punishment of this crime, the legislature 
derives not from the United States, or the people thereof; but from our own 
people, from the organized sovereign people of the State. That legislature 
1 exercising this power has declared that treason against this State shall con- 
■sist only m levying war against the same, or in adhering to the enemies 
thereof, giving them aid and comfort. This law, we now say to you, is 
constitutional, and binding on all; and that the sovereign authority of this 
State is such, that treason can be committed against it. 

We are now prepared, gentlemen, to consider the indictment. The in- 
dictment consists of four distinct counts, upon either or all of which you 
t»re to return a verdict of guilty, or not guilt^, according to the evidence 
whkh has passed to you, and upon that evidence alone. Nothing that 
comes within your mere personal knowledge is to be taken into account. 
You are lo presume that the defendant is innocent at the outset, and to be 
led to a conviction of his guilt, if to that conviction you come, solely by 
force of the evidence given to you, or of the admissions made. 

Each of these cuvmts substantially charges that the prisoner, being un- 
der the protection of the laws of this State, and owing allegiance and fidel- 
ity to the said State, noi weighing the duty of his said allegiance, and 
traitorously devising and intending to stir up, move, and excite insurrec- 
tion, rebellion, and war against the said State, with force and arms, un- 
lawfully and traitorously did conspire, compass, imagine, and intend to 
raise and levy war, insurrection, and rebellion against the said State ; and, 
in order to perfect, fulfil, and bring to effect the said compassings, im- 
aginations, and intents of him, the said Thomas Wilson Dorr, he, the said 
Thomas Wilson Dorr, with a great multitude of persons, amounting to a 
great number, armed and arrayed in a warlike manner, being then and 
there unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously assembled and gathered 
together, did falsely and traitorously assemble and gather themselves to- 
gether against the said State, and then and there, with force and arms, did 
falsely and traitorously, and in a warlike and hostile manner, array and 
dispose themselves against the said State, and then and there, in pursuance 



Rep. No. 546. 995 

of the said traitorous intentions and purposes aforesaid, he, the said Thomas 
Wilson Uorr, with the said persons so as aforesaid traitorously assembled 
and armed and arrayed, in manner aforesaid, most wickedly, maliciously, 
and traitorously did ordain, prepare, and levy war against the said State, 
contrary to the duty of his said allegiance and fidelity, against the form ot 
the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dig- 
nity of the Slate. 

The particular overt act charged on the prisoner in each count, is, that 
he, together with ihe armed multitude described, with force and arms, did 
falsely and traitorously, and in a warlike and hostile manner, array and 
dispose themselves agamst the State. The only essential difference in the 
counts is, that the first two charge the overt acts to have been committed in 
Providence— the first on the 17th of May, 1842; the second on the ISth of 
the same month. The two succeeding counts charge the overt acts to 
have been committed in Glocester, in the county of Providence — one on 
the 26th day of June, 1S42; the other on the 27th of the same month. 

The overt act charged in each of these counts must be proved by at 
least two witnesses, or by the prisoner's confession in open court. They 
may be the same two witnesses, or other two witnesses ; but two witnesses 
at least there must be. There nuist be tv/o witnesses to prove the particular 
overt act or part which the prisoner is in each count charged with having 
taken in the levying of war; and when once any particular overt act is 
fixed upon him by the two witnesses required, or by the confession, he 
must be deemed guilty of levymg war, as described and proved under that 
particular count which contains sucli overt act. The acts of the armed 
a'-semblage then become his, unless he prove that he had abandoned the 
conspiracy, or was so absent that he conld not have participated in it. 

Now, the first question of law is, what is it which constitutes the levying 
of war within the meaning of the act? In giving you the meaning of 
these words, we shall rely as little as possible upon our own judgment. 
We shall endeavor to be governed as much as possible by the opinions of 
those able jurists who, undisturbed by the excitement and alarm of an 
agitated conmiunity, have, after calm and deliberate consideration, pro- 
nounced their meaning. " To constitute," says Justice Story in the charge 
to which I have already referred, "an actual levy of war, there iTiust be an 
assembly of persons met for the treasonable purpose, and some overt act 
done, or some attempt made by them with force to execute, or toward ex- 
ecuting that purpose. There must be a present intention to proceed in the 
execution of the treasonable purpose by f>rce. The assembly nuist now 
be in a condition to use it, if necessary, to further, or to aid, or to accom- 
plish their treasonable design. If the assembly is arrayed in a military 
manner — if they are armed and march in a military form, fur the express 
purpose of overawing or intimidating the public, and tluis attempt to carry 
into effect the treasonable design, that will of itself amount to a levy of 
war, although no actual blow has been struck, or engagement taken place." 
This construction of the meaning of the words " levying war against the 
State," accords entirely with the opinion of Chief Justice Marshall, delivered 
in the case of Aaron Burr, and. in the main, with that of all eminent Ameri- 
can jurists and writers on the same subject; and we now give it to you as 
the construction which this court places upon those words. 

Let us now consider this construction of thn meaning of those words 
with reference to the evidence which has passed to you under the first two 



996 Rep. No. 546. 

counts in this indictment. It is for you to say what that evidence proves'; 
but I may put these questions to you. Has it been proved by two or more 
witnesses, or by confessions in open court, that on the 17th and 18ih of 
IMay, or either of those days, there was assembled in Providence a body of 
armed men, arrayed in a militaiy manner; that they had provided them- 
selves with artillery, musketry, or like implements of war, for the express 
purpose of making an assault upon, or taking possession of, the State's 
arsenal or magazine of arms in Providence ; that they marched on the 
night of the 17th, or morning of the 18th, with intent of carrying into 
effect their design ; that they arrayed themselves in arms before the arsenal^ 
that the arsenal was at that time in the actual occupation of the military- 
forces of the government of the State; that they sent a messenger with a 
flag to demand its surrender; that upon the refusal to surrender, the mes- 
senger returned ; and that upon his return, or before it, one or more of the 
guns were aimed at the building; that there were two attempts made to 
discharore them into the building? if you believe these facts have been 
proved by the two witnesses, or by the confession of the prisoner, it is the 
opinion of this court, not only that war was levied, but actually carried on 
against the State, althouoh not a single gun was discharged, and no en- 
gagement actually took place. 

But, supposinff you sliould be satisfied that war had been thus levied, this 
will not justify you in returning a verdict of guilty; you must be satisfied 
by two or more credible witnesses, or by confessions in open court, that the 
prisoner took a part in it; in other words, his particular overt act must be 
thus proved upon him. it is observed, in the case of Bollman and Swart- 
v/out, that if a body of men be actually assembled for the purpose of effect- 
ing by force a treasonable object, all those who perform any part, however 
mfnute, or however remote from the scene of action, and who are actually 
leagued in the general conspiracy, are to be considered traitors. "Both cir- 
cumstances (says Judge Marshall) must concur; they must perform a part 
which will furnish the overt act, and they must be leagued with the con- 
spirators. He who comes within this description, levies war, arrays and 
disposes armed men against the State." If this applies to the private in the 
ranks, it pre-eminently applies to the commander-in chief. As to him, it 
can only be necessary to prove that he claims to be such commander, and 
to prove his presence at the scene of action ; for it cannot be supposed that 
an assault can be made on an armed arsenal or fortress, in the presence of 
the commander in-chief, without his orders, unless it be made so to appear. 
Indeed, it has been declared by the highest authority, that to appear at the 
head of a rebel army is itself an overt act of levyingf war. The main ques- 
tion, then, is, Did the prisoner march with this body of men to the arsenal; 
or was he then and there present, and is the fact proved by the two or more 
credible witnesses, or confessed by him in open court? If you believe, 
from such evidence or confession, that he was leagued with the conspira- 
tors, and performed a part, the overt act or acts charged are fixed upon him, 
and there is no alternative but to return a verdict of guilty on one»or both 
these counts in the indictment. 

I now pass to the other two counts in the indictment. These charge the 
levying of war against the State, in Glocester, on the 25th and 27th of June. 
Was war then and there levied, within the meaning of the Jaw? That is 
the first question which you have to decide. An assemblage of armed men 
for a treasonable purpose may sometimes accomplish its object by the terror 



Rep. No. 546. 997 

'which it inspires ; and hence it has heen decided, that actual violence to 
external objects is not necessary to constitute the levying of war. It can 
hardly be doubled that '-if a rebel army," to use the language of Chief 
Justice Marshall, "avowing its hostility to the sovereign power, should 
front that of the government, should march and countermarch before it, 
should manoeuvre in its face, and should then disperse, from any cause 
whatever, without firing a gun," — it can hardly be doubted, I say, that it 
would amount to an act of levying war. True, the government troops 
were not present, and under the eye of the insurgent force at (^hepachet, 
as at the arsenal ; but a portion of the State, if not actually invaded by a 
foreign force, was, nevertheless, (as all tlie testimony goes to show,) in the 
actual occupation of a body of armed men hostile to the government. The 
laws of the legal government did no longer there afford protection to its 
peaceful citizens; men were taken and treated as prisoners of war; prop- 
erty was seized by the strong arm of military force. The hostile force oc- 
cupied an entrenched camp on a hill commanding the public highways, 
and a number of pieces of ordnance were mounted tind loaded, and so 
directed as best to defeat an assaihng force. Ammunition was there; a 
commissary department was established, and from two to tliree hundred 
men were daily drilled on the height, as preparatory to further operations. 
Everything indicated preparations for a permanent military occupation of 
a portion of the State. Knowledge of these facts threw the whole State 
into military array, and subjected it to martial law. 

This was the external appearance of the movement ; and certainly it does 
present an appearance of a movement of a warlike character, and equalling, 
at least, a mere military manoBUvring in front of the government forces, as 
mentioned by Chief Justice Marshall. 

Should you be satisfied by the confession in open court, or by other evi- 
dence, that an armed force of two or three hundred persons was actually 
embodied at the time and place mentioned in the indictment, there en- 
trenched in a fortified camp, with the avowed object of overturning tlie 
existing government, and establishing a new one on its ruins, and to that 
end taking prisoners of war and seizing private property, there is no doubt 
in the mind of this court but that such acts amount to a levy of war within 
the meaning of the statute. But though, from the proof in the case, you 
should come to this conclusion, you still cannot find the prisoner guilty, 
wnless you are also satisfied by the two or mere credible witnesses, or by 
his confession, that he performed a part which will be the proof of the overt 
act. Here also, to prove that he was present, acting as coujmander in chief, 
is, as under the two preceding counts, at once to prove that he took a part 
and was leagued with the conspirators. 

The material point here to be proved is the overt act; and any two credi- 
ble witnesses who swear that they saw him with the insurgent force, armed, 
marching with them, or performing any other part in furtherance of the 
common design, are sufficient to establish the overt act. The intent with 
which he was there, or the character which he, as their comniander-in chief, 
assumed, may be established by proof of his own admissions, or by his dec- 
iaratious in open court, or by his acts; and may be proved by one, or any 
number of witnesses, each testifying to a distinct admission or a distinct 
fact. Now, gentlemen, if it has been tlius proved, under either or both of 
these counts, that he performed a part with the insurgent force — that he 
was their commander in chief — these two counts also are sustained, and it 



998 Rep. No. 546. 

will be your duty to return a verdict of guilty ; otherwise, a verdict of no6 
guilty, on the same counts, or either of them. 

But it is due to the prisoner, since such has been his course, to say, that 
from the testimony which he has put in, and his declarations here in court, 
he has seemed to be rather ambitious to show that be was there perforniing 
a part, what that part actually was, and how he stood related to his asso- 
ciates. 

It may be, gentlemen, that he really believed himself to be the governor 
of this State, and that he acted throughout under ihis delusion. However 
this may go to extenuate the offence, it does not take from it its legal guilt. 
It is no defence to an indictment for the violation of any law, for the de- 
fendant to come into court and say, " I thought that 1 was but exercising a 
constitutional right, and I claim an acquittal on the ground of mistake." 
Were it so, there would be an end to all law and all government. Courts 
and juries would have nothing to do but to sit in judgment upon indict- 
ments, in order to acquit or excuse. The accused has only to prove that 
he has been systematic in committing crime, and that he thought that he 
had a right to commit it, and, according to this doctrine,, you must acquit. 
The main groimd upon which the prisoner sought for a justiScation was, that 
a constitution had been adopted by a majority of the male adult population 
of this State, voting in their primary or natural capacity or condition, and 
that he was subsequently elected, and did the acts charged as governor 
under it. He offered the votes themselves to prove its adoption, which were 
also to be followed by proof of his election. Tliis evidence we have ruled 
out. Courts and juries, gentlemen, do not count votes to determine whether 
a constitution has been adopted, or a governor elected, or not. Courts take 
notice, without proof offered from the bar, what the constitution is or was, 
and who is or was the governor of their own Slate. It belongs to the 
legislature to exercise this high duly. It is the legislature, which, in the 
exercise of its delegated sovereignty, counts the votes, and declares whether 
a constitution be adopted, or a governor elected, or not ; and we cannot revise 
and reverse their acts, in this particular, without usurping their power. Were 
the votes on the adoption of our present constitution now offered here to 
prove that it was or was not adopted, or those given for the governor under 
it, to prove that he was or was not elected, we could not receive the evi- 
dence ourselves — we could not permit it to pass to the jury. And why not .^ 
Because, if we did so, we should cease to be a mere judicial, and become a 
political tribunal, with the whole sovereignty in our hands. Neither the 
people nor the legislature would be sovereign. We should be sovereign, 
or you would be sovereign ; and we should deal out to parties litigant, here 
at our bar, sovereignty to this or that, according to rules or laws of our own 
making, and heretofore unknown in courts. In what condition would this 
country be, if appeals could be thus t;iken to courts and juries? This jyny 
might decide one way, and that another ; and the sovereignty might be 
found here to-day, and there to- morrow. Sovereignty is above courts or 
juries, and the creature cannot sit in judgment upon its creator. Were this 
instrument offered as a constitntion of a foreign State, we might, perhaps, 
under some circumstances, require proof of its existence; but, even in that 
case, the fact would not be ascertained by counting the ^otes given at its 
adoption, but by the certificate of the secretary of state, under the broad 
seal of the State. This instrument is not offered as a forei2;n constitution ; 
•and this court is bound to know what the constitution of the government is 



Rep. No. 546. 999 

under which it acts, without any proof even of that high character. We 
iinow nothing of the existence of the (so called) " people's constitution" as 
law; and there is no proof before you of its adoption, and of the election of 
the prisoner as governor under it; and you can return a verdict only on 
the evidence that has passed to you. Our ruling on this point is in exact 
accordance with that on the same point in the trial of the indictment of the 
State against Franklin Cooley, where, after an elaborate argument, it was 
unanimously decided that no such evidence could be received by the court, 
or pass to the jury. 

This case is now with you, gentlemen ; you can find the prisoner guilty 
on one or more counts in the indictment, and not guilty on the residue; or 
you may return a verdict of guilty or not guilty, generally, according as you 
find the law applies to the evidence given you. 

The court has now performed its duty ; go ye, gentlemen, and do yours. 

Mr Turner. — We wish the court furtl:er to charge the jury, that in 
criminal trials for capital oti'ences, the jury are the judges of the law, as well 
as of the facts in the case : and also, that the evidence for the State does not 
support the charge of traitorous and criminal intent, as laid in the indict- 
ment. 

Chief Justice Diirfee. — We can charge the jury only as we have charged 
them: they are to apply the law, as laid down to them by the court, to the 
facts as they may find them proved before them. On the other point, the 
only question of intent which the jury have to consider, is, if they find all 
or any of the overt acts of levying war sufficiently proved, whether the de- 
fendant, at the time, intended to commit those acts. 

The jury, then, at a quarter before 11, p. m., retired, and the court took 
a recess. At twenty minutes bef)re 2 o'clock on Tuesday morning, the 
jury came into court and pronounced a verdict of guilty; which being 
duly recorded and read, the prisoner was remanded to the custody of the 
sheriff, and the court took a further recess until 8 o'clock, a. m. 

[After the verdict of the jury had been received and recorded by the 
clerk, Mr. Justice Haile, (Chief Justice Durfee beins: absent,) m dismiss- 
ing the jury, thmiked thein '■'■for their punctual attendarice, mid for the 
faithful inannt^r in ivhich they had discharged their dutyP 

One of the jury, immediately after they separated, beirjg asked whether 
there had been any division among them about their verdict, replied, ^^No. 
There was nothing for us to do — the court tnadt everything plaiii for usP 

Another juror, being asked why they remained out so long, said ^'- they 
agreed u})on their verdict immediately; but remained out, so thai the crowd 
inight disperse to their homes.^^j 

Tuesday morning, May 7 , 1844. 

At 8 a. m., the court met. All the judges present. 

3Ir. Blake^ attorney general., moved that Thomas W. Dorr be brought 
into court, to receive sentence upon the verdict rendered against him. 

Mr. Turner.^ when Mr. Dorr came in, njoved the court to stay the sen- 
tence until he could prepare a bill of exceptions, and file a motion for a 
new trial. 

Mr. Blake did not object, as the legislature was then sitting in the house, 
and both he and his associate counsel would be necessarily engaged there; 
but wished to be furnished with a copy of it as soon as possible. 



1000 Rep. No. 546. 

After some discnssion between the counsel, the prisoner, and the coort, 
as to tirn''', the motion was granted. Ten d;iys were allowed for filing the 
motion, and the court adjourned for the hearing to the second Monday (the 
10th) of June. 

On the 1.5th of May, Mr. Dorr, hy his counsel, Mr. Turner, filed in the 
clerk's office the following bill of exceptions and motion for a new trial, 
viz: 

" Nkwfort, sa. 

" Supreme Court, March term, A. D., 1844. 

^'Indictment. 

"The State vs. '^I'homa.s W. Dorr. 

" And now, on this fourteenth day of the term of said court, after ver- 
dict and before .sentence, the said Dorr moves the honorable court thai said 
verdict may be set aside, and that no judgment ho rendered thereon, and 
that a new trial of the said indictment may IjC awarded to him by the same, 
for the reasons following, viz: 

" 1. because Jo.sejjh Paddock, jr., the foreman of the jury, and also 
William L. Melville, jr., ai)d Uenjamin (Jarr, members o( ihe jury, before 
the jury were emf-antielled, had, each of them, formed opinions of the 
giult of the dftfftndatit, and had ex[)ressed such opinions, and in te-nns of 
prejudice and erirninaiion toward thie defendant, personally ; thereby man- 
ifesting toward him feelings of vindictivcness and hostility that disquali- 
fied them to act as imp;irtial jurors. 

"2. [Jecaiise Ah!jer Tallman, who was called for a juror, and testified 
that he had neither formed nor expressed an opinion upon the charges laid 
in the ifidictrnent, and was otherwise competent, was set aside upon insuffi- 
cient testimony. 

"3. because a challenge against Samuel Westcott, for cause, by the de- 
fcndiint, as having formed and cxf^ressed an opinion of the guilt of the 
prihoner gerif;rally, though not upon the charges as .sjjecifically set forth in 
the indictment, was overruled by the court, and defuiidanl was compelled 
to set him aside by a peremptory cliallenge. 

"4. JJecause tfie writ u{ venire for the twelve additional jurors, issued on 
Friday, the 2f>th day of April, 1844, and served and returned by George 
Ilowlaiid, a d(!puty shf.riff of said county of Newport, was wrongt'ully and 
illegally .'^ervcd and returned, in that the said jurors returned on said writ 
of venire^ or some of them were so returned, at the noniination and sug- 
gestion of William H. Cranston, esq., attorney and coiins(;llor at law, and 
an officer of this court, whose frequently-expressed ofiinions are inimical (o 
the traverser, and who, since Jhe commencement of the present trial, hits 
acted apparently as an attorn<'y with, and as an agent in the employment 
and und«'r the dir(!Ction of, the attorney general, and has summoned wit- 
nes;s(:s in behalf of the Slate, from remote parts of tlie Island; and a ma- 
terial portion of the testimony to prove said allcifations having come to the 
knowlftd-re of the traverser, since the filinf/ of tins original challeinfe to the 
array of tlif, jury so illegally rflurned, and since the vv.nhcl m this cause. 
".5. because neither the defi-ndant nor his counsel were furnished with 
copies of either of the four last panels of jurors, returned upon writs of 



Fep. No. 546. 1001 

venire two full days before the said jurors were called and sworn, as the 
defendant was eiiiitled to be; and in one instance he was tarnished with a 
copy of a return only about three hours before the time for canvassnicr the 
same in court ; whereby the defendaiii's right of challenge, for cause, was 
greatly and injuriously abridged. 

"6. Because, before the full jury was sworn, the defendant's counsel 
moved tiie court to permit the defendant to recall his peremptory challenges 
to six of the persons examined for jurors and set aside, and to challencre 
said persons for cause, upon proof to be produced, of their incompetency; 
which motion was denied by the court. 

"7, Because the defendant was not furnished with, althou2;h he season- 
ably applied for, a list of the government witnesses, two ftiU days before the 
trial of said indictment commenced, as he was entitled to be; and l)ecause 
several witnesses were sworn and examined, of whom he had no previous 
notice whatever. 

'' S Because, before any evidence was introduced to prove eitlier of the 
overt acts laid in the indictment, the court permitted evidence to go to the 
jury of acts done by the detendant and others, at a period of lime long be- 
fore the first overt act charged in said indictment. 

'' 9. Because the prosecutor was permitted to otfer to tlie jury proof of acts 
in agijravation of the charges in ihe indictment, in which tlie defendant had 
no part, and of which he had no knowledge. 

'• UK Because the court would not permit the defendant to jiistify himselt", 
by ortering to the jury the votes given by the people, and other testimony, 
to prove tilt-' adoption of the peoples consiituiion in December. 1^41. by a 
majority of the adult male citizens of the United States resident in this 
State; and to prove that, under said constitution, and according to the pro- 
visions tliereof in April, 1S42, the delendant was duly elected governor of 
this State; althouirli the prosecutor admitted that "if the dtfendauf was 
govertior, he had a riiiht to do all that he did," and was permitted to intro- 
duce evidence to prove that on the 3d day of May. ISI'2. in General As- 
sembly sitting in Providence, the defendant took an oaih as governor of the 
State, and openly and avowedly acted, and was treated as such by said As- 
sembly. 

" 11. Because the court, after the testimony recited in the preceding Idih 
spi^cification had bten ruled out, when otfered to justify the acts and pro- 
ceedings of the detendaiit. also refused to permit the defendant to oti'er said 
testimony to repel ilie charge of malicious and treasonable motives and in- 
tentiotis as laid in the indictment. 

•• 12. Because the eourt refused to permit to pass to the jury a copy of the 
people's constitution, to show that a republican form of government was 
provided for in the same, according to the guaranty in the constitution of 
the United States. 

" 13. Because the court would not permit the defendant or his counsel to 
argue to the jury liie several matters of law deemed important for his full 
defence, and especially the following, viz: 

''1st. That, in this country, treason is an olience agaiiist the United 
States only, and cannot be commi(ted against an individual Slate. 

"2d. That the 4th section of the act of Rhode Island, of March. 1S42, 
entitled '•An act relating to ofi'ences against the sovereign power of the 
State,' whereby indictments may be found out of thu county where the of- 
fences were charged to have been committed, is unconstitutional and void, 



1002 Rep. No. o46. 

as destructive of the common right of trial by jury, which was a funda- 
mental part of the Enghsh constitution at the time of the declaration of 
American independence, and has ever since been a fundamental law in 
Khode Island. 

"3d. That said act, if constitutional, gave this court no jurisdiction to 
try this indictment at that time in the county of Newport ; all the overt 
acts being therein charged as committed in the county of Providence, where 
the defendant is by law entitled to be tried. 

"4th. That in law the defendant acted justifiably as governor of the 
State, under a valid constitution, rightfully adopted, whicli he was sworn to 
support. 

" 14. Because the court overruled the first point in the preceding 13th 
specification, and instructed the jury that treason mi^ht be committed against 
a State. 

" 15. Because the court refused at that time to hear any argument from 
the defendant, or his counsel, upon the 2d, 3d, and 4th points in said 13th 
specification, and instructed the jury that the defendant could not have been 
justified, by any evidence offered by him. in acting as governor of the State. 

" 16. Because the court then refused to liear an argument from the defend- 
ant, or his counsel, to show that, in capital cases, the jury are the judges 
both of the law and of the facts; and misdirected the jury, in charging 
them that they were not the judges of the law and of the facts in said cases, 
but were bound by their oaths to take the law as laid down by the court, 
and were no further judges of it than simply in applying it, as given to 
them by the court, to the facts which they deemed proved in the case. 

" 17. Because the court misdirected the jury, in charging them that the 
only question of intention on the part of the defendant, which, under their 
oaths, they could consider, was, whether the defendant, at the times laid in 
the indictment, intended to commit the acts charged against him in the 
same, 

" 18. Because the officers charged with the service of writs of venire for 
the return of 108 jurors, selected and summoned the whole number, except 
one, from the members of one political party in the State, whose political 
feelings and prejudices are inimical to the political party to which the de- 
fendant is attached, and to the defendant himself." 

Monday, June 10, 1844. 

The court met at 3 o'clock, p. m ; all the judges present. 

The attorney general^ (Blake,) upon Mr. Dorr's being brought into court, 
renewed his motion for sentence; but was reminded by Mr. Turner that 
the motion for a new trial took precedence of that motion. 

Durfee^ Chief Justice. — We are ready to hear the motion. 

Mr. Turner. — Since the filing of the motion, evidence has come to our 
knowledge of good cause of exception to another of the jury, and I there- 
fore move for leave to insert in the 1st specification the name of Benjamin 
Carr. 

Mr. Blake. — I don't know that we have any objection ; insert as many 
names as you please. 

The court saw no reason, if wished, why the amendment should not be 
made. 

The amendment was made accordingly. 



Rep. No. 546. 1003 

Mr. Turner then read the exceptions at full length, (see ante;) and, in 
support of the first, read an affidavit, as follows: 

''NEWPORT, sc: 

"Supreme Court, March term, A. D. 1844. 

" Indictment— The State vs. Thomas VV. Dorr. 

" On motion for a new trial. 

"And now, on the 15th day of the term, the said Dorr, on solemn oath 
declares and says that he verily believes, and expects to prove, that Joseph 
Paddock, jr., William ii. Melville, jr., and Benjamin Carr, three of the 
jurors em; anneled to try said indictment, and who rendered a verdict 
thereon against him of guilty, had, each o( them, before they were sworn 
on said jury, formed and expressed an opinion of his guilt of the oftence 
charged in said indictment, and unfavorable to him personally and gener- 
ally; and that this affiant had no knowledge of the fact that either of said 
jurors had so done, whereon to ground a cliallenge forcnnse against either 
of them, until after they had been empannelled ; and no knowledge in re- 
lation 10 the ground of challenge against said Paddock and Carr, until after 
said verdict had been rendered as aforesaid. 

"THOS. W. UORR. 

" Filed loth day of the term, and sworn to in open court. 

"VVM. GILPIN, Clerk:' 

It was proposed by Mr. Turner, and assented to by the attorney general 
and the court, that the several specifications should be separately taken up, 
argued, and disposed of, in their order; and tiiat mode was pursued, as to 
the argument, until Tuesday noon. 

Mr. Turner. — I will now call the witnesses in proof of the 1st specifi- 
cation. 

Mr. Blake. — I object to any testimony being olfered against any juror, 
as bemg too late ; an examination of the jurors having been fully gone into 
at the time they were empainieled. 

Mr. Turner contended that this was the legal and proper time for taking 
the exception, where the facts (as in the present case) were unknown to 
the party affected, or his counsel, when the jurors were sworn. He read 11 
Pick. Rep. 466. 

Mr. Bl'ike. — Was that a capital case? 

Mr. Atwell (wfio at this time was well enough to be in court.) — No, a 
fotirpencc'half penny case, and liberty is worth more than that. 

Mr. Turner rrad 3 Dall. Rep. 51n, Fries' case; 2d Chitty's Black. 272; 
4th Tuck. Bl. 350, 3.52 ; Hale's Com. Law, 257; 1 Chit. Cr. L. 422, 443, 
437, and 43S ; and commented upon the authorities as warranting the ex- 
amination of witnesses on a motion for a new trial, to prove the disqualifi- 
cation of jurors. 

Mr. Blake. — lam willing the testimony should be taken, reserving the 
objection. 

Mr. Turner — We prefer to have the questions settled as we go along. 

Mr. Blake went on in reply. In England (he said) no such evidence or 
objection would be listened to a moment. He read 17 Mass. Rep. 515; 1 Pick. 
Rep. 41 ; 6 Dane's Dig. 233 ; Dig. N. Y. Rep. 318, 320 ; and 5 Mass. Rep, 



1004 Rep No. 546. 

78. The court must look at the facts of the present case, and, before Ihey 
^rant a new trial upon this, or any other ground, consider whether a new 
jury could return a different verdict. The prisoner admitted all the facts 
at the trial ; a new trial would, therefore, in no respect subserve the pur- 
poses of justice. I object to the testimony. 

Mr. Turner read 14th Mass. Rep. 205, and from 1 Pick. Rep. 41, cited 
by the attorney general. 

Mr. BosiDorth — When the prisoner has had an opportunity to challenge 
the juror, it cannot be proper to allow him again to go into the matter, any 
more than it would be if the defendant had neglected any other portion of 
his defence, which, after trial, it might be considered best for him to put in. 
If this doctrine prevail, the evils of such a precedent would be great ; cases 
might happen that the juror, weeks and months after the trial, might be far 
absent, and might not give the explanations neces:jary to sustain his decla- 
rations on the voire dire. No cause of objection to a juror will set aside a 
verdict, unless it appear that that cause, in some way or degree, did actually 
influence the verdict. Reads 2 vol. Dig. N. Y. Rep. 320. 

Mr. Alivell. — There is no one authority amongst those cited by the gen- 
tleman, that shakes the position, that whatsoever would have been good 
cause of challenge before trial, would be good ground for a new trial, if 
discovered atler trial, as is here stated in the defendant's affidavit. The at- 
torney general contends that these jurors have been once tried. We then 
failed to prove the partiality of Paddock, the foreman, by the witness we 
produced; since then, we have ascertained the existence of evidence, which, 
if then produced, must have set him aside. It is said the defendant has 
confessed everything in open court. His plea is not guiUy. True, he has 
stated the facts; but, taking all he said together, he was in fact not guilty. 

If the right of trial by jury be worth anything, it should be securely 
guarded in cases like the present. A fair trial has not been had. We can 
and we wish to prove that three of the jury had formed and expressed opin- 
ions hostile to the defendant- such opinions as should utterly disqualify any 
man from being a juror ; the objection can now be well taken advantage of, 
in the mode we are pursuing, and is, of itself, if made good by the proof, a 
sufficient ground for a new trial. 

It must be recollected that the defendant is not in his own county : he is 
a stranger to the people from whom the jurors come — knows them not even 
by sight, name, or reputation. It is known that some of the parmels were 
returned but a very short time before the defendant was called on to make 
his objections to them. He had not time to ascertain whether these stran- 
gers had expressed hostile feelings or not. He did not know their neighbors 
or associates, or to whom to apply himself to learn their qualifications or 
disqualifications as jurors. We did all we could in canvassing their quali- 
fications ; and the court, from all they could hear to the contrary, adjiidged 
them qualified, and let them sit. Since that time, the evidence of tlieir un- 
fitness has come to light; and we crave permission of the court to intro- 
duce it. 

After a brief consultation by the court, 

Durfee, Ck. /. — Proceed, Mr. Turner, to the next article; the court will 
consider of this. 

Turner rend the 2d article. [The taking Abner Tallman off the jury 
without sufficient cause.] Your honors will recollect the circumstances 
under which Mr. Tallman was ordered off the jury. Upon being called 



Rep. No. 546. 1005 

and examined on his voire dire by the attorney general, he answered the 
questions promptly and nnequivocally, that he had neitfier formed nor ex- 
pressed any opmion of the gnilt or innocence of the prisoner. The attor- 
ney general, however, asked the court to let the juror stand by for the pres- 
sent, so that he might hunt up witnesses against him; and it was on this 
business that Mr. Cranston was despatched to Portsmouth on the afternoon 
of the 26th of April. The object was accomphshed ; the next morning, a 
man named Waite, a blacksmith, was produced on the stand, who swore 
that on a certain occasion, at his shop, Tallinan, in conversation with him, 
(Waite,) when no person was present, had said that, if he was a juror, he 
would not convict Dorr '•'■till all was blue^^ or "«s long as he had a drop 
of blood in his veins^ Upon cross examination, he stated that he had 
never mentioned this conversation with Tallman to any person whatever ; 
and that when first called on by Mr. Cranston, he could not recollect any- 
thing at all about it, but told Mr. Cranston " he guessed it would come to 
him in an hour or two." He also stated that, on the occasion when he 
had the conversation with Tallman, they also conversed about Tallman's 
dog having been charged with killing sheep, and Tallman being called on 
to pay for them, about which Tallman was quite wrathy; and that Tail- 
man used one of the expressions about trying Mr. Dorr, and the other about 
paying for sheep his dog did not kill ; but which he used to the one. and 
whicli to the other, he could not even then remember ; [it had not all come 
to hijfi.] The juror, when called on after hearing the testimony of Waite, 
denied the statement as to Mr. Dorr totally, and went on to give a clear, 
connected, and distinct account of the whole conversation that took place 
between them — showing, I think plainly and conclusively, that the language 
used, whatever it might have been, had relation entirely and exclusively 
to the affair of the dog, as Tallman swore. ' I at that time contended, and 
I contend now, may it please your honors, that Tallman should not have 
been set aside upon that evidence; there was, at most, only oath against oath. 
It should be considered, however, that Waite's recollection was most im- 
perfect ; he wanted an hour or two to remember anything. Tallman's is 
ready, consistent, and perspicacious — and besides, Waite, here on the stand, 
swore without qualification that no person was present ; that he had never 
told it to any person whatever; yet Mr. Cranston, when sent out on an 
exploring expedition, goes right to Mr. Waite, and finds him the very man 
he wanted. It was contended, however, that the one was positive, the 
other ncffniive testimony; but 1 do not think this case falls within the rule 
of negative SluA positive testimony. That rule is intended to apply to cases 
where both witnesses are merely hearers ; in which case, he who swears he 
did hear is entitled to belief" — not he who only swears that he did not 
hear. I submit, may it please your honors, that the decision was against 
the right of the prisoner and the weight of the evidence. 

Mr. Dorr. — The testimony of Tallman is positive — it being what he 
said, and when and how he said it ; whilst that of Waite contradicts itself, 
and is negative. Tallman not only tells what he did ?iot say, but precisely 
what he did say. 

Blake. — This matter, at the time of it, was fully argued ; and the court, 
in their discretion, ordered the jurors to stand aside. The objection is now 
made that the juror was set aside on insufficient testimony. The testimony 
of Tallman was negative, because Waite swore to what he heard him say; 
and all that Tallman said ainounted to no more than that he did not 



1006 Rep. No. 546. 

recollect it, althouo;h he swore positively enough that he had not used any ' 
such language. On the other hand, Waite's was positive^ and should pre- 
vail ajjainst that of Tallman, on all the principles of evidence. 1 really do 
not think this matter calls for anything further from me. 

Mr. Turner next considered and argued article 3d of the exceptions. 
[That the court overruled a challenge for cause to Samuel Westcott, and 
thereby compelled the prisoner to waste a peremptory challenge.] The 
court will recollect in the case of Mr. Westcott, that, in answeir to the 
standing interrogatories put by the attorney general, the juror stated that, 
from all he had seen and read in the papers, and heard talked along street, 
if one half of it was proved, he believed the prisoner was a guilty man ; 
in addition to which, we believed, notwithstanding his answer to the con- 
trary, that we had positive evidence of his having both formed and ex- 
pressed opinions to the same effect ; and he was accordingly challenged 
for cause. Benjamin H. Lawton, a witness, swore that about the time of 
the Chepachet affair, " Westcott was in a great steto,^^ and said "he hoped 
they would get the villain Uorr, and the rest of them." We rested the 
challenge upon that evidence, and the juror's own answers, insisting that 
it was a much stronger case than the one of Tallman, which the court 
had decided against us. Yet the court overruled us ; and although that 
did not complete the pannel, the prisoner was compelled to apply his last 
peremptory challenge to get rid of him. With perfect deference to the hon- 
orable court, I then thought the challenge for cause well sustained, and I 
think so still ; and have an authority in point, which I will read, and sub- 
mit to your honors that the decision in that case was erroneous. — (Reads 
9 Pick. Rep. 499.) 

Blake. — The court, upon the evidence and argument, decided this juror 
to be competent ; there was no evidence, nor is there now, of any settled 
hostility against the prisoner in the mind of the juror. If the court had 
gone upon the ground of excluding from the jury everybody that had 
talked about Governor Dorr, he would never have had a trial at all ; for 
there is nobody in the State but what has expressed his opinion one way 
or another. 

Atwell asks — Was the question as put. "formed and expressed," or 
" formed or expressed an opinion ?" 

Durfee^ Ch. J. — The former. 

Dorr. — 1 believe the juror was not set aside for having /ormecZ an opin- 
ion, if he had not also expressed it. 

Atwell. — If a man has /orme</ an opinion, it is not in accordance with the 
right of the subject, or the old fashiotied notions of the right of trial by jury, 
that a subject should have such a man for a juror to try him. If^ a man 
has formed an opinion, he is no longer impartial — he has prejudged the 
cause. It is of no importance whether he has expressed it or not, or how 
he may have formed it — whether from newspaper statements, proclamations, 
handbills, or hearsays — the lodgment is there in the mind, and the juror no 
longer "stands indifferent, as he stands unsworn." 

The court adjourn until 9 o'clock to-morrow morning. 

Tuesday morning, June 11, 1844. 

The court being opened as usual, and the prisoner brought in — 
Blake (across the table.) — Can you not inelt down some of your points, 
and run them together 1 



Rep. No. 546. 1007 

Turner. — Not in a case involving a man's liberty. 

Blake (to the court.) — I hope the counsel for the prisoner will so far 
chano;e their mode of proceeding as to open upon all their points and au- 
thorities first, in the usual way. 

Turner. — It will avoid much confusion, so far as authorities and argu- 
ments are concerned, to finish each point as we proceed. 

Bosioorth. — The great trouble is, that in this way we are called upon to 
answer irnpro?nptu all the array of authorities which they bring. We 
have had no notice of the authorities relied on. 

Durfte, Cli. J. — The proceedings went on yesterday more by an under- 
standing between the counsel, than by any direction from the court. If 
that arrangement is not further consented to, the court will proceed in the 
usual way. The counsel for the prisoner will make his full opening on all 
the points at once. 

Turner. — We are by no means strenuous about it, if the court find it 
more convenient to take that mode ; but, as the several questions are so dis- 
tinct in their nature, and can so well be argued separately, we still think that 
much time and much confusion will be saved by continuing the course 
pursued yesterday. I would, however, ask, before your proceeding either 
way, whether the court have decided upon our right to go into evidence oa 
the first exception argued yesterday? 

The court, after a short consultation, said, " We will let that question 
pass for the present." 

Turner. — I will then proceed to the fourth exception. [Here Mr. Turner 
read the article; see ante.] Upon this point, may it please your honors, 1 
propose to prove by witnesses, who have been duly summoned, and in 
attendance, that, on the 26th of April, W. H. Cranston, esq., went into 
Portsmouth, about ten miles from this place, to find witnesses for the attor- 
ney general, by whom to disqualify the juror Tallman ; that, whilst so en- 
gaged, he made inquiries of persons there for the names of such as would 
be suitable persons to serve on the jury, and wrote down their names. I 
shall prove by a certified copy of the summons (which 1 have) that it was 
fully served, returned, and sworn to, all on that day, the 26th ; and by the 
witnesses I expect to prove that he was called up by the deputy sheriff", 
Howlatid, between daylight and sunrise ; went with the officer in the same 
chaise ; attended him throughout the service of the venire — having appa- 
rently no other business; that certainly some, if not all the persons re- 
turned upon the venire, were the same individuals whose names Mr. C. 
had listed the day before ; that the officer saw, and passed by unnoticed, 
during the time, a number of qualified jurors, knowing them to be such ; 
that the last person summoned was a Newport man, pointed out by Mr. C. 
to the officer, and first spoken to himself by Mr. C. ; and we shall also 
prove, by the original in court, that the officer's return thereon, with the 
exception of the signature, is all in the proper handwriting of Mr. Cranston. 

^Staples, J. — You have not set forth in your exception the facts you offer 
to prove. 

AUoell. — The only difficulty is in the wording of the exception ; it seems 
not to be broad enough in form. I wish it amended so as to admit/wr/Aer 
evidence in support of the old allegations ; no new allegations are intended 
to be made. 

Bosworth. — The challenge to the array was made at the proper time ; 
but, being supported by no evidence, was very properly overruled. 



1008 Rep. No. 546. 

Turner. — The court said there loas evidence, but that it was insufficient. 
"We now wish to supply the deficiency with new and further evidence. I 
naove to amend the exception, so as to admit evidence to show that the 
sheriff summoned the jury at the nomination of Mr. Cranston. 

Staples, J. — You wish the court to infer, from tioo facts alleged, a suspi* 
cion against the sheriff; both of which may well be true, and yet furnish , 
no just ground of suspicion against the officer. 

Blake. — I object both to the amendment, and to offering any evidence 
under it. " It will spin this matter out to an interminable length, and we 
did not come here prepared to meet any new case.''^ Besides, this has been 
once tried and overruled. I object ! 

Atwell. — This argument, '■'■it has been once tried^'' so often used by my 
very learned friend on the other side, is very new to me ; for every motion 
for a new trial, presupposes one trial already. They say this cause of chal- 
lenge has been once tried: allow it, and what then? We say the decision 
was wrong, and wish an opportunity to prove it. In every motion of this 
sort, nine out of every ten reasons given for it, grow out of alleged wrcng 
decisions and rulings of the court during the progress of a trial, which, 
in this way, are sought to be corrected and set right. 

Now, what is the right of every man when he is accused? Why, it is to 
have txfair trial by a jury of fair, impartial men. This is a sacred right — 
tlie aegis thrown between the accused and his enemies. Suppose the ac- 
cused to be on trial away from home ; that he knows not the juror nor 
aught against him; the man appears to be fair, swears that he has no pre- 
judice or bias on his mind, and so places himself on the jury; and it after' 
wards appeals that he felt deadly hatred against the prisoner, and swore 
himself on the jury for the express purpose of producing a conviction. 
The prisoner then finds that he has not had that /air trial which the law 
tells him he is entitled to. A new trial may be denied him ; but what sort 
of a jury trial is this? It is but the merest mockery of fair trial and of 
justice. 

U the prisoner is to be deprived of the opportunity of proving the legal 
incompetency of the juror by facts he knew not of when the juror was 
sworn, and which, if known, would have set him aside, then your jury 
trial is but a shadow, not a substance, and might as well at once be abolished. 

The court decided against the amendment, and also against the suffi- 
ciency of the exception without amendment. After some irregular discus- 
sion, it was passed for the present, with an understanding that a substitute 
for it should be presented. 

Turner. — We proceed to the fifth article. (Mr. T. read the exception — 
that prisoner was not duly served with copies of the pannels of jurors re- 
turned on veriires.) The court will recollect that, at the sitting in March, 
when the first venire for sixty jurors was ordered, returnable on the 26th of 
April, and when there was intervening time enough, I suggested that it 
should issue for a greater number, and moved that the prisoner should be 
furnished with a copy of the pannel at least ten days before the trial com- 
menced — urging, as a reason, the improbability of obtaining a full jury out 
of a^^annel "of sixty, in a case where opinions had so generally been ex- 
pressed ; and to give the prisoner, who was an entire stranger to the coun- 
ty, full opportunity to ascertain the qualifications or objections to the jurors, 
without delaying the progress of the trial for that purpose, after it should 
be once commenced. The court, however, for reasons which they gave at 



Rep. No. 54G. 1009 

the lime, did not think proper to increase the nnmher, and directed the 
sheriff to furnish us with a copy of tfie pannel only two fall days before 
the time for trial. This was accordingly done ; — the whole sixty being 
ntter strangers to the prisoner, and most of them unknown to me. The 
sixteen drawn jurors, and the sixty summoned on the venire, were all ex- 
hausted on the first day of the trial, and but eight jurors sworn. The court, 
then, before its adjournment, ordered the clerk to issue two additional writs, 
for twelve each — one of them to be returned at 9 o'clock the next morning, 
the other at noon ; — directing the officers to furnish us with hsts of the 
persons summoned, as soon as those writs were served. The first of those 
lists was handed me about 8 o'clock the next morning, and the other in 
court at lU o'clock ; — the court and ourselves being then engaged in trying 
the challenge of Abner Tallman, As soon as that and another challenge 
had been disposed of, then near noon, 1 moved the court to adjourn over 
till Monday, in order to give us time and opportunity to canvass the lists, 
and, if occasion required, to make and sustain our challenges; — explaining 
to the court that, of course, up to that time, no opportunity had been af- 
forded us for that purpose. My motion, however, was only so far granted 
as to allow us until 3 o'clock, p. m., on the first list, and until Monday 
morning on the other ,• so that, instead of having two full days to canvass 
the fitness of the jurors, we had but about three hours in the one cnse, and 
only from the adjournment of the court on Saturday evening, until 9 o'clock 
on Monday morning in the other. The next venire for twelve was issued 
at the adjournment of the court on Saturday evenino;, returnableon Mon- 
day morning; a fourth on Monday evening, returnable on Tuesdny morn- 
ing; allowing, inider the circumstances, no adequate or reasonable time to 
ascertain the feelings, sentiments, or opinions of tlie persons who were to 
be called and sworn. One o( the consequences was, as your honors are. 
aware, that the prisoner was driven, in six instances, to make use of his 
peremptory challenges, when, if more lime had been allowed him, the same> 
men would have been set aside upon challenges/or r«?/5e. 

It is very true, that in lliis State we have no statute on this subject; and' 
as we have hitherto had no such cases^ we can have no established prasHce 
to regulate us. But the statute of the United States enacts that the pris- 
oner, in cases of treason^ shall be furnished with a list of the jurors five 
days; and in England, the statute of Anne, in the same cases, extends the 
time to ten days. Now, supposing neither the English nor the United 
States law to be binding on the courts in Rhode Island ; yet it is obvious 
that both make a marked distinction, in this respect, between cases of trea- 
son and all other capital offences; so that the courts here may well follow 
the practice, if they are not bound by the authority of one or the other of 
those statutes. We say, therefore, that, in this respect, the right of chal- 
lenge in the defendant was injuriously abridged, but to what extent we can- 
not tell. But be it more or less, we ask for a new trial to correctit. 

^Staples, J. — Did you make any complaints that you had not had time 
enough, when the jurors were called ? 

Turner. — I did not deem it decorous, after the court had fixed the time; 
we had repeatedly asked the court to give us longer time ; and we now ask 
if this was long enough time to canvass the qualifications of so many- 
strangers. 

Staples, J — It would have been as decorous then as it \s now. The 
64 



1010 Rep. No. 546. 

court, in several instances when challenges were made, did give you further 
time. Such an exception ought iiot to be taken here. 

Dorr. — The court fixed the time beforehand for taking up the several 
pannels. and the defendant then made no objection, because it was too late. 
The court had decided how much time he should have. The point is, that, 
for want of time, we could not ascertain o[)jections, which we have since 
ascertained. It is true, when an objeciion was made to ony particular ju- 
ror, the court did allow time for witnesses to be produced. 

Turner. — I proceed to the seventh exception. (As to withdrawing six 
peremptory cliallenges, and challenging for cause.) Your honors will rec- 
ollect, that, in the course of the morning of the third day of the trial, and 
before a full jury was empanneled, I moved the court in behalf of the 
prisoner, for leave to withdraw or revoke his peremptory challenges to six 
of the persons called and examined for jurors, and to challenge each of 
them for cause ; and stated to the court that the witnesses, by whom we 
expected to sustain those challenges, had been summoned in behalf of the 
prisoner, and were then in attendance. The court overruled the motion, 
on the ground that the jurors were not then in court, and had in fact been 
excused from further attendance , to whicli ruling the prisoner took excep- 
tion at the time. I contend, may it please your honors, that a prisoner has 
a ri<)^ht to withdraw his peremptory challenges, and challenge /or cause., at 
any time before the full empannelment of the jury. If the persons had re- 
mained in court, I doubt not we should have been allowed to withdraw 
them for the purpose we intended ; that they did not remain in court is no 
fault of the prisoner. If the objection be available at all, it is only on mo- 
tion for new trial. 

1 proceed to consider the next, the seventh exception. (Mr. T. reads 
exception as to prisoner not being furnished with a full list of government 
witnesses, &c.) Before the adjournment in March, we called for a list of 
the government witnesses, claiming a right to have it two full days before 
the trial; we were then furnished with a list of thirteen, and assured by 
the attorney general that, as soon as he ascertained the names of the others, 
we should have them. Several additional lists were from time to time fur- 
nished as we called for them, but never o^ all of them ; and in the progress 
of the examination, I designated several as they were examined, as being 
entirely new to usi. (Mr. T. here gave the names of three.) This excep- 
tion, however, need not be dwelt on, as it falls exactly within the reason 
and the law applicable to the fifth exception. (Mr. T. read 1 Chitty C. 
L. 420.) 

I proceed to the eighth exception. (Mr. T. read the exception, relating to 
admissibility of other evidence before proof of overt act.) This question 
was first raised before any evidence was put in by the government ; and 
we insisted that, according to the course of autfioruies, both in this country 
and in England, no other proof could be admitted to pass to the jury until 
some overt act was sufficiently proved by two credible witnesses; and relied 
for authority in support of that position on 4th Cranch, 4S9, 490. 493, and 
497; Foster's C. L. 149; Hawk. P. C. § 8; and Greenleaf on Evidence, 293, 
(fir-st edition.) The court, however, overruled my objection, and permitted 
the other side to introduce evidence relating to a period of time long ante- 
rior to that of the first overt act charged in the indictment. This ruling, 
also, was excepted to by the prisoner. With deference to the court, I still 
think their decision incorrect, and that the prisoner's means of defence were 



Rep No. 546. 1011 

prejudiced thereby. The same reasoning and tlie same authorities are re- 
lied on now. 

I pass to the ninth exception. 

"Ninth exception. — Because the prosecutor was permitted to offer to the 
jury proof of acts, in ai^gravation of the charges in the indictment, in 
which tlie defendant had no part, and of which he had no knowledge." 

(Upon this article a desnUory discussion took place between the court 
and Messrs. I\irner5 Atwell, and Horr, in relation to the relevancy of She! - 
!y's testimony j— it all relating to what took place atChepachet three or four 
days before Governor Dorr (;ame into Rhode Inland, and when he was 
neuher actually nor cons(rw:ticely pi-csent. The discussion so much as- 
sumed the nature of dialogue, that it was impossible to report it.) 

The next exception is the tenth. (Rejecting the evidence of the 
adoption of the people's constitution, &c.. See ante.) Much of the ar- 
gument, and many of the autliorities applicable to this exception, as the 
court will recollect, were urged in the argument of the question of 
State treason. 1 do not, therefore, propose to do more, on the present occa- 
sion, than to state the propositions I contend for, and furnish the court with 
a list of authorities in support of them; for I feel assured that the court 
will found their opinion upon their own examination of them, rather than 
upon any reasoning 1 may use upon the subject. My propositions are 
these : 

A constitution is superior only to a minority ; the majority is superior to 
that. 

As they inake the constitution, they have the power and the right to alter, 
or even abolish it. 

The people (vis. the community — the governed) are superior to tlie 
legislature — the legislature being \\\e creature of the constitution. 

The people can, therefore, derive no power and acquire no right by any 
legislative act. 

They can therefore change their constitution without any legislative 
sanction whatever. 

'I'hey can change it whenever they please, 

And by <tny mode of proceeding they may deem expedient. 

That even an express provision, in a written constitution, that change 
shall only be made m a certain specified way, is not exclusively binding, 
and cannot preclude the action of the people in such other mode as they 
may deem expedient. 

And I shall contend that the people of Rhode Island had a right to pro- 
ceed as they did, in the making and adopting the people's constitution; 
that, upon its adoption, it became the supreme law, and of binding force on 
all persons and all bodies in this State, including the legislature and the 
courts, notwithstanding another constitution may have been since adopted, 
and may be valid. And 1 ask the gentlemen on the other side to point out 
any case where a legislature has given the people the power to make a 
constitution, and where they got the power to bestow it. The people give 
power to the legislature, the legislature to the courts, the courts to its offi- 
cers^ for power to reascend in the scale is nothing less than absurd. The 
proof offered by the defendant of the adoption of that constitution, and of 
his election under it, was the very lest and all the evidence that the nature 
of the case afforded, and should have been admitted to go to the jury in his 



1012 Rep. No. 546. 

justification ; for this was not a case where sirict legal — I may say legis- 
lative — rules of evidence applied; and if that evidence had been admitted 
to pass, and had proved everything we sought to j)rove by it, it would not 
at, all have affected tlje present constitution of the State, nor the jjreseni 
court, although the court seemed so to suppose ; bui it would have tri- 
umphantly acquitted the prisoner, and proved his complete justification. 

Durfee, Ch. J. — A constitution, cannot be proved by parol. The cow^l 
'must choose one constitution or the otiier. 

Dorr. — This is a point of great importance — the right arm of my defence. 
I do not know of any reason for a change of views on the principles of my 
conduct. 1 believe 1 am right; and this principle that the people can make^ 
unasked, their constitutions, constitutes the great dividing gulf between 
us. Now, we have many exceedingly strong authorities upon this point. 

The court have suggested a difficulty; but really I do not ask your hon- 
ors to decide upon the validity of the present constitution, or the govern- 
ment under it. I do not ask your honors to decide that you are no court, 
or that you do not rightfully hold your offices. We only ask you to look 
to a point anterior to the formation of ihe present government, and inquire 
what was the theii state of things. What did the people do? What had 
they a right to do? Jlow for was 1 justified by their action? This is my 
great defence. The court charged the jury that, if I did certain acts, they 
were done maliciously and traitorously. I wish to show that what i did 
was not Utus done, but in pursuance of the great ruling American princi- 
ple — THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPLE. I pray the court to carefully 
review their opinions on this point, in order that we may be allowed op- 
portunity to prove this, the great point o'l justification. 

The court adjourned until 3 o'clock, p. m. 

Tuesday afternoon, Jwie 11. 

Mr. Turner continued. 

Turner (reads the 11th exception.) — This exception varies from the 
last, only with respect to the purpose for which the evidence was sought to 
be introduced. The evidence under that, was offered for Justificaiio?i; 
under this, it was offered merely to repel the charge of having acted with 
any criminal intetit, even if the act were an offence. The same reasoning 
will apply to both. 

[He next rend 12th exception, and insisted that the people's constitution 
should have passed in evidence to the jury, as proof that, in compliance 
with the giiarantee in the constitution of the United States, it established a 
government republican in form. A discussion ensued between him, the 
court, and Mr. Dorr, not strictly confined to the point, but embracing many 
topics connected with the adoption of that constitution. 

He then passed to a consideration of the 13th exception, and, upon a 
suggestion from the bench, took up the I6th in connexion with it. 

[Exceptions 13 and 16 considered together. 

Mr. Turner. — Mr. T. began by stating that in all civil suits, without 
exception, and in all criminal prosecutions for offences less than capital^ 
there is no question but the maxim, "o<f questioned,'^ 4*^-., "to questions of 
law, the court — to questions of fact, ihejury are to answer," would apply. 
In all such cases, all questions of law are to be argued to the court, nnd 
questions of fact only can be properly argued to the jury. Bui capital 



Rep. No. 546. 1013 

offences constitute a most important, exception to the rule, and so far vary 
the ordinary mode of trial as to give the jury poroer, and to make it their 
duty to judge of the laiv, as well as of the facts of the case. Tfiis power 
is given ^^infavorem vitce^ for a most obvious reason — which is, that in all 
capital offences tlie guilt or htuocence of the accused, depending upon iitr 
tention as well as acts, is a mixed questior>, and always combined of both 
lai/) a.nd fact, 

Mr. T, cited 6 Dane's Digest, 693, c. 199, A 6. § 12. " Levying war is an 
act compounded of laia and /act, of which the jury, aided by the court, 
must judge." 

Diirfee, Cli. J. — Of v/hat use are the court, if the jury are the judges 
of the law ? 

Turner. — Of very great use. They are the proper and sole judges of 
everything relating to the empanneling of the jury; tiiey decide all ques- 
tions as to the admissibility of evidence; and, after the argument at the 
bar, they advise, instruct, or charge the jury as to what the law is, in their 
opinions ; but. after all that, the jury are to judge for themselves, otherwise 
the court decide the case, and not the jury. 

[Mr. 1'. proceeds with the argument.] 

it is unquestionably true, that juries generally are not so competent to 
decide qiiestions of law as the court ; but as they are the sole judges of the 
guilt or innocence of the accused, and are by no law bound to find a spe- 
cial verdict, referring the questions of law to the court; and as all capnal 
trials necessarily involve questions of law, as well as of fact, reason and 
common sense would dictate that, before being called on, under an oath, to 
decide, they should hear the qiiesti(Mi thoroughly argued on both sides, to 
enable them the better to decide it, under the instruction that the court 
may give them after such arguments are had. 

This is not only common sense, but I will endeavor to show that, in this 
country and in this Slate, it is also comvton, laiv. 

I will, however, in the first place, introduce such English authorities as 
seem to place the law in that country on the same footing in this respect 
with the law here. 

Hale's P. C, vol. 2, p. 313 — "It is the conscience of the jury that must 
pronounce the prisoner guilty or not guilty?^ '-And to say the truth, it 
were the most unhappy case that could be to the judo;e, if he, at liis peril, 
must take upon himself the guilt or innocc^uce of tlie prisoner; and if tlie 
judge's opinion must rule the matter of fact, the trial by jury would be use- 
less." This same authority is thus quoted by Sir \V. Blackstone : "For, 
as Sir Mathew Hale well observes, it would be a most unhappy case for the 
judge himself, if the prisoner's fafe depended upon his directions. Unhappy 
also (or the prisoner; for, if the judge's opinion must rule the verdict, the 
trial by jury would be useless." — (4 Tuck. Bl. 361.) And in the same 
paragraph he says: "And such public or open verdict may be either gen- 
eral, guilty, or not guilty ; or special, setiino- forth all the circumstances of 
the case, and prayuig the judgment of the court, whether, for instance, on 
the facts stated, it be murder, manslaughter, or no crime at all. This is 
where they doubt the matter of law, and therefore choose to leave it to the 
determination of the court; though tliey have an unquestionable right of 
determining upon all the circumstances, and finding a general verdict if 
thev think proper so to hazard a breach of their oaths," — (Mr. T. cites 
English Lib. p. 22(3, § 4, and Hale's Com. Law, 293.) 



1014 Rep. ^o. 546. 

[Atwell. — Trial by jury now, is getting to be iilmost a mere farce.] 

Sir MicFiael P^oster, who wrote liis treatise on crown law about the pe- 
riod of the Scotch rebellion, and was himself a distinguished judge, in the 
case of the Kinlochs, who asked to have counsel assigned them, and time 
i^rauted to plead special matter of law in defence, -Mold them withal, that if 
the matter contained in their papers would avail them at all. they would 
have the full benefit of it itj^on not guilty; since it amounts to no more 
than that their cases are not within the act of the last session, by authority 
of which act alone this court sits. They then severally pleaded not 
guilty." — (Foster's C. 1j. 15.) Now wliat can be clearer than that here the 
judge intended that matter of mere law might and should be argued to ihe 
jury by the prisoner's counsel, under the general issue, the plea of not 
guilty — the defendant's plea in the present case. 

I Chitty's C. L. 3^3. — '■'■ Upon all capital accusations, the plea of not 
guilly puts in issue the whole of the charge ; not merely whether the de- 
fendant actually did the fict stated in the record, but the criminal intention 
with which it is alleged he was actuated, and the legal quality of tlie guilt 
to be deduced from the whole. (Cites 4 Bl. C. 338; 1 Erskine's Sp. 278.) 
In this respect, there is a very impartunt distinction between civil and 
crimin.al proceedings; in ihe former, where the facts are admitted, and the 
defence is that they were rendered legal by circumstances, a special justifi- 
cation must he pleaded ; biU in the latter^ no justification can be admitted 
to limit the defendant's means of defnce. Nor is it at all necessary : for if it 
appear (to the jury) that the facts, though true, were legal, the defendant 
will, of course, be acquitted."— (Cites 2 Hale, 258; 4 Bl. C. 338; 1 Erskine's 
Sp. 278 ) 

Now, m what way can matter of justification be available before a jury, 
without the argument of counsel? But 1 think this authority goes much 
further than we now claim. J understand from it, that even if a special 
plea be interposed and ruled out by the court, yet the prisoner's counsel 
might even then go with it to the jury, under the general issue; because 
'■•no justification can be admitted to limit ihe defendants -means oj de- 
fence.''^ 

Your honors will recollect the decision of this court in the Cooley case, 
where, on motion, the special pleas of the defendant were ruled out by the 
court. 

Same page, (384,) "So also in indictments for felony and treason ; if the 
facts stated amount to neither of them, the prisoner will be discharged un- 
der the general issue, for the terms '■feloniously ^u A traitorously,^ by which 
the crimes are designated, are the gist of the charge; and unless they are 
shown to be properly applied, the indictment cannot be supported." — (Cites 
last-mentioned authorities ) 

If it be incumbent on tiie prosecutor to show that the terms feloniousli^ 
and traitoronsly are well applied, he must do so by authorities and arg^i- 
rnent; and it would seem very strange if authorities and argument for the 
governnient might not be met and answered by authorities and argument 
for the defendant. 

Again, page 511.— "That plea (not guilty) refers the whole matter of 
guilt or innocence \o the jury; the intenticm, as well as ihe facts, and the 
legal complexion of the transaction, as well as the transaction itself It fol- 
lowed, therefore, that he may show the innocence of his intention, as well 
as negative the facts of the charge.. And it is laid down as a general rule. 



Rep. No. 546. 1015 

that whatever he could not have pleaded specially, he may justify under 
the a;eneral issue." 

How can a defendant ever sliow the ijinocence of his intention, if the 
court, in the first place, refuse to let him into proof of the facts in his justi- 
fication ; and, in the next place, prevent him from arguino^ the law to the 
jury, upon which his intention — in other words, his gn.ilt or his innocence 
— depends ? 

These authorities seem to me to estahlish the foUowino^ points: — That 
even in Hngland, at common law, all pertinent questions of law, in capital 
trials, may he, and ought to he, argued to tiie jury under the ijeneral issue 
of not guilty; that even the matter of a special plea, that had heen over- 
ruled by the court, may be so arijued ; and that any and all matters of legal 
defence that could not be taken advantage of by way of special plea, may 
also be argued to the jury, lo prove the innocence and good intentions of 
the prisoner. And such I take to have been common law of Kngland ever 
since trials by jury have been known. In fact, in such cases, their powers, 
their duties, and their oaths as jurors, place them, for the time being, in a 
similar situation to the English House of Lords on the trial of a peer of 
the realm ; each of them — the jury in the one case, and the House of Lords 
in the other — are trying one of their peers. And the court, in the one case, 
are the law advisers of the jury, as in the other all the judges of Eng^land 
are the law advisers of the House of Lords. — Foster's C. L. 143, &.C.; 4 
Tuck. Bl. 263. 

The same thing may be said of the United States Senate, when it sits as 
a high court of impeachment upon a President; then the Chief Justice of 
the Supreme Court of the United States is the presiding officer, and the 
law adviser of that body. 

Ill this country, in 1804, this same question arose upon the impeachment 
of Samuel Chase, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, befire the Senate of the United States. 

The impeachment consisted of eight distinct articles. We have nothing 
to do except with the first article, which contains three distinct specifica- 
tions, and is as follows : 

"ARTICLE I. 

"That, unmindful of the solemn duties of his office, and contrary to the 
sacred obIiij;ation by which he stood bound to discharge them 'faithfully 
and impartially, and without respect to persons,' the said Samuel Chase, on 
the trial of Jolui Fries, charged with fiigh treason before the circuit court 
of the United States, held for the district of Pennsylvania, in the city of 
Philadelphia, during the months of April and May, one thousand eight 
hundred, whereat the said Samuel Chase presided, did, in his official ca- 
pacity, conduct himself in a manner highly arbitrary, oppressive, and un- 
just, viz. : 

" 1. In delivering an opinion in writing on the question of the law, on 
the construction of which the defence of the accused materially depended, 
tending to prejudice the minds of the jury against the case of the said John 
Fries, the prisoner, before counsel had been heard in his defence. 

"2. In restricting the counsel for the said Fries from recurring to such 
English authorities as they believed apposite, or from citing certain statutes 
of the United States, which they deemed illustrative of the positions upon 
which they intended to rest the defence of their client. 



1016 Rep. No. 546. 

"3. In debarring the prisoner from his constitutional privilege of ad > 
dressing the jury (through his counsel) on the law, as well as the fact 
which was to determine liis guilt or innocence ; and at tiie same time en- 
deavoring to wrest from the jury their indisputable right to hear argument, 
and determine upon the question of law. as well as the question of fact, in- 
volved in the verdict which they were required to give. 

"In consequence of vi^hich irregular conduct of the said Samuel Chase, 
as dangerous to our liberties as it is novel to our laws and usages, the said 
Jolin Fries was deprived of the right secured to him by the eighth article 
amendatory of the constitution, and was condemned to death without hav- 
ing been heard by counsel in his defetice, to the disgrace of the character 
of the American bench, in manifest violation of law and justice, and in 
open contempt of the right of juries, on which ultimately rest the liberty 
and safety of the American people." 

To the third specification I would direct your attention, for the purpose 
of showing that the House of Kef)resentatives of the United States, forty 
years ago, considered it a constitutional privilege in the prisoner to addre-s 
the jury upon the laic as well as the/ac/; and the indisputable ris^lit of the 
jury to hear argument and determine as to both, upon the questions in- 
volved in the verdict they were required to give.* Mr, Chase himself, in 
his answer, admits the docttine, but denies the fact; andt Hopkinson, his 
counsel, defends him on that ground; whilst Martin t and Harper § alone 
deny both the right and the fact, and would restrict the jury to taking the 
law from the court. 

Upon taking the final question upon that article of guilty or not guilty, 
the vote, 1 think, stood 18 to 16 for a conviction ; the two members from 
Rhode Island (namely, Messrs. Ellery and Howland) both voting upon that 
article, guilty. There was, however, not a constitutional majority of two- 
thirds of the whole, and so the learned judge escaped conviction. 

2d Wilson's Works, 372: "But, in many cases, the question of law is 
intimately and inseparably blended with the question of fact; and when 
this is the case, the decision of one necessarily involves the decision of the 
other. When this is the case, it is incumbent on the judges to inlorm the 
jury concerning the law; and it is incumbent on the jury to pay nmch re- 
gard to the information which they receive from the judges. But now the 
difficulty in this interesting subject begins to pres^ upon us. Suppose that, 
after all precaution taken to avoid it, a difference of sentiment takes place 
between the judges and the jury with regard to a point of law; suppose 
the law and the fact to be so closely interwoven, that a determination of 
one must at the same time embrace a determination of the other. Suppose 
a mat'er <if this description to come in trial before a jury: — what must the 
jury do? The jury ni.nst do thair lohoh duty ; they must decide the law 
as well as the fact. This doctrine is peculiarly applicable to criminal cases, 
and from them, indeed, derives its peculiar importance. When a person is 
to be tried for a crime, the accusation charges against him not only the 
particular fact which he has committed, but also the motive to which it 
owed its origin, and from which it receives its complexion. The first is 
neither the only nor the principal object of examination and discussion. 
On the second, depends the innocence or criminality of the action. The 

* Chase's Trial, appendix, page 1-2. t Chase's Tri.-il, pa^es I4-3, 143, 145. 

X Chase's Trial, pages 182, lb3, 184, 185. § Chase's Trial, page 21G. 



Bep. No. 546. 1017 

verdict must decide not only upon the first, but also, and principally, upon 
the second ; for llie verdict must he co extensive atad commensurate with 
the charge. Jt may seem, at first view, to be somewhat extraordinary, that 
twelve men, untutored in the study of jurisprudence, should be the ulti- 
mate interpreters of the law, with a power to overrule the directions of the 
judges, who have made it the subject of their long and elaborate researches, 
and have been raised to the seat of judgment for their professional abilities 
and skill. But a deeper examination of the subject will reconcile us to 
what, at first, may appear incongruous." Read also 381 and 382. 

In an indictment for treason, the United States vs. Mitchell, in 1795, 2 
Dall. 350. The whole argument was upon points of law, suggested to the 
defendant's counsel by Judge Patterson, the presiding judge. There was 
no dispute about the facts in the case, they being all clearly proved. But 
if any doubt remain as to this right in capital trials, I will show by a legis- 
lative act of Rhode Island herself, that for many years past our courts have 
uniformly recognised the ritrjit in practice, and that the Asseuibly have 
even extended it to minor offences. 

Dig. 1822, page 426: "An act authorizing any person prosecuted for a 
libel, to give the truth in evidence." 

'• />e it enacted, c5*c., That if any person shall be prosecuted by indict- 
ment or information, for writing, or publishing, or causing to he written or 
published, or aiding or assisting therein, any defamatory libel or libellous 
matter, it shall be lawful for the defendant, upon th'! trial of the cause, to 
give in evidence, in his defence, the truth of the matter contained in the 
writing or publication charged as a libel ; and the jury who shall try tne 
cause shall have a right to determine the law and the fact, under the di- 
rection of the court, as in other cases," (Passed in 1804.) 

The court were understood at the trial to say that the jury had the same 
right of determining the law in every case, civil as well as criminal ; and 
tiiat it was in all cases confined to the opjjlicabiliti/ of the law, as laid down 
by the conrt, to the facts as they were proved to the jury. I'o us it would 
seem that the legislature of Rhode Island, in 1804, when the act just read 
was passed, entertained intentions and views widely different from those 
now advanced by the court. 

If at that time there were no cases in which the jury were to determine 
the law as well as the fact, the legislature surely would not have used the 
language they did use, "as in other cases." If they weie, as the court con- 
lend, to determine the law as much in one case as in another, no such 
power would have t)een necessary, and it would not have been granted ; 
nothing would havr been said ;ibout it; it would have been passed over in 
silence, as a merely incidental power, pertaining to the jury in all cases. 
Therefore to us it would seimi that the legislature intended to recognise, 
as existing law, the right of the jury to determine the law as well as the 
facts in capital cases ; and justly deeming reputation and character no less 
dear than life itself, also intended by the act in question to clothe the jury 
with a new and further power to the same effect, in all criminal prosecu- 
tions for defamatory libels. The whole act, taken together, seems to us to 
admit of no other construction. 

Then wliat were the ''other cases" referred to in this act? Why, clear- 
ly, criminal trials for capital offences — at the head of which stands high 
treason. It is perfiectly well known that, up to a much later period — in 
fact, until within a few years — our courts did not charge juries at all in 



1018 Rep. No. 546. 

civil cases; and very rarely, if at all (unless asked by the jury themselves) 
in criminal cases, whether capital or otherwise. 

The practice ofarguitiof matter of law in snch cases to the jury, not only 
in our own courts, but tlirouijhout the country, has been such as we now 
contend for as a right. In the trial of Chase, already cited, ample proof of 
this may be found. We tlvrefore insist upon it as the right of the de- 
fendant, through his counsel; as the right also of the jury; and as an 
inseparable incident of the common law jnry trial — the great bulwark of 
our liberties. 

Of that great right, without the full exercise of which he could not have 
a fair trial, the prisoner at the bar has been deprived, by what we consider 
the erroneous ruling of the court ; and upon this ground, also, we ask that 
a new trial may be granted. 

Hiiile. J. — The constitution clearly points cut our duty. It directs the 
judg-es to "instruct" the jury in all cases. 

Tiirtier. — So it does, may it please your honors ; but to convey the same 
idea, the books use the words inslrucf, direct^ and charge^ indiscriminately ; 
and they are all of them synonymous, in this case, with the word advise. 

Durjee, Ch. J — If the jury do not take the law from the court, how are 
they to know what it is? 

Turner. — The jury hear the law read and argued at the bar, and thus 
obtain their information — as also from the opinion given by the court. 

The court adjourn until 9 o'clock to-morrow morning. 

Wednesday Morning, Jnve 12, 1S44. 

The court met as usual. Mr. Dorr brought in. 

Mr. Dorr. — I wish to say further, in reference to exceptions 13 and 16, 
that we urge the point only as ap[)licahle to cnpilal cases. 

Again : If the court have considered the first exception, so far as the 
admission of testimony to prove the disqualification of certain of the jury 
is concerned, 1 should like to know the decision, on account of the wit- 
nesses, who are here at, great inconvenience to themselves, and expense to 
me, which I cannot afF'rd. 

Mr. Blake. — I wish to be heard. 

Dorr. — The matter was argued on both sides, and submitred on the first 
day. 

Blake. — As other exceptions have a bearing on that, I should like to be 
heard on all the exceptions together. 

Diirfee, Ch. 7.— My difficulty is, that the jurymen may not have been 
prevented from giving a fair verdict in a very plain case like this ; what- 
ever the cause of challenge might have been, it is not shown that it had 
any influence in the formation of the verdict. 

Blake. — The juror must have given an uvfai.r decision. Prejudice, 
however strong, is not enough. No matter what the juror may have said 
against the prisoner. Did he act fairly? that is the question. 

Turner. — The prisoner by law is entitled to a speedy, a fair, and an 
impartial trial. It the jury was composed of partial and prejudiced men — 
men who had prejudged tlie cause — 1 care not what their verdict may have 
been, nor how they arrived at it — he cannot be said to have had a fair 
trial by an impartial jury, and miahl full as well have been tried in the 
county of Providence where he belonged. 

Dorr.— It is the right of the accused to have an impartial jury. If the 



Rep. No. 546. 1019 

facts and the testimony liad been known when the jnrnrs were sworn, they 
would have been challeng^'d, and must have been taken oif ; no verdict 
they can give, will cure a radical defect in the organization of the jury. 

Haile^ J. — The juror swore he had no prejudice ; now, if he had a pre- 
judice, he was guilty of perjury, and the evidence lo be produced against 
iiim should be such as would secure a conviction of [)erjury. The juror 
once being tried, it strikes me, by all the authorities, that we cannot go into 
question of partiality again. 

Turner. — How was it in Talhiian's case? After }ie had been examined, 
the witness (VVaite) was called. Would Waiie's testimony convict Tall- 
nian of perjury? 

Staples, J, — 1 was inclined lo hear and weigh the evidence at first; but 
the opinion of the court being as it is now on the effect of the evidence, I 
am, on the whole, decidedly against tlie admission of evidence. 

Haile, J. — I deem the matter foreclosed by the swearing of the juror. 

BraytoH, J. — I am willing to hear the evidence. 

Durfee, Ch. J. — The court being divided, 1 suppose the evidence must 
be adniitted. 

Staples. J. — The argument was on the objection of the attorney general 
to the court's receiving evidence. I was in favor of it, and the court were 
divided on tlie question ; but now, as three judges think the testimony, if 
admitted, would not be a ground for a new trial, as there is nov) no fact for 
a jury to try, and the court is divided about other matters, 1 am against ad- 
mitting it. 

Dorr. — -Your honor seems to take it for granted that the jury had nolhiiig 
of fact to try. Now I deny that I did the acts as charged in the indict- 
ment, with tlie intents and motives imputed to me, which could alone de- 
termine my guilt or innocence, and therefore I say that I am not gnilty. 

Staples, ./.—I have no doubt of tlie purity of the motives of the defend- 
ant. 'I'his is the view 1 have always tiiken ; but there was no legal excuse^ 
and there was notliing for the jury to try; therefore, whether the jurors 
were all fri e from prejudice, is of less importance. 

Dorr. — Well, how does your honor know but some of the jury might 
have thought so too, if we had been allo-v ed to show and prove to the jury 
what the foundations of my actions were? 

The court gave no decision on the subject. 

Mr. Turner proceeded, taking I4th exception. He said it was not his 
intention, as the court lia.cl indulged fiim with an argument on the sul'ject 
of State treason during tlie tri;d, to go over the same ground again, upon 
the same authorities; he should ask the attention of the court to those au- 
th()rities now, when they could give the sulject greater delil)eraiion than 
was expected of them in the progress of an important jury trial. (Mr. T. 
gave the court a list of the aulliorities — see ante pages 927 el scq. 

He said that at the former argument he had inadvertently omitted one 
authority, as to the cotentporaiteous and practical construction of the con- 
stitution on the subject of treason, wfiich he now wished to put in. In 
Massachusetts in 1787, before the adoption of the United States constitu- 
tion, a law was passed very similar to that of Rhode Island, and already 
cited, f )r punishing (reason against the State ; and it was re|)ealed, as tliat 
of Rhode Lland had been, upon the first revision of their statutes (after the 
United States constitution was adopted) in 18UL — furnishing another in- 
stance of the construction contended for. 



1020 Rep. No. 546. 

Dorr. — I will add one suggestion, if the court please, on this point of 
treason against a State, which, perliaps, was not sufficiently dwelt on at the 
former argument. 

At the time when the United States constitution was framed, there were 
no district or circuit courts; there were no judicial divisions of the United 
States; the only ones known were the States themselves. At that time 
there was no general judiciary system ; it could not then be known how the 
United Stales courts would be organized, or their jurisdiction limited and 
arranged. P'or aught that could be then foretold, Congress might by law 
provide that treason thereafter, as it theretofore had been, should be pim- 
ished by the courts of the respective States. So that the framers of the 
constitution, in order to secure a trial of the offender where the offence was 
committed, whether before a United States or a State tribunal, could only 
provide, as they did, in the article respecting fugitives from justice, for their 
being returned to the State having jurisdiction of the crime; leaving it to be 
determined by the future law of Congress, whether that jurisdiction, with- 
in the State, should be vested in a court of the State or of the United States. 
Thus we now find that, by the act of 1790, it is mis/>rhion of treason to 
conceal treason from the governor of a State, although it be treason against 
the United States. 

Atioell. — My idea is, that the constitution provided temporarily for the 
punishment of the crime in the Slate courts., until the United States should 
arrange their judicial power to take cognizance of it. The article in the 
constitution does not say he shall be sent to the State "against whom tiie 
offence was committed," but to the State " having jurisdiction." Bef)re this 
constitution was adopted, the States alone had courts. Then the constitu- 
tion must have meant the State judiciaries in the 3d article, and of course 
they were providing for the punishment of treason against the United 
States. 

Mr. Turner next took up the 15th exception. This exception is fotmded, 
in part, on the act of Rhode Island of March, 1842, (commonly called the 
Algerine law) and involves a consideration of the constitutionality of the 
4th section of that act, so far as it provides for the finding and trial of in- 
dictments in any county other than the one in which the offence is charged 
to have been committed. The court, at the trial, said that this question 
having been once solemnly argued and decided by the same conit, in the 
Cooley case, they considered it a closed question ; and gave that as a reason 
why they then would not hear it reargued. If the opinion of the court is 
made up on this point, I should not deem it proper to reargue it on the 
same authorities; if it is an open question, then we claim it as a privilege 
and a right to be heard. Is this the same courl 1 This is a question partly 
of /or?/; and partly of /cec^. We beg leave to differ from the court in this 
matter. Tlie court that decided the Cooley and .loslin cases, by a different 
title., acted under the old charter government. This court, with a neio title, 
hold under a vcio constitution and new form of government. That was 
composed of ^/«ee judges — this o^ four. That was elected anmially ; this 
hold their offices during good behavior, or until removed, impeached, or 
otherwise disqualified. That they sit in the same place, exercise the same 
jurisdiction, and use the same seal, does not make them the sa/ne court. 
But deriving all their powers from a new and different form of govern- 
ment — being composed of a different nnmbtr of members, and holding 



Kep. No. 546. 1021 

their offices by a neiD tenure^ create iliem, both in point of laio dudfact, a 
?iew court. 

But, admitting that your honors think otherwise, and still deem this to 
be the same court, in law, that made the decision in the cases referred to ; — 
even then, we say that on a question of this importance, whether we con- 
t^ider its bearing on the present case, or the course of future adjudications, 
neither respect for authorities, nor mere pride of opinion, ought in justice 
to prevent litis court from reviewing, and, if need be, reversing any decision 
of that. Examples of such a practice are of frequent, or at least occasional 
occurrence, in other courts — even in the Supreme Court of the United 
States, the highest judicial tribunal in the country. As an instance, 1 refer 
your honors to the case of Bollmaii and Swartwout, in 1807, reported in 
4 Cranch, 103, where Chief Justice Marshall says : " I am very far from de- 
nying the general authority of adjudications. The uniformity in decisions 
is often as important as tlieir abstract justice. But 1 deny that a court is 
precluded from the right, or exempted from the necessity, of examining into 
the correctness or consistency of its own decisions, or those of any other 
tribunal. If I need precedent to support me in this doctrine, I will cite the 
example of this court, which in the case of United Slates vs. Moore, Feb- 
ruary, 1805, acknowledged tlial in the case of United States vs. Sims, Feb- 
ruary, IS03, it had exercised a jurisdiction it did not possess. Strange 
indeed would be the doctrine, that an inadvertency once conmiilted by a 
court, shall ever after impose upon it the necessity of persisting in iis error. 
A case that cunnot be tested by principle, is not laiv; and in a thousand 
instances have such cases been declared so by courts of justice." 

In a case, then, like the present, where a decision depends upon, or is for- 
tified by wo precedent, and the principle of it is at least doubtful, how much 
more should the court be willing to reconsider an adjudication of its own? 

The court directed Mr. Turner to proceed with the argument. 

Mr. Turner went on as follows: 

The indictment in tliis case is founded on the 1st section of the 1st chap- 
ter of tlie criminal code of 1838; but it is preferred and prosecuted in thia 
court imder the 4th section of the act of March, 1842, entitled "An act in 
relation to offences against the sovereign power of the Slate." 

The part of the section material to this case is as follows : "All indict' 
ments under this act, and also all indictments for treason against this State, 
may be preferred and found in any county of this State, without regard to 
the county in which the offence was committed; and the supreme judicial 
court shall have full power, for good cause, from time to time, to remove 
for trial any indictment which may be found under this act, or for treason 
against this State, to such county of this State as they shall deem best, for 
the purpose of insurins: a fair trial of the same." This act, it is contended, 
is unconstitutional and void, as destroying or abridging the right of the 
common law trial by jury, which right is of itself a fundamental part of our 
constitution. 

In order the better to understand the nature and force of our objections, 
it may be proper to inquire into the constitutiori. and incidents of the jury 
trial as established by the common law, especially in criminal matters. 
When we speak of the common law jury trial, we use language in law 
strictly technical ; and such trial is intended and understood as embracing 
all the circunisiances and incidents that pertaiti to such trial, as much as 
though they were all particularly expressed or enumerated. As was ex- 



102-2 Rep. No. 546. 

pressed by Mr. Madison, in the Viro^inia convention, on the adoption of the 
United States constitntion, (2d vol. Elliot's Debates, p. 389,) on the same 
snbject, " he (Mr. Mason) is displeased that there is no provision for pre- 
etnptory challerjges to juries. There is no such provision made in our con- 
stitntion or laws. The answer made by an honorable member lately, is a 
fnll answer to this. He said, and wuh great propriety and truth, that where 
a technical word was used, all the incidents belonging- to it necessarily at- 
tended it. The right of challenge is incident to the trial by jury; and, there' 
fore, as the one is secured, so is the other." 

The first great feature in jury trials in criminal cases, at common law, is, 
that the indictment shall be found by a grand jury composed of good and 
lawful men of the county in which the offence is committed. This was a 
right of our English ancestors long before Magna Charta, and ever after, to 
the settlement of the American colonies; and its violation was one of the 
causes of the Revolution. (For authorities, see next point.) 

The next in order was, that the trial should be had in the same county 
where the indictment was forntd^ being that in which the offence was com- 
mitted. -25 Ed. 8, c. 4.-4 Hawk. P. C. 371.— 3 Coke Ins. 27 Eng. Lib. 
213, 221, 229, and 24.-2 Hale P. C. 264, 163, and 164.— 4 T. Black. 349, 
1 Trials per pais 115, c. 8.-3 Inst. c. 2, p. 24, 25, 26, 27, 33.— 1 Hale P. 
C. 221, 298, 299.— Hawk. P. C. 2, c. 23, s. 92.— Rhode Island Res. 1790, 
art. 8. Crim. Code of 1838, p. 992, s. 26. 

The next was, that all the jurors sicorn should be of the same county 
of the vicinage, or neighbors of the accused. (For authorities, see last 
point, ante.) 

The wru of venire was to be served by a sheriff tcho was without sus- 
picion ef partiality, or unduly influenced by any one. — 1 Chitty, C. L. 437 
and 438, and authorities there cited. 

The jurors themselves were not only to be of the county where the of- 
fence was committed, but also to be men of substance in point of estate, and, 
individually, above all objection or exception. <'0/«//e exceptione majores'^ — ■ 
and probi et legtdes homines. 

Another incident in capital cases was. a right to peremptory challenge of 
jurors; in treason, to the number of thirty-five — and as many more for 
cause, as good objections could be made to. 

And, (one of the most important of all,) the jury in criminal trials were 
judges both of the law and the fact. — 4 Tuck. Bl., tit. Jury. 

They were all to be under oath ; and, lastly, they must all unite and 
agree upon the verdict they might render under their oath. 

These are the principal features and incidents of the trial by jury, at com- 
mon law ; and the great and good Lord Hale had them all in view when, 
two hundred years ago, he pronounced "the trial by a jury of twelve men, 
as settled in England, to be the best trial in the world." — Hale's Common 
Law, 286. 

It was under a full consideration of all this combination of circumstances 
and incidents, that Sir W. Blackstone, in his Commentaries, vol. 3, p. 349 
and 356, passed his encomiums upon it, and at page 380 declares it to be, 
" therefore, upon the whole, a duty which every man owes to his country, 
his friends, his posterity and himself, to maintain, to the utmost of his 
power, this valuable constitution in all its rights ; to restore it to its ancient 
dignity, if at all impaired by the different value of property, or otherwise de- 
viated from its first institution ; to amend it, wherever it is defective ; and, 



Rep. No. 546. 1023 

above all, to guard with the most jealous circumspection against the intro- 
duction of ueio and arbitrary methods of trini, which, under a variety of 
phxnsible pretences, may, in time, imperceptibly undermine this best pre- 
servative of English liberty." 

Under similar views of trials by jury — and an enlightened view of the 
powers and rights of juries was it — Lord Brougham, in his speech in 
tiie Enghsh House of (commons, February 7, iy2S, on the state of the law, 
thus expressed himself: " The House will permit me to say a {qw words 
upon the subject of juries ; the rather, because this venerable institution has, 
I lament to say, been of late years attacked by some of tbe most distinguished 
legal reformers. Speaking from experience, (and experience alone,) as a 
practical lawyer, I must aver that I consider the method of juries a most 
wholesome, wise, and perfect invention, for the purposes of judicial inquiry. 
In the first place, it controls the judge, who miglit not only in political 
casfs have a prejudice aghinst one party, or a leaning towards another, 
but might also, in cases not political, where some chord of political feeling 
is unexpectedly struck, if left snpretnc, show a bias respecting suitors, or 
(what is as detrimental to justice,) their counsel or attorneys. In the second 
place, it supplies that knowledge of the world, and that sympatliy with its 
tastes and feelings, which judges seldom possess, and which, from their 
habits and stations in society, it is not decent that they should possess, in a 
large measure, upon all subjects. In the third place, what individual can 
so well weigh conflicting evidence, as twelve men indifferently chosen from 
the middling classes of the community, of various habits, characters, preju- 
dices, and ability? The number and variety of the persons is eminently 
calculated to secure a sound conclusion upon the opposing evidence of wit- 
nesses, or of circumstances. 

'• The system is above all praise — it looks well in theory, and works well 
in practice — it wants only one thing to render it perfect, namely: that it 
should be applied to those cases from which the practice in equity has ex- 
cluded it ; and that improvement would be best effected by drawing back 
to it the cases which the courts of equity have taken from the common law, 
and which they constantly evince their incapacity to deal with, by sending 
issues to be tried whenever any difficulty occurs." 

Such was the trial by jury claimed of the British crown, as a fundamen- 
tal law of the realm, by the Continental Congress, in their declaration of 
rights, October 14,1774, art. 5, where they say : "That the respective 
colonies are entitled to the common law of England, and more especially to 
the great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their peers of the vicin- 
age, according to the course of that law." 

Such was the trial by jury claimed and demanded by Rhode Island, in 
their resolutions of October, 1769. " That the seizing of any person or 
persons, residing in this colony, suspected of any crime whatever commit- 
ted therein, and sending such person or persons to places beyond the sea to 
be tried, is highly derogatory to the rights of British subjects; as thereby 
the inestimable privilege of being tried by a jury from the vicinage, as well 
as the liberty of summoning and producing witnesses on such trial, will be 
taken away from the party accused." 

Such was the trial by jury, for the deprivation of which the declaration 
of independence charged the British king with having given assent to acts 
of Parliament " for protecting, by a mock trial, from punishment" his troops 
" for any murders committed on the inhabitants of these States ;" "for de- 



1024 Rep. No. 546. 

priying us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury ;" and " for trans- 
porting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offences," and " for 
altering fundamentally the forms of our governments." 

Such was the trial by jury, which the liberal-minded friends of civil lib- 
erty, in the British House of Lords, by their protest against the " act for the 
better regulating the government of the province of Massachusetts Bay, 
May 11, 1774, asserted in behalf of the colonies," " because the governor 
and council, thus intrusted with powers with which the British constitution 
has not intrusted his Majesty and his privy council, have the means of re- 
turning such a jury, in each particular case, as may best suit with the 
gratificiition of their passions and interests. The lives, liberties, and prop- 
erty of the subject are put into their hands, without control ; and the 
invaluable right of trial by jury is turned into a snare for the people, who 
have hitherto looked upon it as their main security against the licentious- 
ness of power ;" and made on the ISth of the same month a similar protest 
against the act for lemoval of persons to England, to be tried there for of- 
fences committed here. — 4th Ser. American Archives, p. 127, 94. 

Such was the trial by jury in Rhode Island in June, 1777, during the 
revolutionary war, vi^hen a part of our State was in the hostile occupation 
of an open and avowed enemy, and toryism and treason were sown broad- 
cast through the State; then a legislature of Rhode Island repealed an act 
of the previ(His session, that authorized the taking up of a jury by venire to 
try such offences, without the regularly drawn jury, because, as they say, 
it was " contrary to the ancient laws, usages, and customs of this State." 

Such was the trial by jury here also in 1787, when the case of Trevett 
and Weeden was tried, in which it was maintained "that the trial by jury" 
(that is to say, the common law trial by jury) was "a fundamental right, 
a part of our legal constitution : that the legislature cannot deprive the citi- 
zens of this right." — (Trial, page 11.) And the supreme court of this State 
at that day so decided, in defiance of an act of the legislature. The judges 
who had the manly independence so to decide, were summoned to appear 
forthwith before the Assembly, " to render their reasons for adjudging an act 
of the General Assembly unconstitutional, and so void ;" and they did so at- 
tend, and they did render their reasons, as required : and upon being fully 
heard by counsel, at the bar of the two houses, to the lasting honor of a 
Rhode Island legislature, which I delight to recall, they were all honorably 
discharged. 

Such now also is the common law trial by jury, which every other State 
constitiuion has declared shall be forever held ftacred and inviolate^ and 
which is also secured in express terms by that of the United States also. 

Such was the trial by jury in 1830, when Judge Story, in the case of Par- 
sons vs. Bedford and others, (3 Peters's Reps.) declared that " the trial by 
jury is justly dear to the American people. It has always been an object 
of deep interest and solicitude, and every encroachment upon it has been 
watched with great jealousy. The right to such a trial is, it is believed, 
incorporated into, and secured in every State constitution in the Union. 
One of the strongest objections originally taken against the constitution of 
the United States, was the want of an express provision securing the right 
of trial by jury in civil cases. As soon as the constitution was adopted, 
this right was secured by the seventh amendment of the constitution pro- 
posed by Congress, and which received an assent of the people so general 
as to establish its importance as a fundamental guarantee of the rights and 
liberties of the people. At this time there were no States in the Union, the 



Rep. No. 546. 1025 

nnsis of whose jurisprudence was not essentially that of the common law, 
in its widest meaiiino;." ^ ^ 

Such, may it please yonr honors, is the constitutional trial hy jury in its 
unshorn state, both in tlngland and tliis country: such is the trial by jury, 
it may be presumed, that the convention whicli framed our present consti- 
tution probabhj intended by that article of the bill of rights attached to it, 
which declares that it shall remain sacred and inviolate. I say probably 
intended; for this very obnoxious act was then m full forre, and was the 
law of the State regulating jury trials; and it cannot, in justice to human- 
ity, be supposed that the convetition ever intended to make such a law 
JiiudaiiieHtal and perpetual, by [)lacing it beyond the reach of all future 
legislation. 

And now, may it please your honors, ha'ving shown in what the com- 
mon law trial by jury consists, by an enumeration of its inseparable inci- 
dents; and haviuo- attempted, by atithorities, to establish it as a part oi our 
fundanjentid or constitutional law, let me ask your honors' attention to the 
alarming inroads made upon its very vitals by the act of March, 1842. 

Th€ fourth section of the act provides that '• All indictu)ents under 
this act, and also all indictments for treason against this State, may be pre- 
ferred and found in any county of this State, without regard to the county 
in which the offence was conmiitted." It leaves it, therefore, entirely at 
the discretion or caprice of the attorney general to proceed against a sup- 
posed offender in any county he pleases, no matter how remote or how hos- 
tile to the accused ; and according to tlie construction given to the act by 
the court, it authorizes a trial to be had in the county where such indict- 
ment may be found, " without regard to the county in which the offence 
was committed;" thus enabling the prosecutor to take the accused away 
from his own county, under an indictment found by a grand jury of an- 
other county, and there try him by a petit jury, equally unknown to him 
and liis friends, if he have any — beyond the leach of witnesses in his own 
favor — beyond the means of such challenges as he might make to jurors of 
his own county — and alike beyond the means of contradicting or dis- 
crediting the witnesses brought against him. 

The extent of territory of this State, to be sure, is small ; but principle is 
the same everywhere. Suppose the legislature of one of the large States — 
New York, Pennsylvania, or Virffinia, for instance — should pass such an 
act ; it is hardly to be believed that the supreme court of either of those States 
would declare such an act to be law. Suppose that Congress siiould pass 
an act, authorizing indictments for treason against the United States to be 
found and prosecuted in the same way in any of the United States, without 
regard to the State or district in which the offence was committed, (and, by 
parity of reason, they well might do so :) is it possible to doubt that the Su- 
preme Court of the United States would at once pronounce it unconstitu- 
tional and void ? 

Durfce, Ch. J. — The only question is, whether the General Assembly can,, 
by statute, alter the common law. 

Tomer. — That depends on another — whether that common law was a 
part of the fundamental or constitutional law. If it were, then the legisla^ 
lure could not alter it. [Turner proceeds.] 

The right of trial by jury implies and includes all the incidents that I 
have enumerated. Ordinary legislation cannot rightfully abridge them. 
Yet this act, at one dash of the pen, abolishes the necessity of an. indictments 
65 



1026 Rep. No. 546. 

found in the county, and by jurors of the county where the offence was com- 
mitted ; subjects the accused to be tried in a foreig^n or remote county, by a 
jury of that county; and essentially alteis the nature of the common law, 
and constitutional jury trial. 

If the legislature had gone a step farther, and completely abolished the 
right to peremptory challenges, (as they have already reduced the number 
of thetn from 35 to 20,) the form of trial by jury would be hardly worth pre- 
serving ; for, as it is not every decision of twelve men that constitutes a trial 
by jury, in legal acceptation, the purposes of justice might have been as well 
subserved by a military as by such a civil tribunal. 

1 contend, therefore, that that portion of the 4th section of the act of March, 
1S42, was unconstitutional and void ; that the ruling of the court was erro- 
neous, and that a new trial ought to be awarded. 

The court adjourned until 3 p. m. 

Wednesday afternoon, June 12, 1844. 

The court met as usual. Mr. Dorr brought in. 

Mr. Turner took up the 17th exception — viz: "Because the court misdi- 
rected the jury, in charging them that the only question of intention on the 
part of the defendant, which, under their oaths, they could consider, v» as 
whether the defendant, at the times laid in the indictment, intended to com- 
mit the acts charged against him in the same ;" and urged to the court that 
the guilt or innocejice of the prisoner was principally a question of general 
intent; that any presumed criminal intent might be legally rebutted by evi- 
dence drawn from facts, and circumstances proved on his part ; that, for this 
purpose, he had offered proof of the adoption of the people's constitution by 
both votes and voters; of his election as governor, the constitution itself, 
and the address which he delivered to the people's legislature, besides a great 
mass of oral testimony drawn from his own and the government witnesses ; 
that the testimony thus offered, and ruled out by the court, together with that 
which was introduced and charged by the court as irrelevant, was legally 
sufficient to rebut all presumption of criminal intent on his part ; and that 
the charge of the court to the jury not to consider it, but to confine them- 
selves to his intent to commit the acts charged against him, at the times laid 
in the indictment, was clearly a misdirection on their part, for which a new 
trial should be granted. 

Mr. T. then took up the 18th exception, viz: "Because the officers charged 
with the service of writs oi' venire for the return of 1U8 jurois, selected and 
summoned the vi^hole number, except one, from the members of one politi- 
cal party in the State, whose political feelings and prejudices are inimical to 
the political party to which the defendant is attached, and to the defendant 
himself." 

Dnrfee, Ch. J. — What do you propose? That we shall determine what 
makes a democrat or a whig? 

Dorr. — We offer to prove the facts alleged by competent witnesses. — • 
(Reads t Chitty, &c.) 

Turner comments on the singular fact, that where public opinion had 
been so generally divided as on recent Rhode Island affairs, the sheriff should 
have summoned 107 out of 108 men of the opposite parly. 

Blake. — A good deal is said about party — what party do you mean? 
Turner. — I have so far, may it please your honors, avoided the use of 
any term that might be offensive either to the court or the government ; but, 



Rep. No. 546. 1027 

beinsf so pointedly called on, I say that I mean the Algerine, the "/a?y and 
mder^'' the anti suffrage party; the party that, with exasperated and 
embittered feeUngs, are opposed to Mr. Dorr, and the parly with wliicli he 
has acted. These parties, at one time, constitntpd the two great political 
divisions of tlie people of this State. I therefore say that it does not seem 
to me tlie best way in the world to get an impartial jury, to look for them 
all among poHtical enemies. 

Durftc^ Cli. J. — Would it be fairer to take them from the other party? 

Turner. — No. But from both indiscriminately. 

IJurfee^ C'k J. — All who were not for the government were against it. 

Turner. — We offer evidence to prove what we allege as to their hostile 
political party feelings. 

Dorr. — What I complain of is, that the sheriff studiously avoided the 
members of one party, apparently deeming ihem not the most advantageous 
triors, and selected them all trom another party. It looks a little like an un- 
fairness which is inconsistent with my riglit to an impartial jury. 

[Aticell makes an allusion to the convent case.) 

Dorr. — Mine is a much stronger case than that of the Catholics in the re- 
cent case of Daniel O'Connell. 

Bosworlk. — None of those summoned took part in the rebellion. 

Blake. — There were several who left Mr. Dorr when he used force. 

The court refuse to admit any evidence as to the political character of 
the jury. 

The exceptions having now been all considered in course, Mr. Turner 
takes up the substitute for exception No, 4, rel;iting to the challenge to the 
array. He read the exception, and an affidavit filed by the prisoner, as fol- 
lows, viz; 

Supreme Court, March tertn, A. D. 1S44. 
Newport, sc: 

Indiclment — The State vs. Thomas W. Dorr. 

On motion for new trial. 

And now, on this I7th day of the term, the said Dorr on solemn oath de- 
clares and says, that, upon a challenge to the array made on the trial of said 
indictment, and overruled by the court, this affiant has new and further evi- 
dence in its support, which has come to this affiant's knowledge since the 
verdict in said cause was rendered, and of which he v/as then ignorant. 

THOMAS W. DORR. 

Sworn to in open court: 
William Gilpin, Clerk. 

Blake. — We are not prepared to meet such a charge, and object to its be- 
ing filed. 

The court permit it to be filed. 

Durfee., Ch, /, then (Slelivered the opinion of the court upon the objec- 
tions made by the attorney general to the 1st exception — That no evidence 
shonid be received to disqualify the jurors by proof of previous hostility to 
the prisoner. 

MR. BLAKE, ATTORNEY GENERAL. IN REPLY TO MR. TURNER'S OPENING 
ARGUMENT, ON MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL. 

Mr. Blake said that, although it was then pretty late, yet he would go on 
to reply to the bill of exceptions that evening, as he had very little to say on 



1028 Rep. No. 546. 

the subject, and thought it probable that he should not occupy their honors'' 
attention more than about fifteen minutes. 

(It was then about 5 p. m.) 

Mr. Blake said, as to the lat exception, it had already been sufficiently 
p.roued and disposed of by the court's having refused to admit testimony in 
support of it. He, however, conimented on Mr. Turner's authorities, and 
read 17th Mass. Rep. 515, 1 Pick. Rep. 41, 6 Dane Dig. 233, Wend. Dig. 
N. Y. Rep. 318 and 320, and 5 Mass. R. 78. As to Tailman, (said Mr. B.,} 
it is going a good ways to make such an exception. The objection, lo be 
available to the prisoner, must not be for light atid trivial, but lor vitally ini- 
portaut grounds. In this case, Waite (the witness) swore positively. Tall- 
man only negatively; and, by all the rules of evidence, he ought to be, as in 
fact he was, set aside. 

As lo Westcott, (said Mr. B.,) he was challenged for cause, and, upon 
trial, the challenge was not sustained. It is too late now to try the matter 
over again ; he was challenged peremptorily, and of course did not sit on 
the jury. Mr. B. commented ou the authorities cited, and insisted that they 
'lid not meet this case. 

As to the 4th exception, touching the challenge to the array, I consider 
this exception as virtually settled by the decision of the court. If evidesice 
cannot be admitted after verdict to disqualify a single juror, a fortiori it will 
not be received to set aside a whole pannel. — [Reads 1 Chitty C. L. 545, 
Har. Dig. 522-4, s. 8, 6 Dane's Dig. 253, cites 3 John. N. Y. Dig. 320.] 

As to the 5th exception — that the prisoner had not sufficient time to can- 
vass the qualifications of the jurors. The law gives no time. But no pris- 
oner ever had more time, in the whole, than Mr. Dorr had; the most he 
could expect was a reasonable time, and of that the court alone are the 
judges. 

As to the 6th exception. There is nothing in this exception, as to loss of 
peremptory challenges ; because when the motion was made at the trial, the 
si.x challenged jurors had been discharged, or excused by the court, and 
were no longer within the power or control of the court — in fact, were no 
longer jurors : and I know of no law that requires the court to ask permis- 
sion of a prisoner on trial, when they are to excuse from further attendance 
such jurors as he, by his peremptory challenge, has himself told that he 
would tiot have to sit on his cause. 

As to the 7th exception — that prisoner was not furnished with a full list of 
the government witnesses — I have the same to say that was said with regard 
to copies of the pannels of jurors. He was not, by any law, entitled to any 
notice. It was otherwise in England, to be sure, in cases of constructive 
treason. This is a case of actual levying tvar, and not of constructive trea- 
son. In point of fact, however, he did have notice of them, as fast as we 
ourselves knew who they were — at least all of them but one. 

As to the 8th exception — the introduction of other evidence before any 
overt act was proved. This objection was made ariB argued at the trial, and 
the counsel read authorities upon the point; but the court, upon the au- 
thority of Chief Justice Marshall, in Burr's trial, decided that we might in- 
troduce it. Now I agree, if we had not subsequently proved an overt act 
of treason, and the prisoner's participation in it, all such evidence would 
have gone for nothing. It is merely a question of the order in which the 
evidence fIk^uIcI be iiitn'ducerl, and entirely in the discretion of ilie court. 

As to the 9th exception— admitting aggravating testimony as to facts be- 



Rep. No. 546. 1029 

yond ihe knowledge of the prij>oner. This testimony was introduced to 
cUaructcrize the assembly wliich was subsequently joined by the prisoner. 
Besides, before the court will grant a new trial, they must be satisfied that, 
if this testimony had been ruled out, the verdict would liave been dilfereiit 
from that fomid by the jury. , 

As to the lOth exception. I shall pass by all the authorities on this right 
of the people to make a constiiution ; the question had been fully and elab- 
orately argued and re-argued, and little now can be said on tfie subject. 
It was Mr. Dorr's intention to subvert the government of the State. He 
had no right to use force. 

Bosivnrlh. — His own legislature were opposed to it. 

Blake. — Mr. Dorr was not injured by tiie refusal to receive the votes, as 
proof of the people's constitution; they could not have been produced, if the 
court had admitted them ; and it would have been ntterly impracticable to 
prove them by so many v/itnesses as the votes themselves. This was all in- 
tended for mere show. 

Dorr. — '['here was no sJioio about it. The votes themselves were actually 
here — ready to be produced and verified. 

As to the llth exception, I shall say nothing. It is nearly like the hast, 
and has once been passed upon. 

The r2ih exception is about the same. 

As to the 13th exception, whether the jury are the judges of the law, (fcc. 
Tiie court already understand- all about that; but 1 will notice some of the 
gentleman's authorities. 

In the trial of Judge Chase, it appears to me that he laid down the law 
very much as this court has, and a portion of his counsel put it on tlse same 
ground; whereas, on the groimds contended for by the prisoner's counsel 
in this case, the court and jury would be coming continually in conflict. 
Mr. B. read Thos Coke, 355, 2 Sum. Rep. 241, 7 Dane Dig. 382, 3 Wend. 
318, and commented on them. 

As to the 14th exception, I need say notliing, as I presume the opinion 
of the court on the subject of State treason remains the same as at the 
trial. 

As to the loth exception, 1 pass tliat over also, for the same reason ; it 
having been solemnly decided by the court, upoii a very learned and elab- 
orate argument. 

As to the IGih exception, that v/as embraced in the argument of the 13ih. 

As to the 17th and I8th exceptions, as it is now late, I will say what I 
liave to say about tliem in the morning, when 1 wish to remark on the 
whole subject of the bill. 

Tiie court adjourned until to morrow morning at 9 o'clock. 

TiiuRSDA.Y MORMNG, Juue 13, 1844. 

The court met as usual ; Mr. Dorr brought in. Mr. Blake (attorney 
general) continues his argument on the motion for a new^trial. 

Mr. B. said: As to the 17lh exception, (the ruling out evidence as to 
intent,) he was satisfied then, and now, that the evidence was inadmissible 
fjr ihat or any purpose, and very properly ruled i)ut by the court. 

x\s to the iSsh exce[)tion, he could say nothing. The court refused to 
admit any evidence in relation to it, and tlierefore it all went for nothing. 

i\ir. B. then recurred to the 4th exception, upon the substitute and afli- 
davit offered by the prisoner ; and contended that the objection could only 



1030 Rep. No. 546. 

be mnde before the jurors were sworn, and that after they had been sworn, 
even though an unsuccessful challenge to the array had been interposed at 
the proper time, no exception could be taken to it after verdict^ upon which 
to ground an application for a new trial; that it was then too late; that 
more evidence was required to set aside a verdict in a capital case than in 
any other, because, in the former, the prisoner had the benefit of liis per- 
emptory challenges ; that a juror may have had prejudices that might be 
proved, and yet, before he was sworn, might have overcome them, and so 
tvulif have sworn that he had none; that (as had been ruled by the court) 
if, alter verdict, evidence would not be received to disqualify a single juror, 
a fortiori it would not be received to disqualify many, far less to set aside 
a whole array; that before the court would grant a new trial, they must be 
satisfied that some injustice had been done the prisoner by the verdict, which 
might be remedied on a new trial ; that another jury might find a ditFerent 
A^erdict ; but that in this case the prisoner had himself admitted the facts 
against him on the trial, and no intelligent jury, who regarded their oaths, 
could find a different verdict. He admitted that, if there had been a mis- 
trial, a new trial should be granted. 

Durfee^ Ch. J. — What i? a mis trial ? 

Blake. — A void trial — no trial at all. 

The additional authorities read by Mr. B. were — 2 Chilly, C. L. 545 ; 
Har. Dig. 1522-4; 17 Mass. 538, 4 do. 399 : 6 Dane's Dig. 251 ; and N. Y. 
Dig. 320. 

The argument was briefly closed by Mr. Turner for the prisoner. 

Mr. Turner said he thanked the Ienrn3d attorney general for having- 
given him, as he thought, very little to do, although he had stretched out 
fifteen minutes to somewhat more than four hours. He said this motion 
resolved itself into two questions for the consideration of the court, viz: 

1st. Can the court, by law, grant a new trial in a capital case like this? 
iuid 2d. Has the prisoner, by his motion, fairly brought himself within the 
legal discretion of the court in granting one? 

The first question, whatever the law or the practice may be elsewhere, is 
settled in this State by statute, which expressly vests that power in this court. 
(Mr. Turner read R I. Digest of 1822, page 110, § 6.) 

Upon the other question, 1 have litde to add to that which has been al 
leady submitted to the court. 

In reply to the arguments and authorities of the attorney general, Mr. T, 
went nito a full reconsideration of the matter of challenge to the array, on 
his pirt insisting that the evidence (which he minutely stated at full length) 
ouglit to be received by the court; that it proved much more than the '■^tol- 
erable cause of suspicion'''' of improper interference with the duty of the 
officer in taking up the jury, mentioned in several of the books he had read ; 
that it was of itself, if there was no other point in the case, good and ample 
cause for a new trial ; that it affected and destroyed the legal competency of 
the whole jury ; and that no trial could he fair, that was had before a totally 
incompetent and -illegal jury; that this was the only legal way in which a 
remedy could be reached ; that the challenge was seasonably made, and. 
being overruled, the prisoner was driven to the necessity of challengino; the 
polls, or of submitting to have the whole illegal pannel packtd upon him. 

The court ruled that the evidence shall not be admitted, on the ground 
that the challens^e was tried at the time it was made. 



Rep. No. 546. 1031 

Sta})les, J. — If all the facts were proved, they would be insufficient for 
setting the verdict aside; they would amount to nothing. 
The court adjourned until 3 p. m. 

Thursday afteknoon, June 13, 1844. 
The court met as usual ; Mr. Dorr brought in. 

Dnrfee Cli. J. — "^Phe court is not yet ready to dehver an opinion. The 
court adjourn until 9 o'clock to-morrow morning. 

Friday morning, June 14, 1844. 

The court met as usual ; Mr. Dorr brought in. 

Dni'fee^ Ch. J. — The deiay in delivering the opinion of the court has 
been occasioned by an effort to reduce it to writing; it has not yel been 
completed, and cannot be done now, for perhaps some days. We will state 
the general result arrived at now, with a view to any further proceedings ; 
and when completed, have the written opinion put on the files in the clerk's 
office. The motion for a new trial is overruled. 

MOTION IN ARREST OF JUDGMENT. 

Mr. Turner then put in and read a motion in arrest of judgment, as fol- 
lows, viz: 

" Newport, sc : 

•'Supreme Court, March term, A. D. 1844. 

"7m the case of the indictment — The tSlate vs. Thomas W. Dorr, for treason. 

"And now, on this nineteenth day of the term, after verdict given, 
and before judgment rendered in said cause, the said Thomas W. Dorr here 
moves this honorable court to arrest the judgment to be rendered on said 
verdict, for the following objections and causes of error, which arise upon 
the face of the record of said cause here remaininof. 

" 1. Because it appears by the indictment that the offences charged to 
have been committed by the said Dorr are charged to have been committed 
by him in the county of Providence, and the said indictment is found and 
returtjed a true bill by a grand jury composed of citizens of the county of 
Newport, sua)moned, sworn, and empanneled as the grand inquest of said 
last mentioned county, and not otherwise, and by them returned for trial to 
this honorable court at their August term, 1842. 

"2. Because it appearing by said indictment, as aforesaid, it also further 
appears by the record aforesaid, that the said Thomas W. Dorr was tried 
and convicted of the several offences charged against him in said indict- 
ment, at the present session of this honorable court, held in and for said 
county of Newport, and by a jury composed of the citizens of said county 
of Newport, summoned, empanneled, and sworn as such, and not otherwise; 
all which is contri^ry to law. Whereupon, he moves the court, here, to ar- 
rest the judgment in said cause. 

"THOMAS W. DORR." 

Mr. AtwtU. — I move the court to assign some future day for the argument. 
The great importance of the question itself, as well as the effects of the de- 



1032 Rep. No. 546. 

cision, requires that it should be fully aroned. I have once argued tliis 
question, and wish to argue it fully to the court, having prepared myself to 
do so ; Mr. Turner's attention having necessarily been occupied in the 
consideration of other points of the case. My state of health, which your 
honors know, will allow me, I hope, to do this at any day after the rising 
of the General Assembly. My confidence in the question is very great. 

Bosworlh. — 1 object to any delay : the prisoner has had much delay 
already. It was known that Mr, Atwell would be unable to attend. This 
same question was originally one of the grounds for a new trial, and they 
professed to be ready to argue it. 

Turntr. — For myself, 1 say so now. But Mr. Atwell was always relied 
on to argue this question. It is on account of his ill health that any delay 
is now asked. 

Dorr.— On this question of delay, I wish it to be entirely understood 
that it is a matter between the court and Mr. Atwell, whose services I have 
much needed, and which, in this matter, would be of great importance. I 
ask for no delay on my own account. 

Blake. — 1 am opposed to any delay ; the argument ought to proceed im- 
mediately. 

Halle., J. — Could not the trial proceed, so far as the opening is concerned, 
and Mr. Atwell close the argument in writing? This would be a great re- 
lief to him, in his state of health. 

AiiceJl. — That would he satisfactory ; more so than to take the chances 
of being able to argue it after the rising of the Assembly. Everything Mr, 
Dorr has slated as to his expectations of my services is strictly correct. 

Diirfee., Ch. J. — I do not see but that would be a very good arrangement. 

iStoples, J. — I would extend every indulgence to Mr. Atwell ; but not 
even to him, as he is situated, without the assent of the prisoner. 

Atwell. — Mr. Dorr assents to it. 

Dvrjee^ Ch. J. — Then, Mr. Turner, you will proceed. 

MOTION IN ARREST OF JUDGMENT. 
Opening argument of Mr. Turner. 

May it please your honors: The question now to be presented for the 
consideration of your honors, is, whttlier the indicbnent in this case could 
be legally tried m this county? 

1 am aware that the same question which arose on the indiclment against 
Judge Joslin has been once argued before, the former court, and tliat the 
decision was against us. The question, however, is one of such great 
importance to our client, Mr. Dorr, and of such deep interest to the com- 
munity at large, that we have felt ourselves excusable in strongly urging 
upon your honors its reconsideration upon this motion. The court need 
not to be informed that, in that case, the decision was not the unanimous 
opinion of the court ; and we tliink, even if it had been, as it was the first 
and only case which had arisen under a new law, and as the court now is 
differently constituted, composed of a diflJerent number of judges, (one of 
whoiTi has never heard the point argued,) it is not derogatory to the court to 
consider it as still an open question, and a proper subject to be reargued. 

The court, or a majority of them, are also aware that 1 was not present, 
and took no part in the argument of that case; and I may properly state 



Rep. No. 546. 1033 

that I have seen no report of it; so that, in attempting the argnment in 
this case, I have no aids beyond my own views of the huv, and my own 
researches for authority. 

But when so great an innovation is attempted npon the jurisprudence of 
the State, it is most expedient that what is to be considered law should be 
deliberately and well settled in the first instance. The views I may take 
of the subject it would be egregious vanity in me to imagine will compare 
with those of the profound and learn< d scholars who argued the question 
before ; but they will be my own. and I doubt not that the court will bestow 
upon them all the consideration they may be entitled to. 

In the first place, then, I shall contend, and attempt to show by authori- 
ties, that, by the common law and ancient statutes of England — all of which 
were a pan of the common law of Rhode Island — a citizen who stood in- 
dicted was triable only in t\\ecoutitu where the offence was charged to have 
been cosnmitted, and by a jury of the visue or neighborhoncl. 

[Here Mr. T. read, and commented on as he read, the following author- 
ities : Stat. 2.5 Kdward 3, c. 4; 4 Hawk., P. C 371 : 2 Hawk., P. C. 4(13; 
3 Coke's Inst., 27; Ena. Lib. 213, 221. 229, and 24; 2 Hale's P. C. 204; 
163, 164 ; 4 Tuck. Bl. 340 ; I Trials per Pais, 1 15, c. 8.] 

Blake^ attorney general. — Wetidmit that, as comnioii. law, the defendant 
had a right to be tried in the county; but a great many statutes in Eng- 
land have altered common law in that particular. Chitty is full of them. 

Turner. — I am aware of it, as you will perceive by the next position that 
I tid<e ; and that, may it please your honors, is, that, as far as the common 
law in England has been altered by statute, the authority to try is expressly 
given. 

These statutes are quoted in the context of the 1 (Jhitty's C. L., from 
page 180 to 190, inclusive, where he treats of venire and change of 
venue, and are as follows, viz: 13 Geo. 3, c. 31, s. 4. 5 ; 44 do., c. 92, s. 7, 
8; 43 do., c. 113, s. 5, 6 ; 2 Geo. 2, c. 21 ; 2 Jfas. I, c. II ; 53 Geo, o, c. 
108, s. 25 ; 42 Geo. 3, c. 81, .s. 3 and 85 ; 26 Geo. 2, c. 19, s. 8 ; 8 Geo. 2, 
c. 20, s. 3; 13 Geo. 3, c. 84, s. 42; 38 Geo. 3, c. 52; 51 do., c. 100; 33 
Hen. 8, c. 23 ; 9 Geo. 2, c. 35, s. 26 ; 19 Geo. 2, c. 35, s. 5 ; do. do c. 30, 
s. I ; 37 Geo. 3, c. 70, s. 7; 26 Hen. 8. c. 6 ; 34 and 25 Hen. 8, c. 26, s. 
75, and c. 2; 28 Hen. 8, c. 15; 39 Geo. 3, c. 37 ; 6 Geo. 1, c. 19; 11 do. 
do., c. 29, s. 7; 33 Geo. 3, c. 67; 39 Geo. 3, c. 44, s. 7, 8 ; and 12 Geo. 
3, c. 24, s. 2. 

All these statutes, said Mr. T., down to the 30th year of George lil, 
(1790) — that being the latest period to whicli I have had the means of acces.s 
— have been carefully examined ; and, excepting the 2d of George 2, c. 21, 
and the 19th of George 2, c. 35, s. 5, (which relate to incidental ir.atter 
merely,) whenever they authorize the finding of an indictment in any coun- 
ty other than the county or place in which the offence may have been com- 
mitted, do, in the most explicit terms, at the same time, give tlie poioer to 
try. There is, to be sure, great variety of language used for this purpose; 
but yet, in every instance, it is such as puts that purpose and that intent be- 
yond the shadow of a doubt. In some cases, the phraseoloji^y is to ''hear, 
try, and determine;" in others, " to be inquired o^^ examined, tried, and de- 
termined ;'" in ()tlu:rs, " inquire, hear, and determine;" in others, "to be 
prosecuted ;" in others, " to be heard and tried ;" and in otiiers still, " to in-' 
diet, try, and [junish." There is no instance in which tiie statute waives the 



1034 Rep. No. 546. 

jyower to try as inctdental to ihe power to indict; or to be inferred by the 
court. 

With regard to the statutes of Ei)gland, it may be reiDarked, further, 
that none of them, passed subsequent to the Kevohition, in the 15th of 
George III, are of any authority in, or furnish precedents for, tlie courts in 
this country— notwithstanding Mr. Chitty rehes much on tliem in his book, 
and that book is relied on every day, as authority, in our courts. In fact, 
several of the statutes passed prior to the Revolution, in the 8th, I2th, and 
13th years of George III, also quoted by Chitty, are among those enumer- 
ated as oppressive and unconstitiiiional by the C^^ontinenial Congress, in their 
declaration of American riglits, of October 14, 1774, and were, in them- 
selves, promiiient causes of the war of the Revolution ; and they, also, are 
now brought up as good authority against us, on a question of the right of 
a Rhode Islander to be tried in his own county, and by a jury of that 
county. 

Having thus shown how the right of trial in England stood at common 
law, and how it has been altered and abridged by statute, I will proceed to 
the consideration of another point in the case — which is, that, by the gen- 
eral law of Rhode Island, concerning crimes and punishments, the person 
indicted is to be tried in the county where the offence is charged to have 
been committed. 

Mr. T. here read from the Revised Criminal Code, State Laws, page 
992, chap. 9, sec. 26, as follows, viz: 

" Every person who shall be accused of any offence shall be proceeded 
against in the county in which the offence shall be alleged to have been 
committed, mid not ehewhere.''^ 

This was not the enactment of 7iew law in this State in 183S, when this 
revision was made; it had always been tlie law here; our ancestors brought 
it with them from the mother country. In the Digest of 1822, page 345, 
section 27, a similar provision is found in these words: "Nor shall any 
person, charged with either of the (capital) crimes aforesaid, be tried, ex- 
cept by the supreme judicial court, holden in and for the county wherein 
the offence shall have been committed ;" and at page 353, section 60, it is 
repeated in these words : "That persons accused of any crime or crimes 
shall be proceeded against either in the supreme judicial court, or the court 
of general sessions of the pea(;'e of the county wherein the crime or crimes 
charged may be committed, unless in cases where, by law, special provision 
is or shall be made." 

In the Digest of 1798, page 604, section 56, is the same provision, ex- 
pressed in the same words — the former being a literal transcript of the 
latter. 

In the resolutions adopted by the legislature of Rhode Island, communi- 
cated to Congress upon the adoption of the United States constitution in 
1790, (section 1st, Elliot's Debates, 370, in articles 8 and 18,) the right of 
trial by a jury of the vicinage is declared to be a constitutional right, that 
^^ cannot be abridgedP 

So stood the law in Rhode Island up to March. 1842, when the legisla- 
ture passed the "act in relation to offences against the sovereign power ot 
the Slate"— upon the construction of the 4th section of which, the present 
question arises. It may, however, as well be liere observed, that the gen- 
eral law of Rhode Island on tiie subject is the same, in principle, with the 
6th article of the amendments of the constitution of tlie United States. 



Rep No. 546. 1035 

The 4fh section of the act of March. 1842, is in these words : '=A11 of- 
fences under this act sliall be triable before tlie supreme judicial court only. 
Any person or persons arrested under the same, and also for treason against 
the State, may be imprisoned or held in custody for trial in the jail of such 
county of the State as the judcre or justice issuing the warrant way order 
or direct ; and the sheriff, or other officer charged with the service of such 
warrant, shall, without regard to his precinct, have full power and author- 
ity to take such p rson or persons, and him or them to commit to any coun- 
ty jail in this State, which may tie designated by such judge or justice ; and 
it shall be the duty of all sheriffs, deputy sherilTs, town sergeants, consta- 
bles, and jailers to govern themselves accordingly. All indiclnients vrider 
this act, and also all indictments for treason as^ainst this Slate, 'may be 
preferred and found, in any county of this iStnte, without regard to the 
county in which, the offence was commitled; and the supreme judicial court 
shall have full power, for good cause, from time to time, to remove for trial 
any indictment which may be found under this act, or for treason against 
the State, to such county of the State as they may deem best for the pur- 
pose of ensurii'io- a fair trial of the same ; and shall, upon the conviction of 
any such offender or offenders, have full power to order, and from tmie to 
time to alttr, the place of imprisonment of such offender or offenders to 
such county jail within this State, or to the State's prison, as to ihem shall 
seem best for tlie safe custody of such offender or offenders; any act, law, 
or usage to tlie contrary, notwithstanding." 

To this act of March, 1842. there is no repealing clause. And I contend, 
in the next place, that it does not, in express terms, or by necessary impli- 
cation, repeal the common law, or the general statutes before referred to, as 
to the place of trial of indictments. 

It is not pretended by any one that this statute exprtssly repeals the gen- 
eral law of the State, as last re-enacted in 1838; hutth'di \i\s by Im/jlication 
repealed, as to this, by the provision contained in the section read, that indict- 
ments under it, and for treason against the State, '•^ may he preferred and 
found in any county of the State, without regard to the county in which 
the offence was committed.''^ Now, we say, that if such had been the 
intention of the legislature, they would have so expressed it; and, instead 
of saying " way be preferred and found f they would have said, " may be 
preferred, found, and tried, in any county." The legal presumption even is, 
that a legislature always does say precisely that which it intends; and when 
it intends to repeal an existing law, it will express itself in such terms as, 
by a material and unforced construction, will declare that intent. Again: 
a subsequent law does not necessarily repeal a prior law upon the same 
su iject ; and where no express words of repeal are made use of, the first 
inquiry is to ascertain from the whole act what the intention of the legis- 
lature was, in order to see if both the old and new act may not well stand 
too;ether. 

In this ca-se, we contend that it was not the intention of the legislature to 
take away from the accused, in the first instance, the old, cherished com- 
mon-law right of a trial in the county where the offence was alleged to 
have been committed; but to provide, in times of great civil commotion, 
that, in order to ensure some trial of offenders, they might be indicted else- 
where than in that county; and that all sucli indictments should be con- 
tinued from term to term, until they could be fairly and impartially tried in 
the proper county. 



1036 Kep. No. 546. 

I am aware that, on a former occasion, it was said by the court, that, if 
they could not try hire an indictment found //ere, for an offence commit- 
ted in the county of Providence, or elsewhere, until it had been removed 
for good cause shown, the indictment might never be tried ; but we appre- 
hend tliat no such difficuhy exists. We know of no reason, or law, that 
would prevent this court, ex officio^ or on suggestion of the attorney gene- 
ral, from taking tliis indictment by certiorari, according to the practice of 
the English court, into the county of Providence for trial — the overt acts of 
treason being alleged to have been committed in that county, and of con- 
tinuing it there until it could be fairly tried ; if no fair trial could be had 
there, tlien of removing it, under this act, for trial, to some county where it 
might be fairly tried. 

This construction of the 4th section of the act of March, 1842, implies 
no repeal of the general law of 1838 ; and yet gives to the section full 
and complete effect; the fair and legitimate object of the legislature — that 
of holding an offender so as to be certain of a trial somewhere — is attained 
on the one hand ; whilst, on the other, the "inestimable privilege" of a fair 
trial, by an impartial jury of the peers of his vicinage, is secured to the 
accused in the county where his offence is charged to have been committed. 

Bui should (Uirs not be considered the true construction, (and I see not 
what other construction it justly admits of,) then, may it please your hon- 
ors, as it neither repeals the general law, nor anywhere expressly gives 
the power to try indictments anywhere out of the county where they were 
triable, as common law, and imdor the old statute, 1 caimot see how this 
court can sustain their jurisdiction o\'er this indictment, and try it in the 
county of Newport. 

The omission, on the part of the legislature, to do the one or the other, 
most clearly constitutes a casus omissus^ which no court can supply by 
forced analogies or strained constructions, but which can be remedied only 
by the future action of the legislature. 

Suppose the authority granted by this section iiad been only that all in- 
dictmi nts, &c., may be tried in any other county, &c. : I ask if your hon- 
ors would have conceived yourselves warranted in charging the grand jury 
of this county to find hills of indictment against citizens of Providence 
county, for offences committed there? If not right, then, by parity of rea- 
son, they have no right to try, when the authority given is only that they 
may be preferred -And Joinid, and says nothing whatever about the tiial. 

The court lias repeatedly told us that they do not sit here to make laios; 
neither do they sit here, as we suppose, to unmake them; for it requires 
the same power to repeal a law that it does to enact one ; it must stand as 
it is, and he construed bv a fair inter|)retation of its own laniiU.ige. 

[Mr. T. read I Hale's P. C. 221, 298, 299.] 

This statute is in deiogation of the common law and common right, and 
highly penal in its nature; and we contend that, in the consiruction of 
such a statute by the court, they are to be construed in favor of the com- 
mon right and the right of the prisoner, and strictly toward the government. 

[Upon tliis, and the last preceding point, the authorities read and com- 
mented on were as follows, viz: Dwarris on Stat. Law l,ib., vol. 9. page 
of the treatise, 30, 31, 50, 51, 55. 56, 58 ; 4 Mass. R. 471 and 439 ; 15 do. 
205; 3 do. 254; 5 do. 380 ; 6 do. 40; 14 do. 286; 7 Bac. Abr. 351.] 

With these views, said Mr. T., I submit to the court that the trial of Mr. 
Dorr in Newport connty was contrary to law, and that no judgment ought 
to be rendered on the verdict of guilty found against him. 



Rep No. 546. 1037 

ARGUMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, (MR. BLAKE,) ON MOTION L\ 
ARRE^iT OF JUDGMENT. 

Mr. Blake. — I intend to make hut few remnrks on the construction of 
this act. There hus already been a decision of this question by this court. 
At that time, all the reasons on either side were ^iven ; I do not propose to 
introduce any new ones. This trial has already lasted a great length of 
time ; and, for my own part, I am anxious to see some end to it. 

The act, by the terms of it, gives power to indict and to remove in- 
dictments. The great object in the construction of all statutes, is, in the 
first place, to ascertain, from the language used, and the surrounding cir- 
cumstances, what was the intention of tlie legislature at tlie tune of iis 
enactment. You may find in the books maxims for construction adapted 
to maintain almost any position you may desire. M'he grand cardinal 
m:ixim, however, is to give efi'ect to the intention of the legislature ; and 
that can be best ascertained from the circumstances and situation of things 
at the time which called the act into being. jMr. Blake here commented 
shortly on the authorities read on the other side from Dwarris, and read 
hnnself from the same work, p. 39, 4(1, 42, 43] 

When the ivorr/s of a statute are not in themselves explicit, tlie construc- 
tion must be drawn from the condition of things at the time of its passage. 
I uaree that, at common law, trials were required to be had in die comity 
where the offence was committed ; but in England, particular circumstances, 
or new situations of affairs, have led to the passage of many statutes alter- 
ing the common law in that country; and I do not know ol any instance in 
which their courts have decided such laws to be unconstitutional, or trials 
had und' r them to he illegal or void. 

Now, what were the circumstances and situation of affairs in Rhode 
Island at the time the act of March. 1842, was passed? There was a very- 
great excitement throughout the whole State ; but the principal theatre of 
commotion and confusion was in the county of Providence — an outbreak 
and resort to arms were at any moment to be expected. An attempt was 
then being made to overturn the Slate government, and plant on its ruins 
a new one by civil war. The circumstances of the times afforded no im- 
mediate or reasonable prospect, if the anticipated evils should overtake us, 
of any speedy and fair trial for any offence growing out of that state of 
affairs in the county of Providence, where offences, if committed at all, would 
most probably be committed. To provide for, and, if possible, to guard 
against such a contingency, the act in question was passed by the legis- 
lature. 

No construction should be given to a statute, which will defeat its own 
ends. The construction contended for on the other side would defeat the 
whole object the legislature had in view in the passage of the act. That 
was not only to secure a trial, but a speedy and impartial trial ; and, know- 
ing that suck a trial could not be expected in the county of Providence — 
tlie very scene of war — by this act provided for its being had in some other 
county. 

Such, beyond all question, was the intention of the legislature; and 
the only question is, whether the language of the act admits of its being 
construed so as to give effect to that intention. 

The act was passed for a wise and beneficial end ; and should receive a 
wise, a liberal, and a beneficial construction. [Here Mr. B. read and com. 



1088 Rep. No. 546. 

mented on 8 Barn, and Cress. 104 ; Dwarris on Stat., 51; 1 Cliitty C. L., 
338, 365, 422, 501; 4 Tuck. Bl. 322.J 

The next ground taken by Mr. Blake was, that the indictment and trial 
were parts of the same thing. That, if the indictment could he found \n 
the county of Newport, it might, as a necessary and inseparable incident, 
be also tried there ; that, in fact, according to the books, indictment and trial 
were convertible terms. [Mr. B. read 1 Chitty C. L , 186, 315 ; and Fos- 
ter's C. L., 235.] 

To show that the common law and general statute law right of trial in 
the county, and by a jury of the county, had been altered in Rhode Island 
much in tlie same way as it luid been in England, (to wit, by special stat- 
utes,) Mr. Blake read from the Dig. H. I. of 1822, page 159, sect. 12, which 
provides " That all indictments for any crime or misdemeanor committed 
on the waters of Narragansett bay, shall be triable in any county of this 
Stale, at the discretion of the attorney general." His argument being, that 
the legislature might, with equal right, alter it in the one case as in the 
other.* 

In conclusion, Mr. Blake insisted that the trial was well had in the 
county of Newport, and that the judgment of the court should follow the 
verdict. 

The court adjourned until the 24th, at 10 o'clock, a. m. In the mean 
time, Mr. Atwell furnished his argument in the close, as before stated. 

Newport, Monday, Jwne 24, 1844. 

The court met pursuant to adjournment. Mr. Dorr brought in. 

Mr. Atwell not being yet present, the court asked Mr. Turner if the writ- 
ten argument of Mr. Atwell had been furnished. His answer was in the 
affirmative ; and, at a suggestion from the court. Mr. Turner then read 

MR. ATWELL'S CLOSING ARGUMENT FOR DEFENDANT, ON MOTION IN 
ARREST OF JUDGMENT. 

May it please your honors : The question now submitted to the considera- 
tion of this honorable court is one of no inconsiderable importance, as atfect- 
ing the case at bar, and as affecting the general principles of our jurispru- 
dence.. The defendant is indicted in the county of Newport, for the crime 
of treason, alleged to have been committed in the county of Providence. 
He is brought to the county of Newport, by process issuing from the court 
here, for trial. He is here tried by a jury of this county, and by them con- 



* The section of the act immediately preceding that read by the attorney general, is in these 
words: 

"Sec. II. And be it further enacted^ ThiX di.\\ the waters of the Narragansett bay, situate to 
the northward of Field's Point, shall be deemed a part of the county of Providence, and be 
wUhin the jurisdiction ot that county ; and that all the other waters of the said bay sliall not 
be deemed to make part or be within the sole jurisdiction of any one particular county in this 
State ; but it shall be lawful for any sheriif, or other officer duly authorized, belonging to either 
of the counties of this State, to serve any wiit or other process, whether of a civil or criminal 
nature, within any part of the said Narragansett Bay." 

So that, as every county in the State is bounded on the bay, the legislature very wisely gave 
them all a concurrent j%irisdictio7i over its waters, except the little portion of it entirely within 
the county of Providence. No argument, therefore, can be drawn from that case to warrant the 
change ol the place of trial of an indictment from one county to another county, for the waters 
of the bay are as much a part of one county as ihey are ol another, — G. T. 



Rep. No. 546. 1039 

victed ; and the question now is, was he properly tried and convicted 
according' to law 7 

It is admitted on all sides, that, by the common law and ancient statutes 
of Knffland, (which, together, formed the common law of this State at the 
time of the revolution,) the citizen, accused of any felony, was entitled to 
be tried in the coimty where the offence was charged to have been com- 
mitted, and by a jury of the vistie or neighborhood. This was the " fair 
and impartial trial by a jury of peers" — " the palladium of English liberty" 
so often mentioned and lauded by the old English writers. It was of Anglo- 
Saxon origin, and, in cases of treason, was never attempted to be disturbed 
until the reign of the eighth Henry, whose tyrannical jealousy led him not 
only to create new and unheard of treasons, but also new and unheard-of 
modes of trial. This act (33 Hen. VHI, ch, 23) was repealed in his daugh- 
ter's reign,(l and 2 P. and M. ch. 10, sec. 8 ;) and now, it is believed, treason 
(with the exception of some minor offences called by that name and com- 
mitted without the realm) is tried in F^ngland " by the course of the com- 
mon law, and in no other way whatever." There would seem to be a pe- 
culiar propriety, as well as necessity, in preserving the integrity of this 
time-honored principle of the common law in the case of treason, which, 
being an offence striking at the very existence of the government, would, from 
an itislinct of self-preservation, array against the supposed offender its whole 
power and influence; and if tlie government could, at its pleasure, as in 
Henry VJU's day, take the accused away from his witnesses, his neighbors 
and his friends, and carry him for trial to a place known to be filled with 
his enemies and political opponents, his chance for a fair and impartial trial 
would be small indeed. 1 address these remarks to the court, in order to 
show to them that the old common law rule before alluded to, is not to be 
disturbed or changed, without great and sufficient cause emanating from a 
superior power, and imperative upon the supreme court. '^Phis cause, too, 
should be clearly and unequivocally expressed, and not depending upon 
doubtful analogy, or nice and technical deductions, which are sometimes 
but the devious ways through which error seeks to supplant truth. 

The question, then, is, in Rhode Island, Has the common law principle, 
that the accused shall be tried in the county or vicinage where the offence 
is charged to have been committed, and by a jury of the same, been altered, 
changed, or abrogated by any statute, or custom adopted as law? 

It is not pretended that any such custom has existed, or now exists. On 
the contrary, up to the present time the course of proceeding here has been 
in strict accordance with the common law, except when the legislature has 
authorized a departure at the instance of the accused. Has it been altered, 
changed, or abrogated by statute? Let me glance at the legislation on this 
subject. While we were a colony, the mode of proceeding in this respect 
was governed by the common law and statutes of the mother country. In 
1798, the legislature, in affirmance of the common law, provided that per- 
sons accused of any crime or crimes shall be proceeded against, either in 
the supreme judicial court, or the court of general sessions of the peace of 
the county wherein the crime is charged to have been committed, unless 
in cases where, by law, special provision is, or shall be, otherwise made. A 
similar provision was also incorporated in the Digest of 1822. It is be- 
lieved the reserved power contained in the exception was never exercised 
by the legislature, save at the instance of the accused. By the revised 



1040 ■ Rep. No. 546. 

criminal code of 1838, chapter 9, section 26, it is provided that every per- 
son who shall be accused of any offence, shall be proceeded against in the 
county ill which the offence shall be alleged to have been committed, a??-ry 
7iot elsewhere. This statute is emphatic, and explicit language re-asserts 
and enforces the common law principle we have spoken of. l^he chapter 
of the last statute cited relates to the proceedings for the prevention of 
crime, and for the apprehension, examination, and trial of offenders. Thus 
stood the law in this State in 1838 : the ancient common law principle was 
acknowledged and enforced, and the right of the accused to a trial by a 
jury of the vicinage was as strongly secured to the subject as in the days of 
the great Alfred. Has this security been impaired or taken away? If so, 
it must have been by some statute passed by some competent authority, 
which, in express terms, or by necessary and unavoidable implication, pro- 
duces that result. Sucli a statute ought to receive the strictest construc- 
tion ; for it tends to take away the trial by [;i proper] jury, and abridges the 
liberiy of the subject. — (Dwarris, 76.) It also creates a new jurisdiction. 
(Idem, 77.) Again : it is a question of construction on every act interfering 
with the provisions of a former law, whether it operates as a total, partial, 
or temporary repeal ; and it is only to be presumed that the legislature, 
when it entertains an intention, will express it, and that too in clear and 
explicit terms. — (Dwarris, 56.) A casus omnssiis can in no case be supplied 
by a court of law; for that would be to make laws. — (Dwarris, 53.) An 
act was passed by the legislature of this State, being a competent authority, 
at their March session, 1842, entitled "An act in relation to offences against 
the sovereign power of this State," which, it is said in its fourth section, has 
taken away the right in question. Let us see if it be so, under the rules of 
construction before cited. 

The section in question, by its terms^ changes the law of 1838 in three 
important particulars only : 1st, as to the right of the magistrate to com- 
mit persons charged with the crimes therein mentioned, to some jail in a 
county other than that in which the offence is charged to have been com- 
mitted ; 2d, as to the right of the attorney general to prefer, and a grand 
jury to find, indictments tor such offence in a county other than that in 
which the offence is charged to have been committed ; and 3d, as to the 
power of the court to remove, for good cause, indictments so found, for trial 
to such county in this State as they shall deem best for the purpose of en- 
suring a fair trial of the same. The two first particulars relate exclusively 
to the proceedings before trial, which are wholly beyond the power of the 
court to control, except when judging of their legality, — the one relating to 
the apprehension, the other to the accusation of the supposed offender. 
These are but incidents to the trial, the trial being the principal thing. As 
to the flace where the trial is to be had, the act makes no provision contrary 
to, no alteration of the old laws, except when the court exercise the power 
given to it of removing the trial of the indictment to some county other 
than that in which it is found. With this exception, the old right of the 
prisoner stands unimpaired. If he commit one of the offences mentioned 
in the act, in the county of Providence, he may be arrested and committed 
in the county of Newport; he may be indicted in that county ; he may be 
arraigned and put to plead in that county. These are all but preparatory 
incidents to the trial ; and when the question of the flace of trial arises, 
he may well claim the ancient privilege, and say, 1 must be tried in the 



Rep. No. 546. 1041 

■comity of Providence, where the offence is charged to have been commit- 
ted, and not elsewhere, unless, for good cause shown, the trial is removed to 
some other county in this State. 

Such, I apprehend, is the construction tiie court is bound by law to give 
to the act in question 5 and by such construction only can the act stand, 
without invading the liberty of the subject, and destroying aright once 
considered invaluable. 

[See R. I. Dec. of Rights, 1790, art. 8.] 

Again : the act of 1842, in this section, is a repealing act, and it specifi- 
cally repeals certain parts of the law of 1838. Now, the well known rule 
is. that when a statute enumerates certain matters or things, other matters 
and things are excluded. Here the place of commitment, the place of in- 
dictment, and the place of trial, under certain circumstances, are specifi- 
cally enumerated ; but the place of trial under the circumstances of this 
case is not mentioned. The legal conclusion then is, that the legislature 
intended it should remain as it was before the passage of the act, subject 
only to the exception mentioned in the fourth section; thus showing their 
desire to preserve entire the accustomed arjd lonsc-cherished usages of the 
State, and to change them only when absolute necessity required it. 

Does this construction or exposition, drawn from the ptain words of the 
statute, render nugatory or inconsistent any of its provisions? 1 think not. 
It by no means follows, because the court have obtained jurisdiction 
over a prisoner, by reason of his having been indicted in a particular 
county, that they must, of necessity, try him in that county. Why should 
it be so? The arraignment creates no such necessity — the plea pleaded cre- 
ates no such necessity. And to say that in this case there is no authoritative 
act which req\iires the court to hold the trial in another county, is begging 
the question. The court of King's Bench remove indictments for trial to 
other counties, by virtue of their statute and common law power, after ar- 
raignmeiit and plea pleaded ; and this by an ordinary process known to the 
law. — (1 Chitty on C. L., 402.) 1 say after arraignment and plea; because, 
without these, the court could not know that anything w;is to be tried. 
Wliere, then, is the difficulty, theoretical or practical, in carrying out the 
plain and literal construction of the statute? It is supposed that it may in- 
terfere with the bill of rights, which guaranties to every citizen a speedy/ 
trial by an impartial jury. But how so? The delay is only from the 
time of the sitting of the court in the county where the indictment is 
found, to the sittinor of the court in the county to which the trial is re- 
moved ; and an impartial jury is of much greater consequence than a 
speedy trial. But the court will perceive that this objection, if it have any 
force, applies with equal power to all the cases manifestly embraced in the 
act ; for the court cannot, in any case, exercise the power of removal therein 
given them, without divesting the defendant of this right to a speedy trial, 
and thus be at war with the bill of rights, which then formed a part of the 
constitution of Rhode Island. 

Neither has this court a right to presume that the county in which the 
indictment is preferred and found is. of all others, the most suitable county 
within which the indictment can be tried. Upon what legal grounds does 
this presumption rest? The indictment is preferred by the attorney gen- 
eral, upon his individual responsibility, without the assent and control of 
the court, and without any reference to the place of its ultimate trial. 
Upon these facts, how can the court raise the presumption m question? 
66 



1042 Kep. No. 546. 

How can they presume a fact from other facts, having no real or necessary 
connexion with the fact presumed? I might follow this train of reasoning 
much further, were it necessary; but 1 trust I have shown the court that the 
construction of the statute I contend for is not opposed by any difficulty 
arising out of the mode of legal proceedings under it. 

The attorney general contends that the authority to find an indictment 
carries with it the power to try; and this doctrine he attempts to support by 
authorities going to show that sometimes text writers use the words ''in- 
dictment" and " triaP' as convertible terms. I think the court will perceive 
that the auth(5rities do not bear him out in his position ; neither has it been, 
nor can it be shown, that the indictment or accusation is the principal thing, 
and the trial or determination of the truth or falsehood of the accusation 
the mere incident — a proposition almost offensive to common sense, and yet 
necessary to be supported before his argument can have any weight. 

In England, it has been decided that where a statute authorizes a trial in 
a different county, the grand jury of course acquire the right to investigate 
the complaint. — (1 Chitty C. L. 259.) Why of course? Because that in- 
vestigation is an antecedent incident, necessary to a trial. And it is worthy 
of remark, that most of the statutes of this description use the words " hear, 
try, and determine," or others ciualogous, without referring to the indictment 
in express terms, including it only as an incident. I will not trouble the 
court in pursuing the attorney in his curious disquisition on the subject of 
outlawry, as I am at a loss to discover how the right to punish a man for 
contempt of the king's authority, no matter how severe the punishment 
may be, could confer upon the court the right to declare him guilty of an 
accusation of murder without trial, and convert the accusation into the 
principal, and the trial into the incident. Under these considerations, and 
for these reasons, I submit to this honorable court that the motion in arrest 
of judgment, filed by the prisoner in this cause, ought to prevail. 

SAM'L Y. ATWELL. 

[Mr. Atwell not having, yet arrived, the court adjourned until 2 o'clock, 
p.m.] 

Tuesday afternoon, Jinie 24, 1844. 

The court met as usual. xMr. Dorr brought in. 

Mr. Atwell having arrived, and being present in court, asked and ob- 
tained leave to add a few words to the written argument read in the morn- 
ing in his behalf by his friend Mr. Turner, giving his severe and continued 
illness as an apology for the brevity and condensed shape in which that 
argument appeared. He then, in a speech of a little more than twenty 
minutes, and by one of the most brilliant efforts of his powerful mind, re- 
viewed the whole subject of jury trials, eulogizing the institution, and por- 
traying in the most eloquent and impassioned terms, the consequences of 
innovations on its sanctity. It is to be regretted that even an outline of it 
cannot J3e furnished. 

The'court, after a very brief consultation, overruled the motion in arrest 
of judgment : whereupon 

Blake, attorney general, moved for sentence. 

Atwell moves the court that sentence be suspended until a bill of ex- 
ceptions to the ruling of the court on the question of State treason can be 



Rep. No. 546. IO43 

prepared and tendered for allowance by the court, with a view to snino- out 
a writ of error from the Supreme Conrt of the United States ^ 

The court grant for that purpose until to morrow morning at 9 o'clock 
and adjourn accordingly. * uuiul,«., 

TuKSDAY Morning, June 25, 1844. 

The court met in the town hall, (the State-house, in which the court 
.)s,K. ly s.t, bemg occupied by tbe legislature.) Mr. Dorr brou4t in 

Blake, attorney general, renews his motion for sentence "^ 
^hu.'jf'' ^^A. /.-^Mr. Clerk, ask the prisoner at the bar if he has any- 
thing to say why sentence should not now be pronounced against him. ^ 

/Aec/erA- ---Thomas Wilson Dorr, I a.n du-ected by the court to ask 
you ,f you have anything to say why sentence should not «ow be pro 
««unced against you? ' 

Mr. Dorr then rose and addressed the court, in substance, as follows. 

Reply Gf Mr. Dorr to the court, when asked why sentence should not be 
proHonuced upon him. 

The court have, through their ofTicer, addressed to the defendant the 
mua questions, whether he have anything to say why sentencelould no^ 
now be pronounced upon him. I have s^'omething to say, wIhc Is nli be 
one and intelhg.ble to the court, though it must be necess^arHy u avin n„ 
Without seeking to bring myself m controversy with the cour I an Se' 
sirous to declare to you the plain truth. ' 

I am bound, in duty to myself, to express to you my deep and solemn 
conviction that 1 have not received at your hands the fair tdriVanm 
partial jury, to which, by law and justice, I was entitled. ^ 

Ihe trial has been permitted to take place in a county where to sav ihp 

:'. n^h".??"^"';--'''^'^ ^'^ '^^^"^'^'^^ --^'^ be trild accord n. to t le 

aw of the S ate^ and in a case of doubt like this, he ought to have h Id 

the benefit o it, especially as the trial here must be ui alounty to wh ch 

t^he defendant was a stranger, m the midst of Ins most excited politicll op' 

AH but one of those freeholders (108 in number) who were summoned 
here for the purpose of selecting a jury to try the defendant, werHf "he 
opposite party m the State, and were deliberately set against he defendant 
with the eehngs of partisan hostility. The smgle democratic u o ta 
set aside for having expressed an opinion. Of die drawn jurori sTxteen 
in number, two only were members of the democratic party and ine of 
them for cause and the other for alleged cause, was removed ' 

Everyone of the jury finally selected to try the defendant was of course 
a poll ical opponent. And even as so constituted, the jury we^ no^ npr 
mitted to have the whole case presented to their colisLrZn ?h ^^r" 
not-as in capital, if not in all criminal cases, they are entitled t o S^ nlr 
mitted to jtidge of the law and of the fl.ct. The d Jfendant and h?s tinsel" 
were not permitted to argue to the jury a.iy matter of law. '^ 

Ihe court refused to hear the law aroued to themselves excent on thp 
S"" whether treason be an offence against a State or aganS the Uml^' 

The court refused to permit the defendant to justify himself bv orovino- 
the constitution, the election, and the atuhority under\vhTch L acteS • o? 



1044 Rep. No 546. 

to permit him to produce the same proofs, in order to repel the charges of 
malicious and traitorous motives made in the indictment, and zealously 
ur^ed against him by the counsel for the State. 

By the charge of the judge, the jury were instructed that the only ques- 
tion which they had to try was, whether the defendant intended to do the 
acts which he performed, — a question of capacity, rather than of miOtives 
and intentions. 

It is true that the jury were absent more than two hours ; bwt not for de- 
liberation. One of them was asked, immediately after the verdict was de- 
livered and the jury was discharged, whether they had been detained by 
any disagreement. He replied, " We had nothing to do. The court had 
made everything plain for us." 

On hearing a bill of exceptions to the verdict thus rendered, the court 
promptly overruled all the points of law. 

The court also denied to the defendant an opportunity of showing to 
them that three of the jurors, before they were empanneled, manifested 
strong feelings, and had made use of vindictive and hostile ex|)ressions 
against him personally, afier the defendant had established by his iiffidavit 
the fact that he was not informed of this hostility of feeling and expression 
before they were empanneled. and, with regard to two of them, before the 
verdict was rendered. The defendant expected to prove, by twelve wit- 
nesses, that one of these jurors had expressed a wish to have the defendant 
put to death, and had declared, shortly after the verdict, to a person in- 
quiring the result, that " he had convicted the defendant, and that this was 
what he intended to do;" that another juror had also declared that the de- 
fendant ought to be executed ; and that the third had frequently made the 
same declaration, with a wish that he might be permitted to do the work 
of an executioner, or to shoot him as he would a serpent, and put him to 
death. 

INor would the court permit the defendant to show, by proofs, which he 
declared on oath to have been unknown to him at the time of the empannel- 
ing of the jury, that an array of twelve men summoned on venire by a 
deputy sheriff, were (or a considerable part of them, at least) the same per- 
sons who had been selected by ati attorney of this court, who assisted the 
officer in the service of the summons. 

These, and other matters which I will not stop to enumerate, show that 
this trial, which has been carried through the forms of law, was destitute 
of the reality of justice, and was but a ceremony preceding conviction. 
That there is any precedent for it, m the most acrimonious period of the 
most excited party times in this country, I atn not aware from any exami- 
nation or recollection of its political liistory. 

In a trial of an alleged political offence, involving tlie feelings of the 
whole community, and growing out of a condition of affairs which placed 
the whole people of the State on one side or the other of an exasperated 
controversy, the strictest and most sacred impartiality should have been ob- 
served in the most careful investigation both of law and fact by the jury, 
and in all the decisions and directions of the court. In what case should 
they have been more distrustful of the political bias of their own minds, 
more careful in all their deliberations, more earnest in the invocation of a 
strength above their own, that they might not only appear to be just, but 
do justice in a manner so above all suspicion, that the defendant, and all 
those with whom he is associated, might be satisfied that he had had his 



Rep. No. 546. 1045 

'^ay in cotut, atid that every requisition of the hiw had been observed and 
fulfilled. In how different a spirit were the proceedings of this trial con- 
ducted ! And with what emotions must the defendant have hstened to the 
<lecU\ration of one of your honors, that "in the hurry of this trial" they 
could not attend to the questions of law, which he so earnestly pressed 
upon their immediate consideration, as vitally important to the righteous 
deter iination of his case! 

The result of this trial, which your sentence is about to proclaim, is the 
perpetual imprisonment of the defendant, and his seclusion from the face 
of society, and from all communication with his fellow men. 

Is it too much to say that tlie object of his political opponents is the 
gratification of an insatiable spirit of revenge, rather than the attainment 
of legal justice? They are also bent upon his political destruction, which 
results from the sentence of the court, in the deprivation of his political 
and civil rights. They aim also at a social annihilation, by his commit- 
ment to that tomb of the living, from which, in ordmary cases, those who 
emerge are looked upon as marked and doomed men, to be excluded from 
the reputable walks of life. But there my opponents and persecutors are 
destined to disappointment. The court may, through the consequences of 
their sentence, abridge the term of his existence here; they can annihilate 
his poliiioal rights ; but more than this they cannot accomplish. The 
honest judgment of his friends and fellow citizens resting upon the truth of 
his cause, and faithful to the dictates of humanity and justice, will not so, 
much regard the place to which he is consigned, as the causes Vv^hich have 
led to his incarceration withm its walls. 

Better men have been worse treated than I have been, though not often 
in a better cause. In the service of that cause I have no right to complain 
that I am called upon to suffer hardships, whatever may be the estimate of 
the injustice which inflicts them. 

All these proceedings will be reconsidered by that ultimate tribunal of 
public opinion, whose righteous decision will reverse all the wrongs whicii 
may be now committed, and place that estimate upoti my actions to which 
they may be fairly entitled. 

Vhe process of this court does not reach the man within. The court 
cannot shake the convictions of the mind, nor the fixed purpose whicli is 
^sustained by integrity of heart. 

Claiming no exemp'ions from the iufirmiiies which beset us all, and 
which may attend us in the prosecution of the most important enterprises, 
and, at the same time, conscious of the rectitude of my intentions, and of 
having acted from good motives in an attempt to promote the equality and 
to establish the just freedom and interest of my fellow-citizens, I can regard 
with equanimity this last infliction of the court; nor would I, even at this 
extremity of the law, in view of the opinions which you entertain, and of 
thp stmtiments by which you are animated, exchange the place of a pris- 
oner at the bar for a seat by your side iipon the bench. 

The sentence which you will pronounce, to tiie extent of the power and 
snfluf'nce which this court can exert, is a condemnation of tlie doctrines of 
'76, and a reversal of the great principles which sustain and give vitality to 
our democratic republic, and which are regarded by the great body of our 
fellow-citizens as a portion of the birthright of a free people. 

From this sentence of the court I appeal to the people of our State and 



1046 Rep. No. 546. 

of onr counlry. They shall decide between us. I commit myself, with- 
out distrust, to their final award. I have nothing more to say. 

Chief Justice Durfee^ after a kw remarks, in which he observed that the 
matters stated by the prisoner had all been considered by the court ; that 
the court had been swayed by no political motives, and had been governed 
in their proceedings by the law of the land ; and that, in consequence of the 
terms of acquaintance which had existed between himself and the prisoner, 
he now discharged with regret this last duty which the law imposed upon 
jiim ; then said : Listen, Thomas \V ilson Dorr, to the sentence of (he court \ 
which is, "that the said Thomas W. Dorr be imprisoned in the State prison, 
at Providence, in the county of Providence, for the term of his natural life, 
and there kept at hard labor in separate confinement." 

As soon as the sentence had been passed, Atwell read and tendered to the 
court, for allowance and signature, a bill of exceptions for a writ of error, as 
follows : 

Bill of exceptions foi^ n writ of error from the Supretne Court of the 

United iStates. 

Newport, ss : 

Supreme Court, March terrn^ 1844. 

Twenty frst day— June 25, 1844. 

Scunuel y. Atwell, esq., of counsel for prisoner, moves the court for leave 
to file a bill of exceptions against the ruling of the court during trial, "That 
treason might be conuTiitted against a separate State," and that the court 
allow and sign the same. 

The court order the bill of exceptions to be entered on the minute 
book. 

Be it remembered, that upon the trial of the aforesaid indictment, upon 
issue joined before the jury duly empanneled to try the same, ii was con- 
tended, in behalf of the defendant, that, under the constitution and the laws 
of the United States, the crime of treason against a State could not be com- 
mitted against a separate and several State of the Union, but against the 
United States only ; and that the statute of Rhode Island, passed January, 
1833, entitled " An act concerning crimes and punishments,"^ chapter first, 
for defining and punishing treason against the State of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations, is repugnant to the constitution and laws of the 
United States. And it was also further contended that the defendant could 
not be tried and punished by said court for the crime of treason against the 
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, by reason of the excep- 
tions contained in the third section of the third article of ihe said constitu- 
tion of the United States, and requested the court so to instruct the jury ]. 
which the court then and there refused to do, and on the contrary did in- 
struct the said jury that the said crime of treason might be committed 
against a separate and individual State, and could well be tried and pun- 
ished as such ; to which refusal of the court so to instruct the jury as prayed 
for, as well as to the instruction so as aforesaid given by the court to the 
jury, the defendant excepting, prayed the exceptions to be allowed by the 
court. And after the said instructions were so refused and so given as 
aforesaid, the jury withdrew, and afterwards returned tlieir verdict of gnilty 
against the defendant. And as inasmuch as the several matters of law insisS- 



Rep. No. 546. 1047 

ed on, and objected to on the part of the said defendant and his counsel in 
manner af )resaid, do not appear by the record and verdict aforesaid, the 
counsel for the defendant did then and there propose the aforesaid excep- 
tions to the said refusals and opinions of said court, and requested them to 
put the seal of said court to this bill of exceptions, containing said several 
matters so urged and so refused as aforesaid, 

Newport, sc: 

Clerk's Office, Supreme Court. 

I hereby certify ihat I have compared the above and foregoing copy o^ 
the bill of exceptions, with the original entered on the minute book of said 
court, and found the same to he a true and correct copy of the same. 

In witness whereof, I, WiHiam Gilpin, clerk of said court, have 
hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said court, this thir- 
ty. first day of July, in ihe year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-four. 

WM. GILPIN, Clerk. 



[^' 



Upon a suggestion from the court, an alteration was made in the bill of 
exceptions at the bar; and, after a short discussion between the bench and 
the bar, whether, without a bill of exceptions signed, tlie record did not of 
itself show sufficient matter to take the case by writ of error up to the Su- 
preme Court of the United States, the conn ordered the bill to be entered 
on the minute book of the court. 

Mr. Atwell then moved the court to suspend the execution of the sen- 
tence, in order to await a decision of the case by the Supreme Court of the 
United States upon a writ of error. The defendant, by the imprisonment 
which the sentence imposed, would be disabled from prosecuting his suit. 

Durfee Cli. J. — The court have no power to suspend the execution of 
the sentence ; it can only remain for the officer, the sheriff, to carry into 
effect the judgment of the law. 

The prisoner was then remanded, and the court adjourned until tlie next 
regular term. 

On Thursday afternoon, June 27th, Mr. Dorr was removed by the sheriff 
of Newport county, from the county jail in Newport, and committed to the 
State's prison, in the city and county of Providence, pursuant to sentence. 

Affidavit of Lieutenant H. N. Tracy. 

[See first reason for prisoner's motion for new trial, page 1000,] 
I, Horatio N, Tracy, of the town and county of Newport, of lawful age, 
on solemn oath, do depose and say: That 1 am well acquainted with Wil- 
liam L, Melville, jr., of Newport, and have been so for ten or a dozen years. 
In the latter part of .July, or first of August, 1843, I was one evening at Mr. 
Nicholas Hazard's; I saw Mr. Melville there; when I went in, the conver- 
sation related to the indictment of Dorr for treason. Melville said that he 
was guilty and ought to be hunsf, and that he would like the privilege of 
being hangman. J asked him if he would dare to say this in the presence 
of Dorr himself. He said he would, and anywhere else. There were a 
good many present. I think that Hazard, and Edward, and Deakon, were 
£here; I can't recollect anybody else. Melville spoke coolly, and did 



1048 Rep. No. 546. 

not appear under any excitement. The conversation was not more than 
usual excited. Some time in the month of February last — in tlie fore part 
of February, I should think — I called in IVIr. Melville's shop on business, 
and went into his back work-shop. While there, the conversation came 
up in relation to the trial of Dorr. Melville said that "you suffrage men 
are all bad men and ought to be hung, and Dorr with the rest ;" or words 
to that effect. There were some two or three present ; I don't recollect 
who they were, Melville was good humored and smiling at the time,. and 
pleasant, and talked as if he was in earnest^ and I could not then believe 
him to be sincere. I don't recollect having any other conversation with 
him on the subject. My recollection was drawn to these conversations by 
hearing the attorney general ask other jurors questions as to guilt or in- 
nocence. I expressed my surprise to Mr. Hazard at the time. 

HORATIO N. TRACY. 

Newport, sc." 

Then personally appeared before me, Horatio N. Tracy, and, after being 
sworn, gave the atbregomg deposition, which was by me reduced to writing 
in his presence, and by him signed in mine. 

WILLIAM GILPIN, /. P. 

Newport, 3Iat/ 13, 1844. 



Extracts from the court record. 

June 12, 3 p. m. — 17th day of the term. — Thomas W. Dorr brought into 
court. Turner continues argument. "The court rule that no testimony 
shall be introduced in relation to any expressions made by, or partiality of, 
jurors." — (See exception INo. 1, page 1000.) 

18th. — " The court rule that no evidence be introduced on the part of 
the prisoner to prove that the sheriff made improper return on venire facias 
for jurors." — (See exception No. 4, page 1000.) 



No. 241. 



Proceedings of the United. States Senate, on the resolution of Mr. Allen, 
in relation to the difficulties in Rhode Island. 

Monday, April 18, 1842. 

Mr. Allen submitted the following resolution ; which having been read, 
was ordered to be printed : 

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to com- 
municate to the Senate all information in his possession, or which has been 
communicated to him, either verbally or in writing, whether from the gov- 
ernor of the State of Rhode Island, or from persons purporting to act under 
his appointment, or by his authority or request, or under the authority or 
request of any or either of the present authorities of ihat State, civil or 
military, or purporting to act under the authority, or by the appointment, 
or at the request of a convention of delegates of the people of that State, 
or of a committee of any such convention, or purporting to act as the im- 



Rep. No. 546. 1049 

mediate acrent or representative of any meeting or assemblage of citizens of 
that State, relative to proceedings which have taken place, or are in con- 
templation in that Slate, with a view to the establishment of a constitu- 
tional republican form of government for the people thereof, in the place 
of the land company charter granted by King Charles 11 of England, and 
under which that State has hitherto been governed ; and that he also com- 
municate to the Senate, with that information, all correspondence, procla- 
mations, orders, and proceedit)gs of any character and description whatso- 
ever, which have been taken on the part of the executive Government of 
the United States touching that matter. 

Wkdnesday, April 20, 1842. 

On motion of Mr. Allen, the Senate took up for consideration the resolu- 
tion submitted by him on Monday last, calling on the President of the 
United States to communicate to the Senate all information in his posses- 
sion, or which had been communicated to him, either verbally or m wri- 
ting, relative to the proceedings in the State of Rhode Island, and the na- 
ture of the proceedings which have been taken on the part of the executive 
.Government of the United Slates touching that matter. 

Mr. Allen said it had been suggested to him to strike out so much of the 
resolution as makes a call for the verbal information which may have been 
communicated to the President. He remarked that the word " verbal'' was 
j)ut in the resolutuin, because the President's letter to the governor of Rhode 
Island speaks of and acts on information communicated to him verbally 
and in writing. But, in order to remove the objection, Mr. A. modified his 
resolution by striking out the word " verbally" and inserting the words " in 
print." 

Mr. Preston wished to know how the resolution came before the Senate; 
it had not been taken up by a vote. 

Mr. AVright— It came up in its order. 

Mr. Allen — The resolution is before the Senate ; it was taken up on my 
motion, and has been modifitd. 

Mr. Preston said it seemed to him the resolution called for information 
upon vvliich there was no possibility of founding legislative action. The 
President, in such emergencies as the one which has arisen, is bound to 
act according to a sense of what is right under the constitution. If the in- 
formation be communicated to the Senate, it seemed to him that Congress 
could predicate no action at all upon it ; and it might involve some ex- 
pense. Mr. P. appealed to the Senators from Rhode Island, to know their 
wishes touching the resolution. 

Mr. Simmons said he would like to have the resolution lie on the table 
till to morrow, to afford him an opportunity to examine it. 

Mr. Allen said he would have no objection to such a course, if the Sen- 
ator would consent that it should be taken up to-morrow, and then dis- 
posed of. 

Mr, Simmons could not acquiesce ; that was a matter resting with the 
Senate. 

Mr. Buchanan remarked, that they had better go on vviih its considera- 
tion then, and dispose of it ; but, 

On ihe suggestion of Mr. Allen, the resolution was passed over infor- 
mal! 3^ 



1050 Rep. No. 546. 

Friday, April 22, 1842. 

Oil motion of Mr. Allen, the Senate took np for consideration the fol- 
lowing resolution submitted by him on Monday -last, viz : 

^^ Resolved, That the President of the United Slates be requested to com- 
municate to the Sesiate all information in his possession, or which has been 
communicated to him, either verbally or in writing, whether from the gov- 
ernor of the State of Rhode Island, or from persons purporting to act un- 
der his appointment, or by his authority or request, or under the authority 
or request of any or either of the present authorities of that State, civil or 
military, or purporting to act under the authority, or by the appointment, 
or at the request of a convention of delegates of the people of that State, 
or ot a committee of any such convention, or purporting to act as the im- 
mediate agent or representative of any meeting or assemblage of citizens 
of that State, relative to proceedings which have taken place, or are in con- 
templation in that State, with a view to the establishment of a constitu- 
tional republican form of government for the people thereof, in the place of 
the land company charter granted by King Charles II. of England, and 
under which that Stale has hitherto been governed ; and that he also com- 
municate to tha Senate, with that information, all correspondence, procla- 
mations, orders, and proceedings of any character and description whatso- 
ever, which have been taken on the part of the executive Government of 
the United States touching that matter." 

Mr. Allen wished it to be distmctly understood by the Senate, that, in 
submitting the resolution, it was no part of his purpose to introduce into 
discussion there the question which was at issue, and agitating the two 
parlies in the State of Rhode Island ; and that if any discussion should 
arise, it should not be through his instrumentality. This resolution was a 
call for information, predicated on an official letter from the President of the 
United States to the governor of Rhode Island, and was made with a view 
to ascertain what was the slate of facts upon which the President acted, 
and which produced that letter. The call did not involve the considera- 
tion of the matters of controversy in Rhode Island. If, therefore, any dis- 
cussion should arise on those matters, it would not be through his instru- 
mentality. He wished it to be distinctly understood before the country, 
that the resolution pointed to executive action, and not to the merits or de- 
merits of the controversy in that State. 

Mr. Preston spoke of the impolicy of any action on the subject by the 
Senate in the present juncture of affairs; and, for the purpose of avoiding 
any expression or remark which might lead to a discusssion of the merits 
of the controversy in the Slate of Rhode Island, he moved to lay the reso- . 
lution on the table. 

Mr. Allen solicited the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Preston) to 
withdraw the motion ; but he refused. 

Mr. A. demanded the yeas and nays on the motion ; which were ordered. 

Mr. ('alhoun remarked that the subject was a grave one ; and he thought 
it would be more discreet, before taking any action upon it, to wait a few 
days, when, he doubted not, the whole of the facts would be developed. 

The question was tlien taken on layin^: the resolution on the table, and 
decided m the affirmative — yeas 24, nays 13. 

Yea5 —Messrs. Archer, Bagby, Barrow, Bates, Berrien, Calhoun, Choate, 
Clayton, Conrad, Crittenden, Culhbert, Evans, Graham, Huntington, King, 



Rep. No. 546. 1051 

Mangnm, Miller, Phelps, Porter, Preston, Simmons, Smith of Indiana, 
Spragne, and Tallmadge — 24. 

Nuys — Messrs. Allen, Benton, Buchanan. Fulton, Henderson, Linn, 
McRoberts, Smith of Connecticut, Sturgeon, Tappan, Wilcox, Wright, and 
Young— 13. 

Wednesday, April 27, 1842. 

Mr. Allen remarked that it would be recollected that he, some time since, 
submitted to the Senate a resolution, calling upon the President of the 
United Slates to report to the Senate all the information which had been 
communicated to liiin as to the atTliirs in the State of Rhode Island, and 
the facts upon which he had acted. Mr. A. said it was impossible for the 
Senate to close its eyes to the fact that there exists in that State a condi- 
tion of affairs verging towards very serious consequences. It was also im- 
possible for the Senate to close its eyes to the fact that the President of the 
United States has, to some extent, interposed the executive power between 
the two parties in that State, and has thus interfered with a question of 
State policy. The Senate must be aware, from its knowledge of the state 
of facts existing in Rhode Island, of the danger of collision between the 
tvv^o parties of the community in that State; and the question which is sub- 
mitted to the Senate is, whether or not, Congress being in session, and 
having a full knowledge of the state of affairs so critical as these 

Mr. Preston here interrupted the Senator from Ohio, and rose to a point 
of order. 

Mr. Allen — I was pfoingf to submit a motion to the Senate. The Senator 
will make his point of order. 

Mr. Preston — My point of order is, that there was nothing before the 
Senate upon which to found debate. The Senator's remarks are, therefore, 
not in order. 

Mr. Allen said he was prefacing with a few remarks a motion which he 
intended to make; and, whatever might be the rules upon the subject, the 
practice and courtesy of the body justified the course which he was pur- 
suing-. He, however, remarked that it was no part of his intention to go 
into a discussion of llie condition of affairs in the State of Rhode Island. 
He had only a few more remarks to make when he was interrupted, pre- 
paratory to submitting his motion. 

Mr. Preston said he would not violate any rule of courtesy; but, having 
listened to the Senator, and conceiving that he was going into a discussion 
at large of a delicate sul ject, it was his opinion that the violation of order 
was clear, not knowing that it was the intention of the Senator to submit 
a motion. Besides, there was nothing before the Senate; if there was, it 
would be another question. Although the utmost latitude in debate was 
generally permitted, he had heretofore intimated, and he would now repeat, 
that in relation to the state of things in Rhode Island, he was so exceed- 
ingly averse to discussion, tfiat he would invoke the aid of every rule of 
the Senate that would exclude debate. 

Mr. Allen said he had announced his intention to submit a motion to tfie 
Senate on which tliey could act, and not wi(h a view to make a speech on 
a barren waste. The proposition was this: whether, in the existing state 
of affairs, (which the Senate knew to exist.) that body wnnld remain inert, 
inattentive, and careless, whilst the Executive of the United States was 
pursuing a course which was calculated to make this Government a party 



1052 Rep. No. 546. 

to a civil war? To say that Cono-ress must wait till collision takes place, 
was to say that Congress must do nothing with the matter — which might 
lead, in consequence of the President's action, to a civil war. Now he 
wished Congress to take action before the evil should arise ; and to prevent 
the evils that might arise in consequence of the action of the Executive, 
his object and desire were to coll up the resolution submitted by him, and 
to have it passed, so as to enable the President of the United States to give 
to Congress the state of facts upon wfiich he had acted, and to show to 
what extent he had acted. He made the motion, that the sense of the 
Senate might be given on that motion, whether the Executive had a right 
to do that which was calculated to produce civil war ; and, at the same time, 
whether Congress was to remain entirely inert and inattentive, and thus 
allow the President to act. Mr. A. concluded by moving to take up the 
resolution ; and on that motion demanded the ye.ts and nays. 

Mr. Preston moved to lay the motion on the table. 

Mr. Allen demanded the yeas and nays on that motion. 

Mr, Sevier asked if the motion to lay on the table was in order. 

Mr. Archer inquired whether it was a question to take up the resolution 
which was on the table? 

The Chair — Yes. 

Mr. Sevier again inquired whether it was in order to move to lay on the 
table a motion to take up a resolution which was already on the table. 

The Chair decided the motion to be in order. 

Mr. Linn — Then, if that motion is in order, 1 move to lay on the table 
the motion of the Senator from South Carolina, [Mr. Preston,] to lay the 
motion of the Senator from Ohio [Mr. Allen] on the table. 

The Chair decided that motion to be out of order. 

Mr. Linn then made that a point of order. 

Mr. Calhoun hoped the Senate would indulge him in a few remarks. 

Mr. Preston objected. 

Mr. Calhoun — Then I will vote against the motion to lay the motion of 
the Senator from Ohio [Mr. Allen] on the table. 

Mr. Preston now inquired of the Chair, whether it was in order to debate 
the motion to take the resolution up from the table. 

The Chair replied that it was not. 

Mr. Preston — Then I withdraw the motion to lay the motion of the Sen- 
ator from Ohio on the table. 

The question now recurring on the motion to take up the resolution, the 
yeas and nays being demanded, were ordered. 

Mr. Calhoun again desired to be indulged in a few remarks, but objection 
was made. 

Mr. Sevier called for the reading of the resolution ; and it was read as 
follows : 

^'■Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to com- 
municate to the Senate all information in his possession, or which has been 
communicated to him, either verbally or in writino-, whether from the gov- 
ernor of the State of Rhode Island, or from persons purporting to act under 
his appointment, or by his authority or request, or under the authority or 
request of any or either of the present authorities of that State, civil or 
military, or purporting to act under the auihority, or by the appointment, 
or at the request of a convention of delegates of the people of that State, 
or of a committee of any such convention, or purporting to act as the im- 



Rep. No. 546. 1053 

mediate agent or representative of any meeting or assemblage of citizens of 
that State, relative to the proceedings which have taken place, or are in 
contemplation in that State, with a view to the establishment of a constitu- 
tional republican form of government for the people thereof, in the place of 
the land company charter granted by King Charles II of England, and 
under which that S'.ate has hitherto been governed; and that he also com- 
municate to the Senate, with that information, all correspondence, procla- 
mations, orders, and proceedings of any character and description what- 
soever, which have been taken on the pan of the h^xecutive Government 
of the United States touching that matter." 

The question was had, and the Senate refused to take up the resolution 
on yeas and nays, as follows — yeas 18, nays 20 : 

Yeas — Messrs. Allen, Archer, Bagby, Buchanan, Calhoun, Fulton, Hen- 
derson, Litm, McRoberts, Sevier, Smith of Connecticut, Sturgeon, Tappan, 
Wilcox, Williams, Woodbury, Wright, and Young — 18. 

Nai/s — Messrs. Barrow, Bates, Bayard, Choate, Clayton, Conrad, Cuth- 
bert, Evans, Graham, Huntington, Kerr, Mangum. Phelps, Porter, Preston, 
Simmons, Smith of Indiana, Sprague, "White, and Woodbridge — 20. 

Mr. Allen gave notice that he would on to-morrow morning renew the 
motion to take the resolution from the table. 

Thursday, April 28, 1842. 

Mr. Allen moved to take up his resolution, calling on the President of 
the United States for information of the state of facts touching the diffi- 
culties in Rhode Island, and on which he founded his letter to the governor 
of that State. 

Mr. Huntington hoped the Senate would not take up the resolution. 

Mr. Preston demanded the yens and nays on the motion to take the reso- 
lution up; which were ordered. 

Mr. Calhoun understood t!iat information had been received by the Ex- 
exutive that there was some prospect of a pacific arrangement of the diffi- 
culties ; and he could not, therefore, vole for the irioiion. 

Messrs. Preston and Sprague also had such an understanding. 

Mr. King asked the Senator from South Carolina to state what was the 
nature of the information. 

Mr. Preston was understood to say that the information was, in general 
terms, that a pacific arrangement was about m be made. 

Tlie quesiion was then taken on the motion to take up the resolution; 
and it was disagreed to, on yeas and nays, by a vote of yeas 9, nays 28. 

Saturday, April 30, 1842. 

Mr. Allen desired that his resolution calling on the President of the 
United States for information of the state of facts touching the difficulties 
in Rhode Island, and on which he founded his letter to the governor of 
that State, should be taken up and passed upon. The information could 
be obtained from the President, and without a word of debate. If the 
Senate persisted in refusing action on the resolution, he should feel bound, 
by a sense of duty, to present the question in another form. He could not 
abandon the intention of calling out the information. Therefore, for the 
purpose of testing the sense of the Senate, he moved to lay the] bill (then 
under consideration) on the table, for tlie purpose of submitting a motion to 
take up the resolution. 

The question was put, and decided in the negative. 



1054 Rep. No. 546. 

Monday, Mmj 2, 1842. 

Mr. Allen remarked that he had heretofore introduced a resolution call* 
ing on the President of the United States for information of the state of 
facts touching- the difficulties in Rhode Island, and on which he founded 
his letter to the governor of that State. The several motions he had 
submitted heretofore to take this resolution from the table, and to have it 
adopted, were voted down. In order to show the propriety now of action 
on that resolution— the peculiar propriety of its adoption — he would state 
to the Senate what he had understood to be the fact, from various sources 
which could be relied on, and which he believed was true. 

Mr. Preston here rose to a question of order, whether the Senator could 
make allusion to the affairs in Rhode Island on a motion to take a resolution- 
from the table, which motion itself was not debatable. 

Mr. Allen did not wish to debate the condition of affairs in Rhode Island, 
but merely wished to state a fact, derived from an unquestionable source, 
as an additional reason why the resolution should be taken up and adopted. 

Mr. Preston persisted in his point of order. 

Mr. Allen then submitted his motion to take the resolution up from the 
table, and demanded the yeas and nays on it ; which were ordered. 

The Clerk here proceeded to call the roll; and when the name of Mr. 
Allen was called — 

Mr. Allen rose, and, without responding to the call, wished to test the 
sense of the Senate whether it was not in order for him to state a fact 
which came to his knowledge within the last thirty-six hours, (which, if 
true, and of which he had no doubt, would shake this country to its foun- 
dation,) and which would go to show, conclusively, that the motion to take 
the resolution from the table ought to be adopted. He submitted this point 
of order, founded on the objection of the Senator from South Carolina, 
[Mr. Preston,] for the decision of the Chair. 

The Chair decided that the yeas and nays having been ordered on the 
motion to take the resolution from the table, the Senator could not recur to 
the point of order raised by the Senator from South Carolina, [Mr. Preston,] 
and demand a decision of the Chair on that question; that should have 
been done before the yeas and nays were ordered. 

Mr. Wright took an appeal from the decision of the Chair. This appeal 
was argued at great length by Messrs. Wright, Allen, King, and Wood- 
bury, who contended that there was no rule of the Senate to sustain such 
a decision of the Chair; but that the courtesy of the Senate had always 
gone farther— that it had gone so far as to permit Senators to debate a 
question, even after a response had been made to the call of the Secretary 
on taking the yeas and nays. They maintained that the practice of the 
Senate had invariably been to permit a Senator to give his reasons before a 
response to the call of the Secretary. 

Mr. Preston maintained that the decision of the Chair was correct. 

Mr. Bayard argued that, whatever had been the practice of the Senate, 
(which he admitted was against the decision of the Chair,) yet the decision 
of the Chair was correct, as founded on the rules. 

Some difference of opinion arose between the above Senators as to whether 
the decision of the Chair was not two-fold; whether he did not also decide 
that it was not in order for the Senator from Ohio to debate the question, 
on the ground that the motion to take the resolution from the table was not 
debatable. 



Rep. No. 546. 1055- 

» 

Mr. Huntington maintained that such was substantially the decision of 
the Chair. 

The Chair admitted that he had decided, first, that it was not in order 
for the Senator to make any remark's after the yeas and nays had been or- 
dered, and the Secretary had proceeded in the call ; but he modified his 
decision to cover the ground assumed by Mr, Huntington, as that on which 
his decision had been founded. 

Mr. Wright then withdrew his appeal founded on the Chair's original 
decision, 

Mr. Allen recapitulated the matter, and observed that, when interrupted 
by the Senator from South Carolina, he was going on to state a fact, or 
what he believed to be a fact, to show that the nuition which he was about 
to submit was of such consequence that, if adopted, it might save the Gov- 
ernment from being embroiled in civil war- 
Mr. Preston called the Senator from Ohio again to order. 

Mr. Linn rose to ask his friend from South Carolina [Mr. Preston] not 
to press this rigid mode of proceeding, as it was evident that it would not 
efTect his object. It was in vain to enforce a decision made on a specific 
occasion by the Senate last session, when political exciteinent ran so high, 
as a settled precedent for action upon other occasions. That decision was 
not only in direct contravention of the long established practice of the 
Senate for years and years, but in the teeth of all parliamentary rules. The 
facts of this case cannot be si]pj:)ressed ; and this mode of attempting that 
object is so contrary to the settled practice and courtesy of the Senate, that 
he hoped the Senator from South Carolina, [Mr. Preslon,] on reconsidera- 
tion, would see the propriety of withdrawing his point of order. 

Mr. Preston observed, that no one was more disposed to yield both to the 
practice of the Senate, and to the usual courtesy due from one member to 
another, upon all subjects in themselves properly debatable; but on this 
subject It had been decided by the Senate, repeatedly, that it was not expe- 
dient to debate it, and therefore he pressed thi; observance of the rule. He 
was sorry he could not accede to the request of the Senator from Missouri 
[Mr. Linn.] He felt bound to persist in his point of order. 

The President joro tern, said that the Chair had been called on for a de- 
cision upon this point. The Senator from Ohio had moved to take up the 
resohuion which he had offered some days ago, and offered to state certain 
facts as a reason for taking the matter up. It was unnecessary for the Chair 
to go further back than the last session for the decision of this question. 

The President pro tent, here read from the journal of the Senate, where 
it had been decided that, upon a motion to take up a subject that had been 
laid upon the table, the question should be taken without debate. 

Mr. Allen desired that the sense of the Senate should be taken as to 
whether they would now sustain that decision. 

It was well known that he had, some time ago, submitted a resolution 
calling upon the Executive of the United States for information as to the 
facts in his possession, and upon which he had taken some action, in regard 
to the affairs of Rhode Island. He held it was not the business of this 
Government to interfere with the afl^airs of that State; and his sole object 
was to obtain information as to the facts upon which the Executive had 
proceeded. [Mr. Preston here made a point of order, and insisted that the 
Senator from Ohio had no right to enter into any argument or explanation 
whatever.] 



1056 Kep. No. 546. 

Mr. Allen : The Senate would perceive that he was illustrating what 
would necessarily be the effects arising from tiie decision of the Chair, if 
that decision were sustained ; for it was quite as important, in all such 
cases, to look to the consequences arising from the decision, as to the decis- 
ion itself. He had stated what the resolution was, and what was its object; 
and he had now made a motion to take that resolution up; and, upon ma- 
king that motion, he had proposed to submit to the Senate a fact, or that 
which he had reason to believe to be a fact, directly referring to the matter 
to which the resolution had reference; and he desired to state this fact as a 
reason which ought to prevail with the Senate to induce them to take it up. 

Mr. Preston submitted to the decision of the Chair whether this course 
was correct. 

The Chair responded, that it had been declared by the Senate at the last 
session, upon the occurrence of a similar question of order, to be incorrect. 

Mr. Buchanan rose and remarked, that, in his apprehension, a decision of 
the Senate upon a point of order was not irreversible; it was not like the 
laws of the Medes and Persians. They certainly had the power of recon- 
sidering the question, and .of determining ;is to the right of debating a sub- 
ject upon a motion to take up that subject. Courts of justice often reversed 
their own decisions. He thought that reason and common sense dictated 
that the decision of the Senate upon that point of order should be reversed ; 
and if the Senator had an extreme case to state, he should most assuredly 
be permitted to do it argumentatively, to show that tiie decision of the Sen- 
ate would be destructive of the interests of the country. 

Mr. Merrick inquired whether, if the decision of tlie Chair were sus- 
tained, the gentleman would be restrained from proceeding? 

Mr. Allen observed, that he did not consider that he would be entirely 
precluded. The decision of the Chair was calculated to circumscribe the 
range of his observations, but not to prohibit him from adducing arguments 
altogether. In his view, the decision was entirely vvrong; it was wrong to 
prescribe to a Senator what arguments he should use, and what he should 
not use. By doing so, the very strongest and most forcible reasons which 
he had to adduce might be excluded. What was the object of the appeal? 
It was to enable the Senate to review the decision of the Chair; and in or- 
der that the Senate might properly review the question, Senators had im- 
questionably the right to give all the reasons appertaining to the conse- 
quences resulting from the decision of the Chair. It was the practice in 
courts of justice, even upon the most abstruse points of law, for the courts 
to reconsider and reverse their decision ; but it would be absurd to say that 
counsel should not be allowed to illustrate the justice or injustice, the good 
or evil consequences, resulting from the decision against which he con- 
tends. He should say very little more. He had already stated that it was 
the object of the resolution to prevent an interference in the affairs of Rhode 
Island. 

Mr. Merrick said he understood the Chair to have decided that it is not 
in order to discuss the subject of the resolution. 

Mr. Allen: The Chair decided that (he remarks 1 made were not in 
order. Very well ; 1 am willing to consider them out of order; and I now 
propose to offer some other remarks. It was well known to every Senator 
that the resolution had reference to the affairs of Rhode Island. He had 
proposed to state only what the Senate knew perfectly well already, in order 
to show the propriety of taking up the resolution, and acting upon it. The 



Kep. No. 546. 1057 

whole country had been put in possession of the fcict, that the President of 
the United States Imd taken some action in reference to Rhode Island. He 
was merely going to mention the fact, that he had ordered a part of the 
standing army to proceed to that State, and that they were now on the 
way — three companies of the United States troops having passed throuoh 
Baltimore yesterday, from Old Point Comfort, as a report goes, on llieir way 
to Rhode Island. 

Mr. Preston again insisted upon his point of order. Tlie gentleman had 
stated his fact, in spite of the decision of the Chair ; and he now demanded 
that the decision be enforced. 

Mr. Allen : The question is upon Ihe appeal from the decision of the 
Chair. Let that question be taken, and let it be deternjined whether the 
motion to take up a subject shall be debated or not. 

Mr. Archer observed, that as the gentleman had attained his point by a 
notorious breach of order, and had made liis statement in spite of the 
Chair's decision, the appeal would be of but litile use. He thought, if the 
gentleman would consider the matter, he would see the propriety of with- 
drawing the appeal. 

Mr. Allen : 1 will consider what the Senator says when it becomes con- 
siderable. The originating of ihe point of order, or the debate itself, is not 
attributable to me. When I first offered the resolution, I stated positively 
and unequivocally that I would not say one word upon its passage ; and sat 
down with that determination, when a motion was made to lay the resolu- 
tion on the table. If, therefore, there has been a violation of order, it can- 
not be laid at my door^ but I shall continue to believe that the Senate will 
be inexcusable if they sit quiet and allow the Executive to march an army 
into the State of Rhode Island. 

Mr. Calhoun did not rise to discuss the question of order, but merely to 
state the grounds upon which he should vote. He believed that the decision 
of the Chair was utterly wrong, and in the face of all parliamentary rules. 
He believed that the question to take np a resolution was discussible, ac- 
cording to the rules of parliamentary practice ; and he would therefore vote 
according to what he conceived to be the true parliamentary practice. 

Mr, Buchanan said he did not profess to be at all acquainted with the 
rules of this body; but he believed that uniform courtesy which had pre- 
vailed among its members was the very best rule which could be adopted. 
They had brought themselves into the existing difficulties by attempting to 
suppress the discussion of a subject which must inevitably be discussed." It 
was utterly impossible that its discussion could be avoided. It demands 
the attention of the Senate and the country. He was sorry that they had 
succeeded in stifling the discussion at the time when it should properly 
have been considered ; for he believed the disastrous scenes which had 
since occurred might have been prevented. 

There was certainly a plain and palpable distinction between entering 
into an argument and merely making the statement of a simple fact. If he 
(Mr. B.) could rise in his place and conscientiously declare that he believed 
a civil war would be the consequence of refusing to take up and consider 
a given subject, he certainly thought it would be an arbitrary decision 
if he was refused permission to make the statement. If he were to receive 
information of facts which had transpired since the introduction of the sub- 
ject to the notice of the Senate, which led him to believe that, by taking up 
the subject and acting upon it, a civil war might be prevented, would such 
67 



1058 Rep. No. 546. 

on announcement be out of order '/ He believed the decision of the Chair 
was wrong, and he would therefore vote to reverse it. 

The discussion on the point of order was further continued by Messrs. 
Smith, of Connecticut, Young, Woodbury, Buchanan, and Allen, in sup- 
port of the appeal ; and by Messrs. Merrick, Simmons, Preston, Archer, and 
Huntingdon, in support of the decision of the Chair. 

The "question was taken, and the decision of the Chair was sustained. 

The question then recurred on the motion to take up the resolution ; upon 
which tire yeas and nays were ordered. 

Mr. Allen said the Setiator from Alabama [Mr. King] had suggested a 
modification of his resolution ; to whicli he was disposed to accede, so far 
as to retain the substance of the inquiry, and, at the same time, render it 
unobjectionable ; so that the resolution could be taken up and adopted with- 
out further discussion. 

Mr. Calhoun : Do I understand the Senator to offer his modified resolu- 
tion now/ 

Mr. Simmons objected to any modification before the resolution was taken 
up, on the ground that, if the resolution was before the Senate in any form, 
he would have to make the explanation promised on a former occasion. He 
could not, therefore, be a party to any promise not to debate the matter. 

Mr. Calhoun dififered from the Senator from Pennsylvania [Mr. Bu- 
chanan] as to the propriety of entertaining a discussion on the affairs in 
Rhode Island. He thought the danger was in debating the matier, thereby 
producing an excitement, which was, of all things, to be avoided. That 
had been his objection to the resolution heretofore. If it had been presented 
in such a form as to avoid discussion, he would have voted for it cheerfully. 

The question was then put on the motion to take up the resolution, and 
decided in the negative, on yeas and nays, as follows : 

Yeas — Messrs. Allen, Benton, Buchanan, Fulton, King, Linn, McRoberts, 
Smith of Connecticut, Sturgeon, Tappan, Wilcox, Williams, Woodbury, 
Wrisht, and Young — 15. 

JS^ays — Messrs. Archer, Bagby, Barrow, Bates, Bayard, Calhoun, Choate, 
Clayton, Conrad, Crafts, Crittenden, Cuthbert, Evans, Graham, Hunting- 
ton, Merrick, Miller, Morehead, Porter, Preston, Rives, Simmons, Smith of 
Indiana, Southard, Sprague, Tallmadge, White, and Woodbridge— 2S 

Tuesday, May 17,1842. 

Mr. Allen moved to take up the resolution which he had heretofore offered 
in relation to Rhode Island, and which had been laid on the table several 
days ago. 

Mr. Huntington observed that this resolution had been already laid on the 
table by a very decided majority of the Senate, where it was desired it should 
remain. It was quite unexpected, after it had lain on the table so many 
days, that a motion should now be made to take it up. He hoped the mo- 
tion would not prevail. He called for the yeas and nays, which were or- 
dered. 

The question was then taken by yeas and nays, and resulted in the neg- 
ative, as follows : n. r» i 

Yeas—Messrs. Allen, Benton, Buchanan, Fulton, Kinsr, Lmn, McRob- 
erts, Sevier, Smith of Connecticut, Sturgeon, Tappan, Wilcox, Williams, 
Woodbnrv, and Wright — 15. 

iVa2/5— Messrs. Archer, Barrow, Bates, Bayard, Berrien, Calhoun, Choate, 



Rep. No. 546. 105S 

€lrvyton, Conrad, Crafts, Crittenden, Evans, Graham, Henderson, ETuntin^- 
ton, Mangnm, Merrick, Miller, Morehead, Simmons, Smith of Indiana, Tall- 
madge, and VVoodbridge — 23. 

Mr. Allen said he proposed, before he sat down, to submit two other res- 
olutions ; and, in doing so, he would offer to the Senate some reasons upon 
which those resolntions were founded. He believed this had been the ha- 
bitual practice in the Senate; and he hoped that, in this case, he would not 
be prevented from following the same practice. He would read, in the hear- 
ing of the Senate, the resolutions which he proposed to offer, in order thaJ 
the Senate jnight judge ot their propriety. He found upon the files of the 
Senate a document containing a series of resolutions passed by the legisla- 
ture of the State of Rhode Island, by which the governor of that State was 
requested to inform the President ol the United States, and the two Houses 
of Congress, that a new system of government had been adopted in that 
State, and was now in full operation. It had, therefore, been brought offi- 
cially to the notice of the Senate that the people of Rhode Island had adopted 
a constitutional form of government, and that that government is now in 
full operation. This communication left the Senate no alternative; they 
could not close their eyes to the fact that there were, at this time, two gov- 
ernments in actual existence within that State — one of which must be right, 
and the other wrong. In this state of affairs, the President of the United 
States liad assumed to hnnself the power and authority of deciding this vital 
and momentous question, by pledgino: himself to support the old firm of 
government established under the charter granted by Charles the Second, 
and against that government determined upon and adopted by the people. 
Tliis being the state of the facts, it was a question of propriety and of powei 
with the Senate to take into consideration — when informed of these facts by 
authority, real or pretended, of the State of Rhode Island, and knowing the 
course which the President of the United States had taken in the matter — 
whether it was consistent with the duty which they owed to the constitu- 
tion of the country to remain quiet spectators of a civil war, in which the 
powers of the Federal Government were to be brought to bear against the 
constitution which the peo[)le had formed for themselves, and in support ol 
that charter which had been rendered null and void by the American Rev- 
olution, and under which, since the period of the Revolution, that State 
had no right to exercise the functions of an integral portion of this Union, 
of a sovereign State, or to send Senators or Representatives to this Congress. 
They had no more right to take part in the legislation of this Union than 
they had to sit and legislate in the British Parliament. Sir, said Mr. A., 
the question is one of serious import. More — infinitely more — important is 
it than any question of a bank, a tariff, or any question of national policy 
which can arise under our form of government. It is a question upon 
which rests the whole system of the civil government of this country, and 
of the civil liberties of its people. The President of the United States has 
undertaken to decide the question for the American people — and that, too, 
against the people themselves. WvW, sir, I said, and I repeat it, and it is 
with no unkind feelings towards any one — for reasons for such feeling I 
have none, but for the contrary ft^eling I have many; but to illustrate the 
bearing of a great truth — a truth which has shaken the globe itself, and 
which I hope will continue to govern the world as long as il continues its 
revolutions upon its axis. I say again, there was no constitutional form of 
government in Rhode Island, by which that community could be considered 



1060 Rep. No. 546. 

to be properly a rtiemher of (his Union, until the constitutional form of gar- 
ernn:ienl was framed and established, and brought into being on the 3d of 
May, 1842. 

Sir, what is the state of this matter ? The old thirteen States of this con- 
federacy consisted of what were, prior to 1776, the thirteen colonies of Great 
Britain, of which llhode Island and Providence Plantations was one. A re- 
volt took place among the colonies ; that revolt assumed the form and bore 
the aspect of a war; as such, it was prosecuted to its final, its successful, its 
glorious termination. This war was so begun, prosecuted, and ended, with 
the express viev/ on the part of the colonists of absolving themselves, in the 
language of the declaration of independence, from all allegiance to the throne 
of Great Britain. The war was successful ; American independence was 
purchased by American blood. All political connexion with Great Britain 
ceased to exist, and it was made an essential part of that instrument by which 
the States were declared free, that they were to be considered also sovereign 
and independent. To this declaration the State of Rhode Island stands 
pledged, because that declaration was necessarily submitted to, and con- 
firmed by, the legislature of that Slate. 

Yes, sir, the legislature of Rhode Island confirmed that declaration by a 
solemn resolve, forever absolving themselves from all connexion with, or 
relation to, British authority. Well, sir, after the Slate had thus annulled 
the charier of Charles II of Great Britain, by this revolution and this 
declaration, where did they obtain their right to have a government inde- 
pendent of the people in whom, by the new constitution of these United 
States, the sovereignty was vested ? The charter did not provide for its 
own amendment or for its own modification ; it was an emanation from the 
throne of Great Britain, and could only be modified, changed, or in any way 
affected by the throne itself, or by an act of the British Parliament. And 
it is the most extraordinary political anomaly that has characterized this 
extraordinary age, that, sixty years after the annulling of the charter by 
the Revolution, the President of the American republic is called on to give 
life and vitality to it again. That charter was predicated upon the alle- 
giance of that community to the British crown ; and it existed with the re- 
striction that the laws, rules, and regulations of the governor and company 
should not contravene the laws and statutes of Great Britain ; and that one- 
fifth of the precious metals to be found in the soil was the property of the 
British Government, and to be paid into the British treasury. Well, what 
became of their allegiance to the British Government when they lifted the 
sword of revolution ? It was destroyed; the relation was severed, the 
charter was dissolved. How was this dissolution effected? By authority 
of the British crown ? No, sir ; by the people themselves. And can the 
British charter be restored by American legislation ? JNo, sir ; because it 
was fotmded upon the existence of British supremacy. Can ihe Slate itself 
give vitality to the charter? I answer, no ; because it would be inconsist- 
ent with American independence. And here let me be permitted to say 
tli,at, inasmuch as it cannot be binding upon the State, it cannot upon any 
part of the State. If the whole cannot revive it, neither can a majority, 
and much less can a minority. It would be impossible for the people of 
Rhode Island, if they were unanimous to a man, to revive it. They are 
bound to treat it as a dead letter ; and this obligation binds the legislature 
as firmly as it binds tlie people. If the charter still lives, it is because it is 
indestructible, and must live forever ; and if it does not exist, as I contend, 



Rep, No. 546, 1061 

diere results this appalling consequence — that the whole government of the 
State of Rhode Island, from the RevoUuion up to tlie 3d of May, 1842, has 
been a sheer, a dovv'^nright, a blasphemous usurpation. Yes, sir, a usurpa- 
tion ; for after the Revolution was accom[)li^hed, the charter was dead. 
The declaration of American independence took place, and the Revolution 
followed; everything that was British — every vestige of British power and 
authority perished. It was entirely cut off from the face of this continent. 
How, then, lias this form of government contuiued to exist? It could only 
be in this way : At the time when the Revolution closed, it is probable that 
the numher of those having rights confirmed to them by the charter 
amounted to a majority of the population, and they were willing that the 
charter should stand, that they miffht enjoy the benefits of freeholders, and 
be the lords and masters of the increasing multitudes by whom the State 
became speedily populated. There is one peculiarity about tliis state of 
tilings, to which an American cannot close his eyes — that it is an exact in- 
version of our political institutions. It leaves it in the power of the legis- 
lature to declare who shall have the privi!eu:e of voting ; and, consequently, 
they may pass a law excluding every one but themselves — perpetuating lo 
themselves and to their descendants the privilege, and excluding all others. 
The sovereignty is thus vested in the agent, and not in the principal — in 
the representatives of the people, and not in the people themselves. 

Well, sir, under these circumstances, what did the people of Rhode Island 
gain by the Revolution? 'I'hey thought they were struggling lo exchange 
British authority f)r the rights of civil liberty. Yet we see the great body 
of the people — three-fifths, at least, of the entire population — being disfran- 
chised, left to the remaining two fifths the power of governing. But we 
have seen that the people have regenerated the Government — have thrown off 
this usurpation under which they have so long been deprived of their 
rights; and I will here ask, by wliat authority, under this charter, (if it 
does exist,) do Senators from that State occupy places upon this floor? 
Does the charter authorize the State to elect Senators to the Congress of 
the United States? Sir, does the charter authorize a convention of the peo- 
ple of Rhode Island to incorporate that State iiilo the body of the American 
republic ? I presume not, sir. By what authority, then, did they act, when 
they became a constituent part of this Union? Was it under that charier, 
granted more than a century before the Revolution — was it by virtue of 
that charter, under which tlie majority of the inhabitants were disfran- 
chised, that that Stale took refuge, like a tempest tost vessel, and became 
safely moored in the harbor of the republic? Do you bring the cliarier 
into ihe federal constitution with you? JNo, sir; the people of the State of 
Rhode Island adopted, in solemn convention assemljled, the federal consti- 
tution — the vital, elementary principle of civil liberty. It was recognised 
by all parties. Without this, the State could not have become a member 
of the Union, because the constitution requires that this shall be done. 
This was not the work of a party; it was efRcted by the fathers of tfse 
Revolution, who laid down the fiindanienlal law of civil liberty — men 
whose Veins were drained of their life blood in procuring that independence 
and the ei)joyment of that civil liberty f')r their descendants.' What did 
that convention do? They declared "tiiiit there are certain natural rights 
of which men, when they form a social compact, cannot deprive or divest 
their posterity ; among whicli are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with 
Ihe means of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing 



1062 Rpp No. 546. 

and obtaining^ happiness and safety:" 'Mhat all power is naturally vested 
in, and consequently derived from, the people ; that niatjistrates, therefore, 
are their trustees and agents, and at all times amenablt; to them :" "that the 
powers of government may be reassumed by the people, whensoever it 
shall become necessary to their happiness." 

Never was there a declaration stronger or more comprehensive than 
this made by the sovereign people of the State of Rhode Island. Well, 
sir, what have they subsequently done? Wliy, as soon as they got snugly 
established as a part of the Union, the goverfior and company of the prov- 
ince effected the resumption of tlie sovereignty, because there was not pop- 
ular power enough around them to resist. 'J'hey resumed tlie sovereign- 
ty, meting out to the people as much right and as much wrong as ihote 
sovereign legislators thought proper to mete out. Instead of having their 
own duties prescribed to them, they assumed the right to prescribe to the 
people — their lords and masters — how much liberty they should enjoy. 
Sir, the President of the United States, it seems, is now called upon to sus- 
tain this charter of a Bri;ish monarch. John Tyler is called on to act as 
Charles II of England would have done, in enforcing this charier — by force 
of arms. Who ever before heard of an appeal to an American President to 
support British authority? And I say again, if he has the right to call in 
the aid of an armed force to sustain that authority, the independence of 
this country does not exist. Such a proceeding might be tolerated in Can- 
ada ; but, in relation to one of the States of this Ihiion, the supposition is 
as ridiculous as it is odious. ''I'he President declares that he feels himself 
hound, and that it is his duty, to employ an armtd force, if it becomes ne- 
cessary, in order to enforce obedience to this usurpation, which has been f )r 
half a century in existence in Rhode Island ; he will march an armed force 
of American citizens into that State, in martial array, to shoot down the 
■|ieople, in order to sustain th:nt charter, which it was the main object of the 
Eevolution to destroy. Let him try it ! let him try it ! The President is 
a man, and but a man ; he is an officer of the Government, and but an 
c/iicer. 

The power which constitutes the President rests neither with this body 
nor its friends; it possesses a moral force which is superior to either. Let 
the President undertake to march an army into Rhode Island, to put down 
th;e liberties of the people at the |)oint of the bayonet, and he will have done 
a deed of winch his posterity will be ashamed — of which the jiation will be 
ashamed. But, though he threatens to do it, and stands officially pledoed 
to do it, I tell him (ns I have told him face to lace) that the American 
people will not permit him to do it. Here is what will test the question, 
[holding up a placard] Tliis I look upon as the first flash T>f indignation 
from tfie enraged brow of an angry people ; and I warn the President to 
take notice of the lightning's flash, as being the forerunner of a storm that 
will cover him with deep disgrace. 

Yes, sir, this is a Government of principle, sustained by the sense of the 
people; and the man who rashly luidertakes to put down popular liberty in 
this conniry will meet with signal discomfiture. In connexion with my 
honorable colleague, I have the honor of re[)resenfing one of the great and 
glorious States of this Union : and, sir, 1 can assure you that 1 speak the 
feelings of the great body of the people, acting only under the pro;i ptinirs 
of a bold and heroic magnanimity, when I say that they would be roused — 



Rtp. No. 546. 1063 

that they would rally as one man in defence of onr glorious liberties, whether 
invaded by foreign or domestic foes. 

I now offer a resolution, which will test the sense of this body upon the 
vitality of our vvhole system. I have introduced into it nothing but what 
has been prompted by a natural impulse of patriotism — nothing but will be 
responded to by the whole body of my coimtrymen. Had the Senate acted 
upon tlie resohuion when it was first offered, the President would have re- 
tracted ; he would not now have stood pledged; the Government of the 
people would have gone on ; the rights of all would have been protected 
by the votes of all. 

Mr. Preston rose to a point of order. He had refrained from interrupting 
the Senator for a long time, though he had, from the beginning, transcend- 
ed not only the rules, but the ordinary license of debate. 

Mr. Allen would save the Senator from the necessity of proceeding any 
further, by inf)rming him that he iiad ri^en to his point of order just in the 
right time, for he (Mr. Allen) had not another word to say, except to submit 
his resolutions, as follows: 

Resolved^ That it is the right of the people of Rhode Island to establish 
for themselves a constitutional republican firm of State government, and 
in any particular to alter or tnodity it, provided its form be left republican. 

Resolced^ That it is not the right ot the Federal Government to interfere 
in any manner with the people, to prevent or discourage their so doing ; but 
that, on the contrary, it is the duty of the Federal Government to guaranty 
to them, as a State, such republican form of State government, when so es- 
tablished, altered, or modified. 

Mr. Simmons observed that he had a few remarks to make in answer to 
what had fallen from the Senator from Ohio. 

Mr. Preston asked if the whole thing had not been irregular, and inquired 
what was tbe question bef )re the Senate. 

The Chair explained that, in strictness, the question was whether the 
Senator from Rhode Island should proceed. The Senator from Ohio hav- 
ino- gone beyond the mere explanation allowed on the introduction of a 
resolution, without having been calh^d to order, the Senate could, by gene- 
ral consent, permit the Senator from Rhode Island to proceed. 

Mr. Kinof observed that in all ordinary cases, great latitude of debate 
was allowed ; but there were cases in which great inconvenience might 
ari^e. When he had voted to take up the resolution, it was under an ex- 
pectation that the Senator from Ohio would have modified it: and had it 
been taken up, the resolutions now offered, and the remarks accompanying 
them, would not have been offered. But all this having occurred, it seemed 
now as if discussion could not be restrained. It was obvious that such dis- 
cussion could hardly be kept from excitement. He would, however, suggest 
to the Senate the ubvious propriety of approaching this subject with calm- 
ness and moderation. 

}A\\ Calhoun observed that his vote against taking up tlie original reso- 
lution showed that he had no desire to see the subject agitated in the Senate, 
as long as it was pos-ible the affairs of Rhode Island would be settled by 
the people themselves; but it was impossible now to prevent discussion. 
He hoped it would be permitted to go on, and that the resolutions would be 
allowed to be presented, and that a day would be a[)poiiited for taking them 
up for debate. He made a motion to that effect. 

Mr. Preston concurred with the Senator from South Carohna, [Mr. Cal- 



1064 Rep. No 546. 

houn,] that the time was come for discussion. He thought the time had 
come when it was necessary to lay down the principles * .1 which, the nction 
of this Government is to be conducted in its relations with the S-tates. He 
therefore seconded the motion of the Senator from South Carohna to have 
the resohitions printed, and a day appointed for th^ir discussion. 

Mr, TaMmadtje had listened to the Senator fromiJhio for some time v/ilh 
surprise — the Senate having refused to take up the original resolution. The 
discussion had been forced upon the Senate quite irregularly ; hut, as it was 
permitted to go so far, he would move that the Senator from Rhode Island 
be permitted to go on; and then, if no one else offered such a motion, he 
would move to lay the resolutions on the table, 

Mr. Allen explained, that when he had experienced a determination on 
the part of the majority of the Senate to suppress the expression of opinion 
on the part of the minority, he had taken advantage of a rule of the Sen- 
ate which justified him in pursuing the course he did. If gentlemen were 
forced into discussion, it was the consequence of an arbitrary attempt to 
suppress a free expression of opinion, dictated by a sense of public duty. 

Here a general disposition was manifested to allow Mr. Simmons to pro- 
ceed ; and the point of order being witlidrawn — 

Mr. Simmons made his acknowledgments to Senators who had interposed 
to obtain him a hearing in reply to the Senator from Ohio. The remarks 
of that Senator had not excited in him any other feelings than those of sur- 
prise. The Senator had proceeded on the assumption that all constitutional 
law and rule of government should be in writing. Whence did he derive 
this notion ? Not from the country of our origin. With respect to the 
constitution of Rhode Island, which the Senator from Ohio characterized 
as dead, and all action under it as blasphemous usurpation, he (Mr. S.) 
would say that it is — no matter what it may or may not be — the constitu- 
tion of Rhode Island ; and it v/as not competent for any other State to 
dictate to that Stale what its constitution should be. He denied that the 
charter of its government wi^s such as it had been described by its oppo- 
nents. The charter fully recognises the form of altering it. The legisla- 
ture has frequently acted upon that form, and called conventions. It did 
so when it called the convention which ratified the federal constitution. 
The people of Rhode Island knew what they were about when they adopt- 
ed that constitution. Where else were the elements of civil and religious 
liberty to be found, which had always actuated Rhode Island, but in that 
charter — the first ever obtained in these colonies? It was these cherished 
principles of liberty which bound it to the hearts of those who now wished 
to cherish it. It is contended that the legislature is supported by a minority 
of the people. This he denied. He manitained there was always a ma- 
jority entitled to franchise, as large as in any other State. Some regulation 
was necessary with regard to qualifications of suffrage. 

The people of Rhode Island, through their legislature, had fixed their 
own rules, and no other State or power had any right to interfere. In 
those rules the State of Rhode Island asked for some particular evidence 
of the attachment of a citizen to th^ir State, and to the district of his resi- 
dence, before it granted the franchise. Does not every other Stnte, in some 
form or other, require the same? They say that, in order to give evidence 
of this attachment, the citizen must purchase a home to the amount of one 
hundred and thirty four dollars. The very first act of his own life was to 
vest the savings of his minority in the purchase of property to entitle him 



Rep. No. 546. 1065 

to this right. It was property which he prized above all others, and which 
would he the last \V€ should ever part with. 'I'his pride gave a peculiar 
home-feeling and altnchnient to the people of Rhode Island. But sucli is 
the regard which the legislature has for popular rights, tliat, whenever a 
number of the people cc stituting a majoriiy have proposed a change, it 
has been accorded. On ihe ap|)lication of those men who, a year ago, 
asked the legislature for an extension of rights, tlie legislature called a con- 
vention, at which they had their request accorded. But, instead of pa- 
tiently waiting till the change was consummated, these men got together 
and attempted to revolutionize the government; they presented to every- 
body and anybody their new constitution, without the slightest guard 
against fraud. It is now the boast of some wlio signed that constitution, 
that they did so sixteen or eighteen times. Notwiilislanding all this, the 
convention authorized by the legislature went on and extended the right of 
suffrage as far as had b&en required ; but tlie opposite party voted it down 
with as much energy as if it was to deprive them of suffrage, instead of to 
increase it. AH that the government of Rhode Island requires is, that 
whatever change may be desired by a large portion of the people may be 
effected by law, and according to law. 

Wlien tile Senator from Oliio Vv^as reading the declaration of the people 
of Rhode Island, with regard to the sovereign rights of tiie people, he (iVlr. 
S.) was in hopes the Senator would have read further, and shown what 
was the sense of Rhode Island as to what was due to its government. It 
says that the powers of government may be resumed by the people when 
necessary ; and that any power not delegated to the General Government 
or Congress, remains with the people or their respective legislatures. He 
would ask the honorable Senator, where was the power of Congress to de- 
clare that any form of government shall be the government of Rhode 
Island? As to the powers of the legislature of that State not being defined 
by a written consiitution, he would say they were defined in the bill of 
rights. He would ask the honorable Senator if, instead of Rhode Island 
being governed by an anti-republican government, it w<is not the most 
republican government in the Union? for the people every six months elect 
their representatives, who are thus checked by the people twice as often 
as the representatives of any other State. The usage of that people, with 
respect to many of their institutions, is as republican as in any country in 
the world. But whether the government of Rhode Island derives its rights 
from a written constiuition or not, he (Mr. S) denied the right of this Gov- 
ernment to dictate to that State what form of government it shall have. 
He regretted that any disposition sliould exist to goad on, by handbills, or 
letters, or other means, any portion of the people of Rhode Island to butcher 
their fellow-citizens. He said of such men, when he heard of these hand- 
bills and letters, that they had no children — no hearts. He had been un- 
expectedly called up on the present occasion, and was not prepared to do 
justice to the subject. He enumerated many of the most distinguished 
patriots of Rhode Island, who had been first and foremost in the struggle 
for independence, and asked, had not its govern nient been first and fore- 
most on every occasion in evincing a deteruiination to maintain public 
liberty? He characterized as a newfangled doctrine that which asserted 
that the charter of government on which Rhode Island had prospered for 
two hundred years, had been for fifty years a dead letter, and that all action 
on it had been blasphemous and damnable usurpation. He maintained that 



1066 Rep. No. 546. 

the principles of that charter could not be improved upon. It was the pride 
of a little territory, not more than thirty miles square, that the principles of 
its charter for civil and religious liberty had become the principles of liberty 
throui^^hout the civilized world. He would conclude by saying that, if the 
Senator who now decries this charter understood it properly, he would 
cherish it to his bosom as a treasure beyond price, and value it as the apple 
of his eye. 

Mr. Crittenden asked the Senator from Ohio whether he understood him 
to say that he had told the President of the United States that he dared not 
employ the troops of the United States to put down insurrection against 
the gDvernment of Rhode Island'.' 

Mr. Allen explained, that what he did say was, that he had told the Pres- 
ident of the United States, face to face, that if he attempted to employ the 
army of the United States in preventing, by bloodshed, the mass of the 
citizens of Rhode Island from establishing a republican constitution and 
government, he would be attempting that which the American people never 
would permit him to effect. 

Mr. Crittenden observed, that, however he might feel bound to take the 
Senator's own explanation of what he did say, he and the Senators around 
him had understood the Senator as having stated that he told the President 
of the United States that he dared not eniploy the army of the United States 
to support the government of Rhode Island against insurrection. 

Mr. Allen observed that he had already herein stated, in substance, what 
he had told the President of the United States. If the Senator from Ken- 
tucky wanted further information on that point, he could make inquiry of 
the President himself. 

Mr. Crittenden did not choose to ask the President — he asked the Senator 
himself; and since it had come to that, he would say that the Senator had 
asserted that he told the President of the United States, face to lace, that he 
dared not, on this occasion, actually employ the army of the United States. 

Mr. Simmons asked leave to make a few remarks on a point which did 
not occur to him when he was addressing the Senate before. He then pro- 
ceeded, and made some further observations, illustrating that the principles 
of civil and religions liberty, guarantied in the charter of Rhode Island, 
were such as pre-eminently entitled that State to admission into the con- 
federation. 

Messrs. Preston and Crittenden, from their seats, expressed a strong wish 
that the subj' ct might be passed over informally, to be taken up to morrow 
morning. 

This proposition was agreed to, and the resolutions were ordered to be 
printed. 

Wednesday, May 18, 1842. 

Mr. Allen observed that his resolutions, under discussion yesterday, was 
the unfinished business, upon which there was a pending motion to print. 
The subject was informally passed over yesterday evening, at the request 
of the Senator from Kentucky, (Mr. Crittenden.) He now moved to take 
it up. 

The resolutions are as follow : 

Resolved, That it is the right of the people of Rhode Island to establish 
for themselves a constitutional republican form of Slate government, and 
in any particular to alter or modify it, provided its form be left republican. 



Rep. No. 546. 1067 

Resolved, Tlifit it is not the right of the Federal Government to interfere 
in any manner with the people to prevent or disconrage tlieir so doing ; bnt 
that, on the contrarj', it is the duty of the Federal Government to guaranty- 
to them, as a State, such republican form of Stale government when so 
established, altered, or modified. 

The resolutions were accordingly taken up, the question being on the 
pending motion to print. 

Mr. 'rallmadge moved to lay the whole subject on the table, 

Mr. Allen called for the yeas and nays; wliich were ordered. 

The question to lay the whole subject on the table was accordingly taken 
by yeas and nays, and decided in the affirmative, as follows : 

Yeas — Messrs. Archer, Bagby, Barrow, Bates, Bayard, Berrien, Choate, 
CUyton, Conrad. Grafts, Crittenden, Evans, Graham, Huntington, Kerr, 
Mangum, Merrick, Miller, iMorehead, Porter, Preston, Rives, Simmons, 
Smith of Indiana, Spiague, Tallmadge, While, and Woodbridge — 28. 

JSuys — Messrs. Allen, Benton, Buchanan, Calhoun, Cuthbert, Fulton, 
King, Linn, McRoberts, Sevier, Snjith of Connecticut, Sturgeon, Tappan, 
Walker, Wilcox, Woodbury, Wriglit, and Young — 18. 

Monday, May 23, 1842. 

Mr. Tallmadge rose and gave notice that, when the resolutions hereto- 
fore offered by the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Allen) on the subject of the 
Rhode Island matters came up for consideration, he would offer the follow- 
ing resolutions as a substitute for them, viz : 

Rt'solved, That, by the constitution, the United St.'.tes are bound not only 
to guaranty to every State in the Union a republican form of government, 
but also to protect each one of them against invasion, and, upon proper 
application, against domestic violence. 

Resolved, That the form of government with which a Slate came into 
the Union, and has been recognised and represented as a member of the 
Union, must be taken and regarded as rejiublican ; and that such State is 
entitled to all that protection against invasion and domestic violence, which 
is pledged by the constuulion of the United States. 

Resoloed, That the jjovernment of a State so coniing into and recognised 
as a member of the Union, can only be changed or superseded, consistently 
with the principles of our American republics, when it is done in pursuance 
of, and in the mode prescribed by, the laws of such Stale ; and that any 
attempt by force to overthrow that government is disorderly and revolu- 
tionary, tending to anarchy and bloodshed, and, in the end, to the destruc- 
tion of public liberty; and is such a domestic violence as entitles that State, 
by her legislature, (or executive, when the legislature cannot be convened,) 
to apply for and obtain from the United Stales, protection against the same. 

Resolved, That the application made by the iegishiture of Rhode Island 
(one of the " old thirteen") to the President of the United States for protec- 
tion against domestic violence, was within the meaning and terms of the 
constitution ; and that it was the duty of the President to take such prepar- 
atory steps as a wise and prudent forecast demanded, and to adopt such 
efficient measures as are Contemplated by the constitution, and the laws 
made in pursuance of it, for giving such |)roiection. 

On motion of Mr. Allen, the resolutions and substitute were ordered to 
be printed. 



1068 Rep. No. 546. 

Tuesday, Jane 21, 1842. 

Mr. Allen asked the Senate to take up the resokition submitted by him 
some time ago, caUing npon the President of the United States for informa- 
tion on the subject of the difficuUies in Rhode Island, and how far he had 
interfered by tlie power of tlie national Government ; and the amendment 
thereto, submitted by Mr. Talhnadge, asserting the powers and duties of 
the President, touching insurrectionary movements in the States, and 
approving the course of the President with reference to the difficuUies in 
Rhode Island. 

Mr. A. merely wished these resolutions to be taken up for the purpose of 
making it a special order for some day next week. 

Objection being made, Mr. Allen demanded the yeas and nays on the mo- 
tion, which were ordered ; and, the question being put, was decided in the 
affirmative — yeas 21, nays 15, as follows : 

Yeas — Messrs. Allen, Archer, Hagby, Benton, Buchanan, Choate, Crafts, 
Fulton, King,.McRoberts, Merrick, Preston, Sevier, Sturgeon, Tallmadge, 
Tappan, Walker, Wilcox, Woodbury, Wright, and Young— 21. 

Nays — Messrs. Bates, Berrien, Clayton, Conrad, Crittenden, Cuthbert, 
Evans, Henderson, Huntington, Kerr, Mangum, Morehead, Smith of Indi- 
ana, White, and Wood bridge — 15. 

Mr. Allen now moved to make the resolution the special order for 
Wednesday week. 

Mr. Merrick suggested Monday week, which was accepted by the mover; 
and the question being put, tlie .resolutions were postponed till Monday 
week, and made a special order for that day. 



ADDENDA. 
No. 242. 

Arrests of Women — Statement of Airs. Abhy H. Lord. 

Providence, June 5, 1844. 
Sir: I send you a correct statement of the arrests of the women, and 
leave you to do as you see fit with it. A man presented hinsself at my door, 
and asked me the names of the members of my family over IS and under 45. 
Knowing him to be an agent of the cliarter government, and having been 
subjected to military power in having our houses broken open and rifled, 
and our husbands imprisoned, we felt suspicious of him. 1 asked him his 
object. He said he came to enroll the miliiia. I told him 1 had no one to 
train in his company ; that we were all Dorrites, and that my husband he,d 
a commission in the army of the United States during the last war; that 
he fought for the liberties of the American people, and for daring to defend 
their rights they had put him in the State's prison — that was the truth. My 
oldest son was not 14. He then told me I was subjtjct to a fine ot twenty- 
five dollars. I thought no more of it. He did not say he had any auihoriiy 
to question me. Eive weeks from that day there came two sheriffs with a 
capias^ to arrest me without a moment's notice — the grand jury having found 
a bill against me for a violation of the militia law. One of the sheriffs 
guarded us, [the women.] while the other picked us up, and read over the 
process. Mrs. Pettis (one of the ladies arrested) had been confined one day 
when this apology for a man burst into her room, (after having been told 

% 



Rep No. 546. 1069 

by her nurse that she was sick,) and ordered her, in Ihe most insulting 
maimer, to give the names of her family of the ages aforesaid. She being 
very much Irightened at the forcible intrusion of a man at such an improper 
tiiDC, told him her physician had forbid her talking. After having abused 
her, he then (old her she was subject to a fine of twenty-five dollars. Five 
weeks from that day, she, together with myself and three others, were 
taken, as I have stated, with a capias. She asked for time to call in a 
neighbor to take care ot her family. She was told that she must go imme- 
diately to the courthouse. Accordingly, with her baby of five weeks in 
her arms, she was taken from her family, in the absence of her husband, 
and carried to the court-house. The next woman that was arrested was a 
Mrs. Collins — a woman, I should think, 50 years old. She had her oven 
heated, and her baking ready to set in. She was told she could not stay to 
jMit her bread in, jior call in a neighbor. Mrs. Luther and Mrs. Danforth 
complete the nimiber of women that were arrested at the time that I was. 
On our way to the court-house, the sheriff offered himself as surety for us ; 
whether the court had so instructed him or not, I do not know. 1 told him 
I should give no surety. When we arrived at the court-room, Mrs. Pettis 
was called first to answer to the indictment. After pleading not guilty, she 
was askrd if she had any counsel ; slie hardly knew what to answer. She 
was asked for surety. Mr. Clapp, the sheriff that arrested us, stepped for- 
ward as surety. I was next called ; and, after hearing the indictment read, 
pleaded not guilty. 1 was then asked iff had any counsel. 1 told them I 
should plead my own cause. I then turned to take my seat. The chief 
judge called me back, and called on Mr. Clapp to be surety for me. 1 told 
him. going out of the court-room, I should give no surety. 

ABBY H. LORD. 
Hon. E. Burke, Member of Congress. 



No. 243. 
Copy of cm indictment against Mrs. Abby H. Lord. 

Providence, sc. 

At the supreme court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, holden at Providence, within and for the county of Providence, on 
the third Monday of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-three — 

The grand jurors of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions, and in and for the body of the county of Providence, upon their oaths 
present: That heretofore, to wit, on the fifteenth day of August, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, at the city of Prov- 
idence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, the assessors of taxes in and 
for said city of Providence, the better to enable said assessors of taxes to pre- 
pare, list, and make enrollment of all persons hable to be enrolled in the 
militia and to do military duty, living within said city of Providence, ap- 
pointed, authorized, and directed one Jeremiah Briggs to ascertain the names, 
and prepare a list of all persons liable to be enrolled in said militia and to do 
military duty, residing in the fourth, fifth, and sixth wards in said city of 



1070 Rep. No. 546. 

Providence; and that afterwards, on the twenty-fourth day of August, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty three, at said city of 
Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, the said Jeremiah Briggs, 
being then and there in the due performance of his said appointment, and 
acting under the direction and authority of said assessors of taxes in and 
for said city of Providence, made appHcation to Abby Lord, of said city of 
Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, wife of Henry Lord, of 
said city of Providence, in the aforesaid county of Providence, trimmer, alias 
laborer, alh^s gentleman, to give information of the names of all persons re- 
siding in the house of the said Henry Lord, situate in the fourth ward of 
said city of Providence, liable to enrollment in said militia or to do military 
duty; she, the said Abby Lord, then and there residing, and being in said 
fourth ward of said city of Providence, and mistress of said house, and of a 
family then and there residing in said house. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Abby Lord, being then and there so as aforesaid applied to by 
the said Jeremiah Briggs, so as aforesaid acting under the direction and au- 
thority of the said assessors of taxes in and for said city of Providence, for 
the information aforesaid, then and there knowingly, designedly, wilfully, 
and contemptuously refused to give information of the names of persons then 
and there residing in said house, liable to enrollment in said militia or to do 
military duty, against the form of the statute in such case made and pro- 
vided, and agamst the peace and dignity of the State. 

And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: 
That the said Jeremiah Briggs, on the said twenty fourth day of August, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, at the city 
of Providence aforesaid, in the aforesaid county of Providence, acting under 
the direction and authority of the assessors of taxes in and for said city of 
Providence, made application to said Abby Lord, she, the said Abby Lord, 
being then and there mistress of a*house situate in said city of Providence, 
and mistress of a family then and there residing in said house, to give infor- 
mation of the names of all persons then and there residing in said fiouse lia- 
ble to enrollment in the militia of said State, or to do military duty ; and 
that the said Abby Lord, then and there, knowingly, wilfully, unlawfully, 
designedly, and contemptuously refused to give such information, against 
the form of^ the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace 
and dignity of the State. 

Preferred by — 

JOSEPH M. BLAKE, 

Attorney General. 

Providence, sc. 

Clerk's Office Supreme Court, 
June 15, A. D. 1844. 

1 certify the aforegoing to be a true copy of the indictment returned by 
the grand jurors, within and for the body of the county of Providence, at the 
September term of said court, A. D. 1843. 

Attest: WALTER PAINE, Jr., Clerk, 



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